CELEBRATING
100 YEARS
BY SUSAN BURGESS Growing Old Together
The Sunrise Theatre, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, has been carefully restored to its former red and gold glory.
Sunrise City and its theater have
weathered a century of ups and downs
hrough 100 years of ups and downs the city of
Fort Pierce and its crown jewel, the Sunrise Theatre,
T
has grown in tandem. As youngsters, they faced a fine future
with the Sunrise set in the middle of a growing downtown.
With its luxurious look, its red and gold carpet and soft
seats, the Sunrise was a siren call to one and all with promise of
an evening’s entertainment and a chance to escape the day’s cares.
When the glory years gave way to leaner times decades later, the
two reinvented themselves.
The Sunrise Theatre was just two years from its 1923 grand opening
as the gem of downtown that was expected to attract residents
and visitors to fill its 1,200 seats when the Fort Pierce Inlet was cut
through to the Atlantic Ocean. The expectation was that the inlet
would put the city on the map as a port for global trade. With that,
there were even greater expectations for a brighter future and the
fortunes of the city and its newly built theater rose together.
The theater’s opening day in 1923 was brimming with excitement
as eager crowds filled the seats. They applauded the celebratory
opening speeches; paid rapt attention to the singer and band; and
watched two silent movies, a dramatic love story starring Charlie
Chaplin, and a drama featuring Myrtle Stedman. It was a day never to
be forgotten.
Constructed in Mediterranean revival style with barrel tile on the
roof, some walls were covered with gold fabric, a Mediterranean style
tiled drinking fountain graced the lobby, and elaborate wall stencils
adorned other walls. Years later, when the theater was restored, the
stencils were once again revealed when old paint was chipped away.
R.N. Koblegard, or “Pop,” as he was known to his family, was the
visionary who founded the theater. A well-traveled pineapple grower
who had invested in a family-owned oil business in the Midwest, he
thought about investing in his own community — perhaps doing
something that would help the little city grow.
A generous, outward-looking man, it was natural to ask the Fort
Pierce city commissioners what they thought would help the city
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