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2 businesses at this address since 1924

Franklin Theatre / Florida Theatre

710 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL

A theater named in a $50 public contest in 1924 was cleared with its whole block in 1978 for a power company headquarters.

📅 1924–present🏛️ TheaterDemolished
Open on the mapSlide back to 1924

The story

The Franklin Theatre opened in 1924, joining the Strand, the Victory and the Tampa Theater within a few blocks. A public contest with a $50 prize chose the name. Mayor Perry G. Wall spoke at the dedication and the opening film was Woman to Woman. The box office sat in the center with storefronts on either side, and Leiter's Jewel Box opened on the left.

In November 1938 it was renamed the Florida Theatre, and it did well for decades. In the mid-1970s television and falling downtown retail traffic closed it, and the building sat vacant for years.

In 1978 the entire block was demolished. Tampa Electric Company, now Teco Energy, built a nine-story headquarters on the land. The sidewalk was replaced and the street was narrowed to create a pedestrian mall.

What's There Now

The Tampa Electric (Teco) headquarters building and plaza stand where the block was cleared.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

The name was picked in a public contest with a $50 prize.
The street was narrowed into a pedestrian mall when the block was rebuilt.
The opening film in 1924 was Woman to Woman.

Nearby history

Maas Brothers Department Store

700 N Franklin St · 6 m away
Tampa's hometown department store started with a 23-by-90-foot shop and ended as a parking lot after the condos never ca

Tampa Theatre

711 N Franklin St · 46 m away
Tampa's first air-conditioned commercial building was nearly lost in 1973, and it is still showing movies under a painte

The Hub Bar

719 N Franklin St · 60 m away
A downtown Tampa dive that traces itself to 1949 and moved into its Franklin Street building in 2002.

Victory Theatre / Palace Theatre

700 N Tampa St · 88 m away
A vaudeville house that became the only Cinerama theater within 500 miles and ran The Sound of Music for a year and five

S. H. Kress and Co.

811 N Franklin St · 111 m away
A five-and-dime in terra cotta, closed since 1981 and the subject of at least four failed redevelopment plans.

Federal Building, U.S. Courthouse and Downtown Postal Station

601 N Florida Ave · 159 m away
Tampa's post office, courthouse and custom house, finished in 1905, is now a Le Meridien hotel owned by the city.

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Sourceshttps://www.oldtampaphotos.com/franklin-theatre-building-710-franklin-street