History:
The Orange Park Community Theatre was established in May 1969 by the Orange Park Women's Club.The first show staged by the community theater was "The Night of January 16th". The show was performed in the Clay County Courthouse in Green Cove Springs. Their second show, "The Armored Dove" was performed in the Orange Park High School Cafetorium. In February 1970 local Industrialist J. Louis Reynolds offered the theater building from Reynolds Industrial Park ,which used to be a Naval Station
The Orange Park Community Theater continued to call this home through 1981, when the final production at this location, "Everybody Loves Opal" was staged. After this facility was no longer available, OPCT worked toward raising funding to build a permanent facility.
In February 1982 OPCT signed a lease with Clay County for approximately 1 acre of land, with the intention to continue fund raising to build a permanent facility on this property continuing to perform in local facilities including the Orange Park Lions Club, the Orange Park Public Library, Lakeside Elementary and Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
In 1986 OPCT became aware that a chapel facility, which had once been the St. Marys Catholic Church, owned by Mrs. Virginia Mims was scheduled for demolition. Mrs. Mims agreed to donate the facility to OPCT. In Jan 1987 a fund-raising event, was held and in April 1987 “The Move” to 2900 Moody Avenue took place. The first perfomance in this facility was "Murder Among Friends" and it has remained the home of OPCT since that time.
