Richey Suncoast Theater part of New Port Richey's downtown revitalization

“The theater is as old as the town itself. It was built in the 1920s,” said Angela Sarabia, Richey Suncoast Theater Board President.

The Richey Suncoast Theater began as a place for silent movies in downtown New Port Richey.

“The theater is as old as the town itself. It was built in the 1920s,” said Angela Sarabia, Richey Suncoast Theater board president.

A century later, the theater’s facilities manager, Mike Worsell, says it’s part of the city’s revitalization efforts.

“When I first moved here people who lived here already said don’t go downtown. There’s nothing going on. It’s a bit shady,” said Worsell.

In recent years, New Port Richey’s downtown has gotten a facelift. Simms Park was renovated, and the Hacienda Hotel was finally brought back to life.

“From bars and restaurants to activities. We’ve got Comic Book stores. We’ve got antiquity stores and obviously the theater which has been here and seen it all come and go over the years. But it’s still surviving and any extra people who come to downtown it just benefits everyone so we love it down here,” said Worsell.

Board President Angela Sarabia says the non-profit theater is worth seeing even when nothing’s happening.”

“We’ve got this gorgeous chandelier right when you walk in. This beautiful rich velvet interior,” said Sarabia.

There are lots of events here. It’s a community stage for shows and music and still a place for the movies.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, the theater has boxes of Legos and other toys. The theater is giving them away to kids along with some of the films it is showing at a family rate.

“Huge pallets of them and they wanted to support the theater and we were like how can we use them? So this is what we came up with on the fly,” said Sarabia.

Those here say that with so much history, the theater is still a bit of a hidden gem, and they hope more and more people get to experience it.

For more information on the Richey Suncoast Theater click here

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