[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 52 (Tuesday, May 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HELEN STAIRS THEATER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN L. MICA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 2000

  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
congratulate the City of Sanford, Florida and its citizens for their 
successful renovation and restoration of the former Ritz Theater, to be 
renamed the Helen Stairs Theater, which will celebrate its grand 
opening on Saturday, May 6, 2000. The theater, located in the historic 
district of Sanford, has celebrated a storied past, and its restoration 
promises the citizens of Sanford the opportunity to transform an icon 
of another age into a community facility with a bright new future.
  Originally known as the Milane Theater, the Helen Stairs Theater was 
first constructed in 1923 by the Milane Amusement Company as part of a 
broad expansion in downtown Sanford. The theater design is indicative 
of a building style that began appearing in the United States in the 
1850s based on European models of opera houses. Motion picture 
expansion in the early twentieth century led to a boom in the 
construction of new theaters with over twenty-five thousand theaters 
located across the United States by 1916. The technical sophistication 
achieved in theater construction during this period remains 
unparalleled in the history of American architecture. The Helen Stairs 
Theater epitomizes the tremendous boom and amazing achievements made 
during this period and is a visual testimony to the rich history and 
beauty of Sanford, Florida.
  The Milane Amusement Company, led by President Frank Miller and Vice 
President Edward Lane, built the theater as a profit-enterprise. They 
had acquired the site from the former Star Theater, and movie house 
that had been abandoned for a number of years, with the intention of 
creating a new theater that would be capable of accommodating seven 
hundred patrons. Construction of the new theater began in November of 
1922, and was completed in July of 1923 for a mere $80,000. Editors of 
the Sanford Daily Herald proclaimed the building as ``a much needed 
asset in the City Substantial,'' and claimed that ``this city now has a 
real theater and one of which the city can feel proud.'' The theater 
opened on August 2, 1923 to rave reviews.
  Over the next few years there were management changes, the sale of 
the theater to Frank and Stella Evans in 1933, and in 1936, the theater 
was renamed the Ritz Theater. The Ritz continued to thrive through the 
years featuring mostly picture shows, but also including some live 
performances, and became an integral part of the history of Sanford. 
During the 1960s, the theater attendance declined, and in 1978, the 
Ritz closed after failing to compete with the new multiplex theaters. 
The theater stood vacant until 1984 when it was reopened as the 
Showtime Cantina. Four years later the theater was again closed and 
remained vacant until the mid-1990s when it was acquired by the Ritz 
Community Theater Project, Inc., under the leadership of Helen Stairs. 
The group began renovating the theater in 1999, and it was renamed in 
honor of Helen Stairs whose determination and dedicated effort has 
resulted in its restoration.
  I congratulate and thank Helen Stairs, her husband Carl and family, 
and all of those who joined with her in the effort to restore this 
historic treasure. On behalf of the Central Florida U.S. Congressional 
Delegation, we salute the tremendous effort that made this community 
project a reality.

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