Built and opened in 1922 as the New Dreka Theatre, it was named after George Augustus Dreka who had opened a department store on an adjacent lot.

The Dreka Theater closed in 1956. Its last movie was an Audie Murphy film, “To Hell and Back.” In the 30s and 40s generations both old and young attended the double feature Saturday matinees which always included a cowboy movie, a mystery or comedy, at least 2 cartoons, and a weekly serial such as “Flash Gordon.” Tickets for kids under the age of 12 was 9 cents. After it closed, the stage was filled in and the building renovated. 

It was being operated in the 1940’s by E.J. Sparks as a subsidairy of Paramount Pictures Inc. together with DeLand’s other movie theatre, the Athens Theatre. By 1954 the Dreka Theatre was operated by the Talgar Theatre Company chain and they closed it in 1956.

Imagine the front of this now modern building with parapets, decorative geometric tiles, and elaborate curvilinear windows on the facade. At the center was an ornate kiosk ticket office, naming it for the popular department store adjacent to it, Walter Geissinger developed the theater to capitalize on the emerging movie industries which boomed following World War I. For at least three generations of patrons, the Dreka Theater was DeLand's most popular spot on Saturday afternoons. Double features always included a western movie, often with a "singing cowboy," and a scary mystery or zany comedy. At least two cartoons and an exciting weekly serial kept on the edge of their seats. Tickets under 12 years of age: 9 cents. The theater closed in 1956.