Potential replacement for Sun-Ray Cinema files to incorporate. Here's what could be coming

Alexandria Mansfield, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
·2 min read

Sun-Ray Cinema will soon be out of its Park Street location, and a new business has officially filed to lease the building it's in.

A corporation called JRFMJAXTOO Inc. filed on May 17 with the Florida Department of State's Division of Corporations to have its principal place of business at 1028 Park St. according to electronic articles of incorporation on sunbiz.org.

The address is currently home to Sun-Ray, the Five Points movie theater that will be closing by the end of July after the building sold in April. There are also a few office spaces available to lease in the building.

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The incorporation paperwork shows a main business address attached to Josh Billue in Nashville. Billue is listed as the owner of Marathon Live, a "full-service entertainment venue."

The company began with Marathon Music Works, a Nashville venue established in 2011, which is described on the website as "now one of the last independently owned and operated venues in the city."

The company has since expanded to operate venues in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; Little Rock, Arkansas; and St. Louis since 2017, according to the website.

The Sun-Ray Cinema in Riverside displaying a timely and hopeful message in March 2020, in the early days of the pandemic.
The Sun-Ray Cinema in Riverside displaying a timely and hopeful message in March 2020, in the early days of the pandemic.

In 2022, the company announced plans to establish a space in Jacksonville.

The venue is set to move into Dennis + Ives at 1505 Dennis St. in Jacksonville’s Rail Yard District. The commercial space will additionally be home to offices, restaurants and retail space.

Jeremy Hicks, the communication director for Marathon Live, declined to answer questions about the incoming business, saying their "PR partner will reach out" when they are ready to "make a formal announcement on this project."

Hicks also noted the Park Street filing is a separate project from the one announced in 2022, which is "still in the works."

It is unclear whether this "project" is intended to take over the theater portion of the building or another empty unit.

The 5-Points theater building with it's historic theater Wednesday morning, April 17, 2024. With talks of the almost 100-year old 5-Points Theater building being sold the fate of the Sun-Ray Cinema, which shows first run movies and art films is up in the air.
The 5-Points theater building with it's historic theater Wednesday morning, April 17, 2024. With talks of the almost 100-year old 5-Points Theater building being sold the fate of the Sun-Ray Cinema, which shows first run movies and art films is up in the air.

The news of Sun-Ray's closure first broke in April when an online petition to keep the cinema in business made its rounds. Additional rumors circulated that there were plans to turn the space into a parking garage, which would have been a lengthy and unlikely process due to the facade's landmark status that grants it special preservation protections through the city.

Sun-Ray opened in 2011, but the building sold to new owners, Union South Partners, in May. The theater's official last day has not yet been announced, but owners have confirmed the business will vacate the space in the Five Points Theater Building by the end of July.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sun-Ray Cinema could be replaced by Nashville-based entertainment venue

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