Featured News: The Tampa Theatre, an 87-Year Old Major Landmark

At first glance, the enduring Floridian landmark that is the Tampa Theatre may strike the casual observer as something not quite believable—an urban mirage that is cause for one to turn away before looking back again; just to make sure that pollutants in the air or a trick of light hasn’t meddled with the view. However, it is not because the state’s west coast is renowned for hallucinatory experiences or that the city of Tampa is located in some enigmatic vortex akin to the Bermuda Triangle. It is just that for a city that is home to Wikipedia’s “server farm” and that is becoming increasingly popular to “twenty-somethings”; hence it doesn’t make complete sense that a grand old historic wonder like the Tampa Theatre has not only survived, but also recently celebrated the transition to digital films during its eighty-seventh anniversary year.

As the city’s oldest theater, the Tampa Theatre could be considered a minor miracle for the fact that it survived a history in which the land beneath such venues gained a much greater worth than the cultural hosts that had been operating on top of the soil. It pays to remember that the Theatre pre-dates sound in film, and was opened during an era when ticketing staff mainly handled coins and the musicians that provided the score would travel home on the same streets as the audience. In fact, the “Mighty Wurlitzer” organ that was a mainstay in the provision of the Theatre’s silent film soundtracks remains functional in the 21st century. When the “talkies” were introduced in 1927, the year after the theater’s doors first opened, the Tampa Theatre simply joined the sound film phenomenon and provided an early indication of the ongoing adaptation that has been key to the landmark’s survival.

Even though six other downtown theaters were demolished during the 1970s, a decade when the new cultural standard of suburban malls was an additional factor, the Tampa Theatre was championed by a determined community, whose actions eventually led to the Theatre being named as a member of The National Register of Historic Places in 1978; a decade later it was declared a Tampa City Landmark. Maybe it had something to do with the original architect John Eberson, who was a Romanian graduate of the University of Vienna. Eberson also designed movie palaces in Sydney, Australia and Paris, France, in addition to numerous other American cities. Inspired by the Florida that he witnessed during his yearly “wintering”, during which time he had “visions of Italian gardens, Spanish patios, Persian shrines, and French formal gardens”, it seems highly likely that the architect would be pleased with his creation’s elegant defiance in the face of difficult times.

In 2013 the Tampa Theatre is owned and maintained by the city of Tampa, while the Arts Council of Hillsborough County manages the ongoing business, and the passionate loyalty that motivated the likes of Tampa City Councilman Lee Duncan, a member of the 1970s campaign, continues to thrive among community members. In addition to the Tampa Theatre Restoration Society, which assisted a television network to complete a US$250,000 remodeling project in 2006, Tampa residents continue to attend the theater with their own children after first visiting as children themselves. Furthermore, both the Internet and the media have provided forums for the opinions of those who are not only relieved by the Theatre’s new digital technology, but who also remained committed patrons during a period when the sound system was “inaudible” and “frustrating.” However, even with such a strong history of loyalty, the Tampa Theatre is not invincible and Tampa film critic Steve Persall revealed to a Tampa Bay media outlet that the transition to digital this year was crucial for the theater’s survival, “…Tampa Theatre had to do this or it’s not going to survive.”

From the silent The Ace of Cads, through to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and now the art film Samsara, shown free-of-charge for the movie house’s digital launch, the Tampa Theatre’s ongoing survival is actually highly compatible with the vibrancy of modern-day Tampa, even though its origins are far beyond the memories of the city’s growing youth demographic and its online preoccupations. In fact, Tampa’s young people were already filling the Theatre’s seats well before the introduction of digital films, as 40,000 field trip participants continue to visit Tampa Theatre on an annual basis, while musical acts such as Ani DiFranco and the Felice Brothers have graced the theater’s stage for rollicking performances.

While the Tampa Theatre, built at an original cost of US$1.2 million, has been the subject of significant restoration activity over the last century, the process is not yet complete and further work, such as painting the area that surrounds the stage and lighting improvements, will be undertaken in years to come.