Tampa Bay Mall Cinema I & II
W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Himes Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33607
W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Himes Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33607
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Wotking for GCC in 82-84, i can say this with confidence:
1) The seats were white, metal and very noisy!
2) CINEMAS not general cinemas was on thr outside of buildings not inside.
3) There was a box office (actually wood desks) on sach side.
4) There were restrooms on each side.
5) There were 2 connecting exit doors on each side of the screen (1 to the theater 1 to the street)
How do I know all this? I scrubbed floors and painted walls when GCC Southland(Hayward) went from 3 to 5 screens!
A minor point but the theatre changed its name from the Tampa Bay Mall I & II to the Tampa Bay Center I & II beginning on April 28, 1978 to its closing in 1990. The shopping complex had dropped “mall” from its official name and the Cinema followed its lead.
Well that just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover… nor a film by its title LOL!
I remember first moving into the TB area & my mom practically FORCING me to see ‘The Little Mermaid’ at this theater because of my sister’s insistance (I was already 15)…reluctant as I was, I ended up really LIKING it (eeep) & wouldn’t ya know it, Disney’s new Golden Age of animation was born with this film. The theater closed a few short months later and recall it becoming a Suncoast Video Store.
Bob: Yes, 3002 is the correct address for St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital which is one block east of the former mall.
The physical address wasn’t easy to find since the mall no longer exists. However, I got lucky and found a webpage with an address and aerial photo of the mall. The mall’s address was 3302 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. I imagine this would also be the address for the cinemas as well.
The mall was on the southeast corner of Buffalo (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd) and Himes Ave. Himes is the street on the left side of photo and Buffalo is at the top. Sears is the first building on the left side. The cinemas were located just outside the entrance to Sears. Here’s the link:
View link
Folks help me out. I haven’t been in the Tampa area in a few years. When I go to the Google Map, it shows me the entire southern half of the United States?
I did find an address of 3002 West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which is now the address for St Josephs Childrens Hospital, is that correct?
West Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard & North Nimes Avenue might also be the location, but which corner?
It would really be better to have an address, more info and how bout some photos?
Good story,Nick on my old theatre chain.
So they opened with"HARRY and WALTER go to NEW YORK" what a disppointment for a new theatre.We played"HARRY and WALTER" for maybe two weeks to empty seats.Elliot Gould and James Caan were the stars,right off the top of my head.
Thanks Nick and Mike.
Yes Suncoast video was the store. Thanks Nick I was having a senior moment when I posted my comment this morning. I moved from Tampa in 1996 and can’t beleive how much it sounds like it changed. Tampa Bay mall gone, Eastlake Sq an office complex. All the movie theaters I went to are gone.
Mikeoaklandpark: You’re right! I had forgotten about the video store which I visited several times. I think it was called Suncoast Videos. It occupied a good portion of the lobby. There was a door at the rear of the store and I remember looking in to see if maybe the auditoriums were still there. But it was just a small storage room with another door beyond that led down a small hallway to the exit door at the back. The entrance to the auditoriums had apparently been sealed off by a brick wall.
Here’s the opening day ad dated August 6, 1976:
View link
After they closed, the theater became a video store.