LINCOLN PARK
combination movie house and drug store.
“Dr. Benton was a man with a lot of vision,” says Rollins.
“He saw the future of Lincoln Park and knew that we needed
a place of gathering and entertainment.”
R. Duke Nelson, a former Fort Pierce city commissioner, said
the partnership between Benton and Center, who was white
and had another pharmacy in the white section of Fort Pierce
on Orange Avenue, was unusual for its time. “They were both
doctors — civic-minded and community-oriented,’’ he said.
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Nelson recalls seeing Tom Mix and Roy Rogers movies at
the theater, as well as “Gone With the Wind.’’
“It was open to everybody,’’ Nelson said. “Whites came
out here, too. We didn’t segregate. We took a lot of pride
in this theater.’’
Ward says the Lincoln Theater was not ornate because it
was made to show movies and was not a performing arts
center. “On the left-hand side of the building, tickets were
sold in the lobby, but there was not a concession stand,’’
Ward says. “Dr. Center had his drug and sundry
store on the right-hand side of the building, and
he also had a soda fountain. There was a small
window in the soda fountain that opened into the
lobby where people could walk up and buy
drinks and popcorn to take into the movies.”
He said the cost to restore it will largely
depend on how elaborate the renovation is, but
placed the cost at about $1.8-$2 million.
The Lincoln Theater was sold and changed
owners many times before the building was
abandoned in the 1970s. Dr. Benton’s daughter,
Margaret A. Benton, has been a driving force in
seeing that the Lincoln Theater again becomes a
centerpiece of Lincoln Park. As former chairwoman
of the Dr. Martin Luther King
Commemorative Committee, Benton sought to
PHOTO BY GREGORY ENNS
Renea Thomas shows off her new restaurant on Avenue D, which she is financing with retirement savings.
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Rendering by Trias & Associates of what the theater might look like when completed.