Strand Theatre
200 E. Twiggs Street,
Tampa,
FL
33601
200 E. Twiggs Street,
Tampa,
FL
33601
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 32 comments
This disappeared from newspaper listings in 1931. It reopened on October 23rd, 1942 by Florida State Theatres. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Another ad:
Found on Newspapers.com
This opened on October 16th, 1915. Grand opening on the photo page and below:
Found on Newspapers.com
Wow! Fantastic interior photo. This had to have been taken about the time when the theatre first opened. Later shots show a slighlty more modern look with curtains within the proscenium. Thanks for posting!
It looks like “Strand” to me. Cool find!
This photo was listed on eBay as “Interior Strand Theatre 1920s”. It’s hard to read writing on photo, it doesn’t seem to say “Strand”.
Thanks guys enjoy the stories.
I remember seeing a bunch of pictures of the Maas Brothers interior, including the Strand portion. They disappeared from Flickr for whatever reason, and I never thought to look for any theater-y details.
Thanks for the additional details, Nick. I should have done more exploring during those lunch visits, but I guess you never fully appreciate something until it’s gone.
I was looking at a 1955 high school yearbook, and there was an ad from the “Florida State Theaters”. It listed the Tampa, Palace, Florida, Seminole, Garden, Springs, and Hillsboro Drive-In theatres. The ad used the spelling “Theaters”, not “Theatres” in the company title, but this was probably an error by the yearbook staff.
Yes, I wish they could have preserved the facade. What a shame.
The Strand had already been closed for a few years by the time my interest in theatres had begun so I never had a chance to see a movie here. When the building was still standing I’d walked pass the entrance just about every day during my lunch hour curiously wondering what the theatre interior had looked like before being absorbed into Maas Brothers.
Dick, You’re right. The upper portion of the elevated floor constructed within the former theatre auditorium (the Mezzanine) became Maas' famous Suncoast Restaruant where I had lunch at many times. In looking at the photo of the auditorium interior, the walls in the restaurant evidently were left pretty much as they were when the building housed the Strand.
Each time I had lunch here I’d scope out the rear wall of the restaurant where the projection booth stood. The men’s restroom was located at just about the spot where the booth would have been. But try as I might I couldn’t find any tell-tale sign of the former booth at all.
Today that entire block is a parking lot. It’s a shame the front facade of the theatre was not salvaged. It had that classic “movie theatre” design. The Strand was a Florida State Theatre for several years prior to closing and was considered to have been a deluxe theatre in it’s day. I would have loved to have seen a movie here!
That is a neat picture. I’ve stood next to that alley many times (when I was younger), waiting for the bus. The bus stop was right there where the alley was. Thanks!
This is a circa 1987 picture of a Maas Brothers trailer, but you can see the Strand Theatre in the background. There was an alley along Twiggs between the Strand and another building, which was the Maas Brothers delivery entrance.
A little bit of insignificant history:
When I worked downtown in the 1980s, the theatre (of course) was already part of the Maas Brothers Department Store. From the outside of the building, the “theatre appearance” had still been maintained. You could still very well think that you were walking up to a real theatre. Inside, a normal first-floor ceiling had been installed. When you walked inside the building (proceeding north), you followed a (north-south) aisle that had been created.
On your right (on the east side), running the full length of the aisle, were the display cabinets for the highly respected Maas Brothers Bakery, with passers-by stopping to purchase tasty desserts to take out. I don’t recall if there was a physical wall on the left of the aisle or just a wall of merchandise. The aisle proceeded to the rear where the former theatre building opened up to join the rest of the department store.
I also recall that on the mezzanine floor (if my recollection is correct), Maas’s had an informal restaurant and salad bar. I believe that most or all of the restaurant/salad bar was located over the theatre portion of the department store. If that recollection is correct, then it would mean that an elevated mezzanine floor had been constructed over the seating area of the former theatre.
As kids in the late 1940s, we watched Gene Autry movies and similar fare at the Strand Theatre. I don’t remember much about it from then, because I was too young. By that time it was no longer considered a first run theatre, but still a respectable place for kids and families to go.
Dick W.
Here are four more photos:
No date given for this one:
View link
This photo dated 8/3/46:
View link
Angled shot dated 2/6/30:
View link
Very nice shot of the theatre interior dated 2/21/24:
View link
A nice angled view dated 2/6/30:
View link
Here’s a great shot of the theatre interior dated 2/21/24:
View link
The Strand in 2003:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferret111/614422410/
Nice Strand shot here:
View photo
The April 22, 2006 link doesn’t work anymore so can we confirm that this theatre was demolished? If so, the status needs to be changed from closed to demolished.
Please provide any stories or information that you might have about this theatre (or any single-screen theatre in Tampa) here… http://historictheatresintampa.blogspot.com
This will assist us in preserving the history surrounding these theatres in Tampa. Thank you!!
Does anybody know anything about a former Strand Theatre in Miami?
One morning while communting from my home in Hollywood down to my job in Coral Gables, I decided to avoid the terrible traffic on I-95 and find some avenue that ran parallel to the interstate. And somewhere between NW 29th Street and NW 14th Street along NW 7th Avenue I found a small theatre with a marquee and classic double doors. It was labeled the STRAND with the S having fallen off some time ago. It currently seems to be a small church/prayer home now. I will try to take some pictures of it. Can anybody here identify what part of town/neighborhood we would call this area? It’s definitely industrial and very poor. Perhaps that might help with some research (where I’m finding NO luck).
tampafilmfan: Thanks for the Tribune article and are you, by chance, Cloe who wrote the story?
Here’s a link to an article from the Tampa Tribune on April 6, 2006 about the demolition of the Strand Theatre:
http://www.tbo.com/life/MGB7892BOLE.html
Yes, sadly “its gone now”.
The Strand was located near the Tampa Theatre. It was incorporated into the old Maas Brothers Dept Store…..so who knows if any of the interior survived the conversion. Anyway….its gone now.
“……hailed as "the most beautiful theatre in the South”. The town fathers of Tampa need to be asked…….why?