Tampa Theatre, the downtown movie palace, is gearing up for its 100-year anniversary in October 2026. The historic landmark is commemorating by collecting and archiving memories and memorabilia from residents.
Theater patrons can share photos, ticket stubs and stories — either from generations before or more recently.
"We would love to get a hold of that and keep it in our archives, because all of that helps tell the story about Tampa and Tampa Theatre,” said president and CEO John Bell.
Contributors can either temporarily bring the items into the theater for preservation through photography or scanning before taking them back home, or they can be donated.

The theater is also giving back to the community, Bell said, by restoring the building to its 1926 appearance.
"Picture the entire auditorium being filled with scaffolding from top to bottom, and the artisans will come in, and they will work their magic," Bell said.
“We know as beautiful as the building is now, that when it is restored to its original paint scheme, it's going to be much more vibrant and jaw dropping than it even is today.”
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While Bell said there's a lot of “unsexy stuff” planned for the renovation, like plumbing and air conditioning, the structure will also be modernized for today's touring shows.
A new archive room will also be added to house the collection of donated items and stories. It will all be catalogued and available for the public to comb through.
"Tampa Theatre belongs to this community ... that's what makes this building really significant. ... It's not just a spectacular architectural piece, but the fact that there's this love affair between Tampa and the Tampa Theatre,” Bell said.
The city was burgeoning when the movie palace first opened its doors in 1926.
"It just represented faith that Tampa was going to grow. And I still think that today, Tampa Theatre represents faith in the future of our city," Bell said.