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Still Star-Struck At 80

The 1,450-seat theater built more than 80 years ago is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

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By KURT LOFT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2007

Updated: 12/21/2007 11:55 pm

TAMPA - Our city has its share of movie houses, concert halls and auditoriums, but it covets one above all, a magical place where history drifts like a ghost and a starlit sky twinkles above our heads.

The Tampa Theatre is more than a landmark. It is part of the city's body and being, a breathing remnant of the past that refuses to fade or lose its luster. For in this lavishly appointed palace, time moves in all directions, and visitors slip enchanted into another era.

Tampa rightly takes pride in its prize in the heart of downtown, a 1,450-seat theater built more than 80 years ago and now on the National Register of Historic Places. Nothing like it exists here, a mixed-breed of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Mediterranean, Spanish, Greek Revival and English Tudor. Gleaming marble floors and palazzo tile add touches of regal weight.

Defending the premises are mythological figures standing in alcoves around the proscenium, and exotic beasts, gargoyles and birds hide among darkened nooks and crannies. On any given night the Mighty Wurlitzer organ - a staple during the age of silent film - pops up through the center of the stage.

Designed by architect John Eberson and built for $1.2 million, the theater was Tampa's first "air-cooled" building when it opened on Oct. 15, 1926, featuring the silent film "Ace of Cads" for 25 cents. Today, the theater offers more than 700 films and other events each year in an ideal marriage of form and function.

"What's important is the programming the theater does," says Art Keeble, director of the Arts Council of Tampa-Hillsborough County. "You can see great movies and concerts, get married there, go to wine tastings. And while you go for the event, once you walk in you're struck by the beauty of the place. It's the heart of the cultural district."

That heart nearly was ripped out by indifference and neglect. By the 1960s, more and more people were leaving Tampa proper for the suburbs, and soon new malls and multiplexes stole business from downtown.

With lost revenue, the historic theater fell into decay, leaving little budget for sufficient maintenance. Termites and rust replaced Gable and Garbo, and a final act loomed: the wrecking ball.

The mere suggestion that anyone would raze the place sends tingles down the back of Randi Whiddon, president of the Tampa Theatre Restoration Society and an architect with Urban Studios.

"People have taken down some amazing buildings that are part of our history, but this is a real Tampa icon," she says. "It's full of unbelievable detail and workmanship. There are only a handful of theaters out there with this kind of feel."

Florida State Theaters, which owned the building at the time, bailed out by selling it for $1 to the city of Tampa. Local politicians, in particular City Councilman Lee Duncan, realized the potential of the theater and worked on a preservation plan with the arts council.

In 1977, the theater reopened as a quasi-nonprofit film and special events center, and the next year was named to the National Register of Historic Places. It was declared a Tampa landmark in 1988. A fundraising effort in the 1990s injected $1.5 million in much-needed restoration work.

Today, the theater is regarded as one of the country's best preserved examples of grand movie palace architecture, and each year more than 135,000 people attend its classic film series, concerts and social events.

To accommodate the crowds and preserve the theater's charm, management keeps restoration on the front burner. Nobody seems to mind.

"The day-to-day care and love takes a lot of work and money," says Tara Schroeder, a theater spokeswoman. "But I'm privileged to work here. I feel like we're stewards of a community treasure."

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.

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