The Skinny
This Landmark was built in 1936 and opened its doors as the "RITZ". It has been visited by rich and famous such as Clark Gable, Constance Bennett, Michael O'Shea, William Boyd and cowboy great Bill Elliot. In the early 50s the "RITZ" chain was bought and renovated by the Martin Family. The original marque was replaced with the one now gracing the façade of the building and the cinema operated as the Martin Theater until 1978. Left vacant and deteriorating, the theater was used for a short time as a shooting gallery. In 1987, the Panama City Downtown Improvement Board bought the vacant building and, with funding from the State of Florida, renovated it in 2020.
We have been hired to renovate and restore all the exterior walls back to its historic beauty.
How We Did It
The exterior envelope has been severely damaged by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992. Since then, many other inclement weather continued to damage the exterior walls and farming.
We had to preserve the original historic design and colors before taking apart all exterior walls. We had to replace every rusted metal framing, install new Densglass sheathing, seal and waterproof everything and install a Decowall FRS Missile Hurricane Resistant exterior wall system, as approved by the State of Florida and Panama City Downtown Improvement Board. All colors have been historically preserved and restored to the original Martin Theater beauty.
