![The Duncan Auditorium over the years: This photo collage combines a handout photo from inside the Tampa Theatre, which opened in 1926, and an October 2026 Times staff photo taken as crews wrapped up restoration work. The Tampa Theatre will host a Centennial Celebration on October 15, 2026.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1600 900"/%3E "The Duncan Auditorium over the years: This photo collage combines a handout photo from inside the Tampa Theatre, which opened in 1926, and an October 2026 Times staff photo taken as crews wrapped up restoration work. The Tampa Theatre will host a Centennial Celebration on October 15, 2026.")
As the downtown movie palace welcomes guests after a seven-month restoration project, we look back at how it all started.
The Duncan Auditorium over the years: This photo collage combines a handout photo from inside the Tampa Theatre, which opened in 1926, and an October 2026 Times staff photo taken as crews wrapped up restoration work. The Tampa Theatre will host a Centennial Celebration on October 15, 2026. [ Photo illustration by Gabrielle Calise | Photos by Tampa Theatre and Jeff Woo ]