Mark Woods: Want to make a statement in support of Sun-Ray Cinema? Go to a movie there.

Five years ago, I wrote a column with the headline: “And this Oscar goes to … our local indie theaters.”

I used the Academy Awards as a hook to say we were lucky to still have two independent movie theaters, the Sun-Ray Cinema in Five Points and the San Marco Theatre.

Needless to say, a lot has happened since 2019.

COVID temporarily closed all theaters. And even when they did reopen, many struggled to lure back people who had gotten used to streaming movies from the comfort and convenience of home.

And on Jan. 1, 2023, without much warning, the San Marco Theatre closed.

The owners, four San Marco residents, posted a message on social media, thanking patrons and saying the movie industry had shifted to the point that the movie theatre experience was “quickly going the way of Blockbuster Video.”

When people lamented the loss, the building owners offered assurances that the Art Deco exterior would remain. That was of little comfort. I didn’t care so much about the historic facade as I did all of the history inside. I wanted it to be a movie theater. One that had been there for 84 years. One that, even as it was updated and renovated, never felt like every megaplex in America.

It was a part of the square, part of the community, a place where generations of families had gone, a place where my family had spent many a Friday night.

After that news, the cases in front of theater where movie posters used to hang quickly filled with hundreds of messages written on Post-it notes. They said things like, “Please don’t close. I promise I’ll come more!”

At the time, I wrote that it didn’t sound like much could be done to save that theater, but “one thing you can do is support what's across the river in 5 Points, Sun-Ray Cinema.”

That’s even more pressing today.

While the San Marco Theatre is on its way to becoming a pizza place — sounds like it will be a nice one, but Jacksonville isn’t exactly hurting for places to get pizza — now the future of Sun-Ray Cinema is, in a word, uncertain.

Some of the initial rumors of the past week got details wrong. And social media did its thing and not only spread those rumors, but quickly vilified some of those involved in the potential sale of the 97-year-old building that houses the movie theater, BREW 5 Points and a variety of office spaces.

The building isn’t about to be demolished. As a historic landmark — status established after renovations by the current owner — it has some protections, requiring City Council approval. For the building.

But, as was the case across the river, it isn’t simply the historic building that makes 1028 Park Street special. It’s what has been in it for nearly 100 years, the movies and the people who have watched them.

I mean, a friend’s daughter named her dog “Sun-Ray.”

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I realize now that I don’t know if the name is hyphenated like the theater. But the point is that the dog is named after the theater. I don’t know any dogs named “AMC Regency 24.”

The theater now known as the Sun-Ray opened in 1927, two years before the first Academy Awards. It has survived everything from the Great Depression to pandemic. The latter led to a marquee message that said, “Cinema closed until real life doesn’t feel like a movie. Stay safe, be kind.”

The theater owners, Tim Massett and Shana David-Masset, got creative during the pandemic, reviving another bit of movie nostalgia: the drive-in.

That helped the Sun-Ray make it back to the point of opening the theater doors.

But now with a lot of unknowns, including what a sale to an Atlanta-based company would mean, it’s safe to say the theater’s future is uncertain.

With the San Marco Theatre, I remember thinking if only people had known the theater’s future was so tenuous, the community would have tried to save it. Maybe it wouldn’t have been enough. But it would have been nice to have that opportunity before it was too late.

So now is the time to rally around the Sun-Ray. Before it's too late. Before the building is being gutted, turned into something else.

A “Save Sun-Ray” campaign led to more than 10,000 emails in a day. A protest is planned for Tuesday, the next City Council meeting.

Maybe the petitions and protests will make a difference. But there’s another way people can make a statement in support of the Sun-Ray: go to a movie there.

This is, more broadly, true with all kinds of local businesses. If you want it to be around, support it. Eat at a favorite restaurant. Shop at a favorite store. Go to movies at a favorite theater.

Seems fairly obvious. But I think all of us, myself, included, just assume those places will be around.

I’ve seen plenty of posts on social media where someone is lamenting the closing of a “popular” restaurant, saying they have fond memories of it. Not recent ones. But fond ones.

So this isn’t just a reminder to others. It’s to myself.

We hadn’t gone to Sun-Ray in a while before seeing “American Fiction” shortly before this year’s Academy Awards. (I still say it deserved to win Best Picture, but that’s another column.)

A few weeks later, I went back to Sun-Ray for a screening of the documentary, “Just Another Bombing?” The theater was packed.

In both cases, it wouldn’t have been the same experience watching the movies from my couch. And it wasn’t just a matter of seeing something on the proverbial big screen. There are big screens in megaplexes. But it isn't the same.

mwoods@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4212

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Now is time to rally around Sun-Ray Cinema