Theatre renovation/Seminole 1940/Orval Irwin..page3

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Seminole Theatre

The 1940 Story

..The spring of '40, they led away *Big Shorty*..

writer/SOUTH DADE NEWS LEADER\retired..page3

*A loaf of Bread was 10 cent in '40

There were a few weeks wait while the engineers and the architect, took their required measurements and made up the blueprints. As I recall, Roy Benjamin, a theatre architect, from Jacksonville, handled the plans, Of course all of the workmen were anxious to get started. One must understand, these were the depression days. Laborers wages were $2.00 per day, carpenters wer $6.00 per day and masons were $8.00. Krome avenue store clerks only made $15.00-$18.00 per week. McCroy clercks made 10cent per hour. A loaf of bread was 10cent.

With the old building material all cleaned out, next came the precise laying of the foundation for the steel upright columns. Here, I was a helper to the foreman, Lloyd Deitz. These layouts had to be checked and rechecked for accuracy. A fence was built on top of the old 10 inch poured concrete walls. Everything was hosted with a rope and a pully. I personally poured a 8"x12" beam around the entire building. While the steel was being set, I assisted the bricklayer. Frank Klick, when he layed up the front wall, with offsets of 8 and 12 inch block, all block and motar were hoisted from the street with rope and a pully.

There is an offset on the north wall where the 10 poured concrete wall changes to a modern plastered wall. This was regarded as the *curtain wall*, as all of the roof supports and main structure are held up and together by the steel uprights. Now with the front wall completed and all the steel beams, uprights and a huge truse set secured in place, 2"x 8" plates were bolted on top of the roof truses. A bevy of 2"x 8" roof rafters were nailed to the plates every 16 inches. Next, 1"x 6" roof sheating boards covered the entire roof. Giffen Roofing Company mopped on 5 layers of 15 lb felt then covered it with gravel.

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