The Tybee Post Theater
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The first Post Theater was a simple tent and showed silent films, but the second one was one of the last major buildings of Fort Screven’s 279 structures. It was built in 1930 of red brick with white wooden cornices in a modest Greek revival style. The pediment featured a lunette above three windows. Shallow wings on either side of the entrance sported arched poster windows. The front doors opened into a small entrance foyer. There was a central aisle with the usual side aisles. The floor was concrete with rubber mats for traction. Sound motion pictures or talkies began in 1929, and it has been claimed the Tybee Theater was one of the first in Georgia to have a sound system. It was standard U.S. Government theater design and is similar to theaters at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Hancock, New Jersey. It was almost 5,000 square feet and was capable of seating approximately 250 persons. The interior was originally “Streamline Moderne.”
During its heyday, the theater was patronized by the 500 post soldiers and their wives. Tybee’s young ladies attended as dates of the soldiers, and others might be allowed in at the discretion of the door keeper. Although this was a time before air-conditioning, the theater became the highlight of recreational activities at the fort. Perhaps the most famous patrons were George and Katherine Marshall, future President Dwight David Eisenhower and Savannah’s own native son, famed lyricist Johnny Mercer. Today the Tybee Island Museum (located in Battery Garland) has a collection of playbills shown at the Post Theater including two 1940 movies, “The Seahawk” starring Errol Flynn and “The Westerner” starring Gary Cooper with Walter Brennen. The theater showed cartoons and Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon shorts to keep its patrons coming back each week. Newsreels kept everyone up with the latest happenings around the world. Officers and their families had reserved seats on the three back rows. It was also the scene for children’s activities such as dance recitals and musical performances. The Tybee Historical Society saved the building from demolition by purchasing the property in 2001. The same year the the Friends of Tybee Theater (FOTT) was formed as a support group. FOTT acquired title in 2006 and began planning the rebirth of the theater. SPLOST funding of $350,000 was used in 2008 to refurbish the walls, recondition the steel structure and install a new roof. Later that year the Friends of Tybee Theater received a $30,000 state grant to restore the façade. Much needs to be done before the building can be brought back to life but with such a good beginning, Tybee Theater can look to a bright future: lectures, plays, concerts and, of course, movies.
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