Tampa Theatre working on $30M in enhancements ahead of turning 100

The Tampa Theatre sits nestled on a corner of North Franklin Street in the city’s downtown, a classic movie house in the age of streaming and cineplexes.

It is the kind of place where a 1,400-pipe Wurlitzer organ plays before movies, where you can watch Star Wars on a Sunday afternoon and Boogie Nights on a weeknight. In the mid-1980s, the rock band Night Ranger played a show there people still talk about.

And this is a place that got it start showing silent films in 1926.

Tampa Theatre is getting to ready to mark its 100th year in October and as part of the preparation for the milestone it is undergoing a $30 million major renovation and modernization that will see its main room, the historic Duncan Auditorium, close for several months.

The project is nothing short of a “transformational investment in our community’s cultural legacy,” says John Bell, Tampa Theatre’s president and CEO.

Raise the funds

One of the biggest pieces of the entire project is the restoration of the Duncan Auditorium “to its original grandeur.” It is the grand, ornate theater one imagines when they think of the movie palaces of old, with fine details, high ceilings and a balcony. 

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Cinema Treasures, a website focused on movie houses, says that when the John Eberson designed theater opened “audiences were transported to a lavish, romantic Mediterranean courtyard, replete with old world statuary, flowers and gargoyles. Over (it) all is a night-time sky, replete with twinkling stars and floating clouds.”

According to the Tampa Theatre’s website, the auditorium closes March 10 and will reopen in late September, ahead of the Oct. 15 anniversary. The work will include infrastructure upgrades, restoration of the decorative paint and plaster and the preservation of its original fixtures and furnishings, the theater says.

A second screening room will remain open for films and other events.

The first phase of the work at the theater has been ongoing, with the Taylor Screening room completed in 2024. In addition to that, a new education wing will be completed in December, with plans for an early 2027 opening.

All the work for that phase is projected to cost $24.5 million, says Jill Witecki, the theater’s vice president and director of marketing and community relations.

To date, the theater is 95% of the way toward the $24.5 million goal. It received a $14 million appropriation from the city of Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency, as well as donations from corporations and individuals and support from state and county funding.

Under the name Tampa Theatre Inc, it is a nonprofit, with, according to publicly-available IRS tax returns, $5 million in revenue and $12.3 million in total assets in its most recent fiscal year.

Great expectations 

The next phase will push the project to $30 million.

That part of the project will include creating a lounge-like gathering space called The Peacock Room on the second floor above the historic marquee for receptions, conversations and other events; making the stage, backstage area and green room ADA accessible; refreshing the concessions area; and restoring the Wurlitzer organ.

Witecki says the time frame for that phase is to be determined.

With the plans in place, a major piece of the project, which will include the full restoration of the Duncan Auditorium, is set to begin.

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That work, says Creative Contractors, includes “a comprehensive historic restoration of both interior and exterior elements.”

The Clearwater-based commercial construction firm says its part of the work, a $13.5 million undertaking, includes completing audiovisual enhancements, adding a new stage truss system and upgrading theatrical lighting to support live performances and films.

The first floor is also being upgraded with new restrooms and a new elevator to improve accessibility. 

All that work is part of the Duncan Auditorium restoration.

Other parts of the project Creative Contractors is working on include: 

• Life safety and infrastructure upgrades, including the installation of fire sprinklers across three floors and mechanical, electrical and plumbing system upgrades throughout the building.
• Refreshing the building’s exterior signage with new paint and upgraded lighting.
• Work on the education wing, which includes transforming the Florida Avenue side of the theater. The plan is to create a new, two-story education center that will house permanent classrooms and archival storage for educational programs that will work with the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa, as well as others.

Creative is familiar with the theater. It worked on the construction of the Taylor screening room and a 2017 lobby renovation, restoration and seating replacement project, as well as the replacement of an emergency generator.

In a statement, Creative President and CEO Josh Bomstein says Tampa Theatre “is a treasured piece of the cultural fabric of our region” and that that the firm is “grateful to be the stewards of its next chapter.”