160 West Plant Street
Winter Garden, FL 34787
407- 877-4736
History of the Garden Theatre
Back in 1935 when the cost of an average car was $580 and an annual salary was $1500, a night's entertainment at the movies for only 9 cents was considered quite a deal!
Winter Garden was the first Central Florida city to have a theater built specifically for talking pictures. The Garden Theatre, completed in December of 1935 brought movie stars such as John Wayne and Buddy Rogers to the big screen. Contained within the impressive theatre was a Spanish tile courtyard, "Romeo and Juliet" balconies, and lanterns in the windows over the proscenium arch.
With the increased popularity of television and other opportunities for entertainment, the Garden Theatre’s novelty wore off, and closed its doors in 1963 leaving the building abandoned for decades.
In 2002, the City of Winter Garden purchased the building and the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation accepted the challenge of restoring the Garden Theatre. By that time, the Foundation, formed in 1993 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, had already successfully established three museums – the Heritage Museum, Railroad Museum and the History Center.
Restoring the Garden Theatre was a perfect fit for this organization. The Foundation’s goal and vision for the theatre has now becomes two-fold: first, to restore the building to the original architectural simplicity, in keeping with the character and revitalization of historic downtown Winter Garden, but most importantly to become the heartbeat of the city as a 299-seat performing arts center and movie theatre.
The Foundation has relentlessly studied old photos and eagerly listened to stories to restore the Garden Theatre to historical accuracy including the theatre's original dark blue ceiling, resplendent with twinkling "stars.”. The marquee went through several makeovers, the last, a large, red neon “GARDEN” in the center.
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