Historic Florence theater ready for next round of upgrades

FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — An historic theatre in the heart of downtown Florence is primed for another round of upgrades that officials say will help it keep pace with modern demands.

Carolina Theatre, located on Dargan Street, was built around 1925 on what once was a barn.

“While this historic building that was such a staple and ingrained in the fabric of downtown kind of hit pause, we can work on this renovation and get it back to life and contributing to our district,” said assistant city manager Clint Moore.

First repaired in the 1940s, the theater is getting a makeover as part of Florence’s continued downtown redevelopment. Officials in January inked a contract for $500,000 worth of repairs that saw a new roof and ceiling. Water damage from Hurricane Florence was also repaired.

A $270,000 state historic preservation grant also helped preserve some of the original architecture.

“We’re able to put back the ceiling as it was, prior to all the water damage,” Moore said. “It had a very interesting scalloped-tier ceiling to it, and so it’s exciting to put those elements back and really pay homage to what the building was.”

Officials took out a $2 million bond in 2018, with matching funds arriving this year from the state budget to enable the second phase of work.

The city plans to create a three-tiered floor, expand the stage, and add new lighting and speakers for Florence’s community to host state-level conferences, concerts and weddings.

“Folks have weddings or, a lot of times, you hear alumni associations hosting… They’re in the NCAA tournament, [so] they host an alumni event and watch the game,” Moore said.

“This is a building that helps us create that sense of place downtown and really drives that molding of the two worlds, where you have all the historic elements and what people think of as your historic downtown, and then all the modern amenities that we have,” Moore added.

Moore said construction is expected to take about 12 months.

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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work here .

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