TAMPA, FL (WFTS) — For nearly a century, Tampa Theatre has been one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, welcoming generations of moviegoers beneath its iconic twinkling night sky.
Now, after a seven-month restoration project and a $24.5 million investment, the historic theater is preparing to celebrate a milestone few venues ever reach: its 100th birthday.
Watch report from Jada Williams
The theater officially opened on Oct. 15, 1926. On Oct. 15, 2026, it will mark its centennial with a celebration that honors its past while looking ahead to the future.
"The day is Thursday. October 15, 1926, was the day we opened, and we will party on October 15, 2026," said Tampa Theatre President and CEO George Leveque.
The celebration week has already begun. Before the public returned to the restored auditorium, the theater invited construction crews and contractors to experience the finished product for themselves.
"We let the people who worked on the theater be the first to come in and see it for themselves," Leveque said.
The centennial celebration will also include community leaders, elected officials and supporters who helped preserve one of Tampa's most beloved institutions.
Preserving a piece of Tampa history
For much of the year, the Duncan Auditorium was closed as crews worked behind the scenes on one of the most significant restoration projects in the theater's history.
The improvements go far beyond what visitors can immediately see.
"Twenty-four and a half million dollars of restoration, and it's everything from the paint and the plaster that you see to all the things that you don't see," Leveque said.
"One hundred-year-old plumbing needed to be changed out, all new electrical systems, new sound, new lighting, really top to bottom."
The goal was to preserve the historic charm that has defined Tampa Theatre for generations while creating a modern experience for the next century of visitors.
"So not only the things that you see that make it historic, but also the things that we hope you never see that make it work and function," Leveque said.
Leveque arrived as CEO in the middle of the restoration, watching hundreds of workers transform the century-old building.
"It has been a very interesting way to start as a CEO, to come in in the middle of a restoration like this," he said.
"The number of workers that were coming in and out of this Duncan Auditorium on any given day was kind of ludicrous, and it's just amazing that it all came together, and it came together on time."
A community effort decades in the making
The restoration wouldn't have happened without significant support from donors and community members who see Tampa Theatre as more than just a movie house.
For Devin Dominguez, Tampa Theatre's vice president and director of development, the fundraising effort revealed just how deeply the venue is woven into the community.
"The donors really came out and showed up," Dominguez said.
One donor who had never previously contributed made the largest single gift in the theater's history to support restoration of the theater's iconic night sky.
"For the night sky, we had a donor that came to us who had never given before, and she gave us the largest single gift that we'd ever received in our history," Dominguez said.
Six weeks later, another donor matched that generosity with a major gift supporting the theater's new education center.
"That just says so much about our community and how they believe in Tampa Theatre and what we can do in our next century of service," he said.
For Dominguez, the connection is personal.
"I grew up coming to Tampa Theatre. I'm a third-generation Tampaian, so not only did I come here, but my parents came here, and my grandparents came here."
The famous night sky shines brighter than ever
Among Tampa Theatre's most recognizable features is its atmospheric ceiling, known as the Ruberg Night Sky.
For decades, visitors have sat beneath a canopy of stars that helped make the theater famous.
Now that experience is getting an upgrade.
Dominguez said new technology has refreshed the night sky to enhance the immersive experience while preserving its historic character.
"Now people will be able to engage with the night sky in a new way," he said.
Additional stars now illuminate the ceiling. Some now twinkle. New LED lighting can also create sunrise and sunset effects inside the auditorium.
The improvements preserve one of the theater's most beloved features while introducing enhancements that audiences will notice the moment they walk through the doors.
Building for the next century
While the restoration focused on preserving the past, many of the project's most significant investments are aimed squarely at the future.
One of the largest additions is the new Jackie Price Education Center, a roughly 3,000-square-foot space that will occupy the theater's second and third floors.
Education has long been part of Tampa Theatre's mission through film camps, guided tours and occasional classes. Until now, however, those programs competed for space inside the auditorium.
"We've never had a dedicated space to do all of that," said Jill Witecki, vice president and director of marketing and community relations.
"Everything has always happened in the Duncan Auditorium, and if you're using the space for one thing, you can't use it for something else."
The new center will provide dedicated classroom space, film camps, birthday parties, community programming and educational opportunities for all ages.
