Studer Community Institute

Rex Theatre comes back to life in 2014

December 23, 2013
/ Louis Cooper
/ community-dashboard

The new year could find movies playing at a historic theater in downtown Pensacola for the first time in more than three decades. The Rex Theatre, located at 18 N. Palafox St., stopped showing movies in 1977 and has been shuttered to any commercial use since the early 1990s. Harvest Church bought the 1910 structure in 2012 and has begun a $1.7 million effort to bring the old venue back to life. "This time next year, if all goes well, we could be in the Rex," project manager Josh Stewart said. "We're committed to downtown. We're excited to have a presence down there and to be part of the downtown experience." The Rex project is the latest in a renaissance along the Palafox corridor over the last decade. In that time, the Masonic Lodge at Garden Street and Palafox has been transformed into the popular Vinyl Music Hall, the Saenger Theater was refurbished and numerous restaurants, nightclubs and retail shops have opened along the thoroughfare. The street has also become the focal point of the seasonal Gallery Night events and the annual New Year’s Eve Pelican Drop. Palafox was recently recognized as being among the “Great Places in America: Streets” by the American Planning Association. Harvest Church plans to restore the Rex's 1930’s art deco façade, and renovate the interior to include a 400-seat main theater, a second floor coffee shop and a rooftop patio style area for special events. The church plans to use the Rex for services on Saturdays and Sundays and to offer it to the community the rest of the week, potentially for current and classic movies, comedians, concerts, amateur theater and private events. The church’s website promises that events in the Rex won’t be limited to those with religious themes. The church has hired Quina Grundhoefer Architects for the project, and primary plans are nearly complete, Stewart said. He expects the church to choose a general contractor by February, with work expected to take about seven months to complete. Funding for the restoration is coming from donations from the congregation, the sale of other assets -- including the Plaza Theatre on Herman Street that once housed the church -- a $50,000 state historic preservation grant and donations from the public. Harvest recently hired the Pensacola public relations firm Ideaworks to help frame a fundraising campaign. The church has also launched a website about the project, http://rexpensacola.com, that includes an opportunity for the public to contribute. Stewart thinks the public will be willing to donate to the Rex effort. "We're investing into the downtown community, and we're asking people to partner with us in that investment," he said. Harvest Church was founded by pastor Bobby Lepinay in 1996. It is a casual, nondenominational church that has always met in movie theaters. Initially, it met in the Silver Screen, then the Plaza Theatre and, currently, in the Carmike Bayou 15. "We focus on reaching people who are not familiar with church culture and are unsure about going into church buildings. They don't exactly know what to expect," Lepinay said. "Since people are used to going to (movie theaters), it is one less barrier, a major one, to allowing them to hear the gospel message. "God has blessed this strategy and now, with owning the Rex, we feel we can have a major impact on the unchurched population of Pensacola."

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Rex Theatre comes back to life in 2014

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