"We're going to have 3,000 dedicated square feet of space on this floor and the floor above us for classrooms, for film camp, for birthday parties, and for a whole host of other programs for all ages," Witecki said.
The theater is currently hiring its first education director and has received more than 120 applications for the position.
Construction is expected to wrap up in November, with the first classes beginning in the new year.
Teaching media literacy in the age of AI
The education center will not simply focus on filmmaking.
Theater leaders say it will also help people better understand the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Future programming could include media literacy classes, technology workshops and discussions about artificial intelligence, social media and digital content verification.
"You can talk back with a director. You can make your own film, or even as simple as learning about TikTok," Dominguez said.
"Like, what are your grandkids doing, or is this AI, or is this trying to deceive me in some way?"
The programming reflects growing concerns about misinformation, manipulated content and the challenge of separating authentic information from misleading content online.
The center could ultimately serve children, adults and seniors alike as technology continues to reshape daily life.
Making the theater more accessible
The project also included major accessibility improvements.
One of the most significant upgrades was adding an elevator, which finally opens the building's upper levels to the public.
"We couldn't make this a public-facing space until we were able to make it accessible," Witecki said.
The education center also includes flexible classroom spaces designed to accommodate multiple programs at once.
A movable wall system lets one large room convert into two separate classrooms, adding flexibility for future programming.
"This has been such a long time coming," Witecki said. "Education is so important to what we do."
Hidden treasures discovered during construction
As crews cleared out long-unused spaces during construction, they stumbled upon pieces of Tampa Theatre history.
Some areas that will soon house educational programs were previously used as storage.
"This floor up here was storage space," Witecki said.
"And when I say storage space, it was unair conditioned, full of termites, just piles of stuff that generations of management had saved."
She described it as "the dumping ground of Tampa Theatre."
Inside those piles were forgotten artifacts dating back decades.
"When we started cleaning out this space, we literally had a pile. It was not set up nicely. It was thrown into a pile. Pieces of furniture that were in this building 100 years ago."
Workers discovered chairs, lamps, tables and paintings that had been tucked away for generations.
"There were a couple of paintings that we had never seen before," Witecki said.
Using photographs from 1926, staff members determined where the artwork originally hung.
"They'll be right back up on the wall where they started."
Preserving the past with modern technology
Not every artifact was salvageable.
But before discarding damaged pieces, Tampa Theatre partnered with the University of South Florida to preserve them digitally.
"We had the crews from USF come in and 3D scan everything," Witecki said.
The scans created permanent digital records of furnishings and artifacts that could not be physically restored.
The effort reflects a broader theme throughout the project: using modern technology to preserve historic resources for future generations.
Creating a home for 100 years of history
The restoration also created the new Harris Archive Room.
For decades, Tampa Theatre's collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, artifacts and memorabilia lived in scattered corners of the building.
Some items were stored in drawers. Others were tucked underneath the stage or hidden in offices throughout the theater.
"We knew we had a lot of cool stuff," Witecki said.
As part of the project, staff gathered the collection in one place and partnered with the City of Tampa Archives team to help organize it.
"We are so grateful to Jennifer Deets at the City of Tampa and her archive team who stepped in to help us catalog all of it, file it correctly," Witecki said.
Once complete, the archive will preserve the physical collection and support a future virtual archive that members of the public can access online.
Improvements audiences may never notice
Some of the most important upgrades are hidden in plain sight.
One example is a new permanent house mix position for sound and lighting technicians.
Before the renovation, visiting performers often had to rely on folding tables, equipment carts and temporary cable runs stretching across the auditorium floor.
"It worked, but it wasn't putting our best foot forward," Witecki said.
The permanent control center will improve production quality and provide a more professional experience for touring performers, including upcoming acts like comedian Leslie Jones.
Honoring the past while embracing the future
As Tampa Theatre celebrates its first century, leaders say the restoration was never simply about making an old building look new again.
Instead, the project was designed to ensure the theater remains relevant, accessible and vibrant for generations to come.
"It is the people of Tampa that somehow preserved this theater," Leveque said.
"There is no other theater like this one in America that is this well preserved."
His message to visitors returning during the centennial celebration is simple.
"See it, touch it, feel it. It's beautiful."
And for Dominguez, the restoration represents something even bigger.
"This project was a love letter to the community," he said.
A century after opening its doors, Tampa Theatre is honoring its history while laying the foundation for its next 100 years.
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