LOOK Dine-In Cinemas University Mall 14
12332 University Mall Court,
Tampa,
FL
33612
12332 University Mall Court,
Tampa,
FL
33612
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 62 comments
Nick, the building, and fixtures though 90’s pre-stadium, are turn-key for an operator that can get the right terms (RIGHT TERMS) being the catch. The mall has such high expectations I hope that Frank is RENT FREE till 2013 because if they expect to do the renovations I have heard, they will need every ounce of capital available to make it happen. If they were to make this a “Destination Location” offering a variety of venues such as a bowling and game room along with a Stadium retrofit theaters for the top 12 they would not loose significant seating due to the large size of the Auditorius as they currently exist (6 over 400 seats) they could loose 1000 seats and with attendance records at this location in the last few yrs noone would miss them. It would take a substantial amount of time to re-coup the investment required to compete with the modern stadium theaters around it!
as for converting to retail space noone would want 70K sq feet in a mall that already is missing one anchor and operates a Dillards that uses 1/3 of its sales floor and operates as a clearance store till its lease is up and can bail!
I’m shocked to see this complex open again. I was certain it would either be gutted and rennovated for other use or demolished. Actually GCC opened this theatre in 1974 with two screens at the front of the mall and two at the rear. Cobb expanded the complex in the mid-90s with a new building housing an additional 14 screens at the rear incorporating the two original screens for a total of 16. The two screens at the front were closed when the new complex opened. I’ve always thought this was a very tacky 14-screen add-on that sits on support beams over a parking garage with cars underneath.
The 12 screens hey have open are all in the food court. The original 4 from GCC were in the back of the mall.
They are very good for closing some of ths screens in theaters they purchase. The closed the lower 4 theaters at the Las Olas Riverfront theater in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. It was originally 23 screens when opened by Regal in the late 90’s Regal eventually closed 8 of the screens in the lower section including the largest one. Now Frank has closed the remaining 4 lower screens
THIS SHOULD BE CHANGED TO OPEN STATUS
Wow I’m suprised, it appears Frank is running it as a 12 plex possibly with the lower 4 cinemas closed in the Frank fashion. When they opened the Venice theaters they advertised 12 screens in reality they only had built 11 and left the 12th a shell.
I’m curious how long this Venture will last… And what commitment Frank has made to the mall in a renovations agreement… A 16 screen digital upgrade in late 2012 will be a huge chunk of change to one of the last Cobb non-stadium builds of the 80’s.
Chuck
https://frank.tstickets.com/%28S%2811um0obehs30isiaevjjvc55%29%29/ticketing.aspx?theatreid=17
The theater is back open, under Frank Theaters.
Just updated the street view to show the actual theatre building rather than a view of the front of the mall.
The entire building was constructed on support beams. Note the enclosed escalator towards the right side which takes moviegoers down into the original Cinemas III & IV which were completely rennovated. These two theatres were Tampa’s home of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW for 11+ years beginning in 1978.
You got it right Chuck. The only way of bringing University 16 back to life is to lower the admission which would surely bring the crowds in again although not to the point that it becomes a dollar house. That almost always spells the end.
But with reduced admission (a bargain for the nearby college crowd)comes the riff-raff and in this area it’s right behind the theatre. It’ll be tough going to get this theatre back in operation again.
May 2011 and NO ACTIVITY HERE
Ironicly enough Mall management has dreams of finding an operator stupid enough to CHUNK DOWN a cool Million to retro-fit and bring this theater to the 21st century, as this was one of the last Cobbs to be built with slope seating.
There is too much NEW competition in the 10 mile radius including Muvico, Cobb and AMC operating Stadium theaters less than 8 Yrs Old! Who in their right mind would pay .25 more to go to the university than these newer theaters, unless they wanted a private performance.
Wake up and smell the $$ University Mall…. a Discount House here at $2 matinees and $4 evenings would pack the house, Families and give the college students somewhere they could afford to come to again.
Chuck V
Mike, Midnight Cowboy would never get a PG-13. Especially since you actually see oral sex in the party scene (it’s brief but still, you can’t show that in a PG-13 film). In fact, the 1994 reissue retained the R rating.
Last movie I watched there was ‘Saw III’. I was on a date & hadn’t been there in quite a few years…let’s just say the patrons in that place were scarier then what was on-screen…the area has really gone down hill and I’m not surprised they decided to close.
I do recall seeing ‘Fifth Element’ in Earth Shattering Surround Sound on the weekend it was released…I was practically DEAF when the movie finished…AWESOME!
R.I.P. University 16…this will likely hurt the mall even further.
Thanks for the nice photos Scott! Certainly all CT members appreciate being able to see photos whenever possible. Off topic here…I personally would love to travel cross-country photographing any & all movie houses as I have a feeling those in existence today will no longer be with us in 10 or 20 years. I envision high-tech digital centers that may not even resemble theatres as we know them.
Anyway back on topic…in a way I’m sorry to see this theatre go mainly since it was the site of the former General Cinemas and the original cinemas III & IV are still contained within the complex. Some nice memories here…remembering all those years of “Rocky Horror”…and not to mention countless other midnight movies as well as standard attractions I saw here.
The above article mentions the complex may be taken over by another operator. Should this happen all theatres will surely have to be retrofited w/stadium seating if they hope to stay in business.
But when you look at the surrounding area…well let’s just say I wish them luck.
Hey — be nice about Cinematour — we spend a lot of time and money to go out and take pictures of some of these theatres… you know… like this one… http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/6763.html
It’s one thing to describe theatres but it’s another to be able to SEE them. While It’s only pictures of the entrance inside the mall, if Regal had let me I’d have dozens more photos.
Back on subject though… interesting to know there was a GCC twin hiding back as part of a SIXTEEN plex… that doesn’t happen often I’m sure.
Thanks CWalcazk. I can’t say I’m surprised to hear of the closing. I suspected it would be happening soon considering the area the theatre and mall is located near which has been on a steady decline for years now. The neighborhood at the rear of the mall is known as “suitcase city” if that gives you any hint!
According to this article, this theater is closing as of September 3. The article seems to have mangled the information though, as Regal, the the largest theater operator in the US is incorrect, is obviously not going out of the movie business:View link
Yeah Nick you computer must be like mine some days it works great and others I cannot even check my e-mails without it freezing up.Thanks for the photos and info no matter what size.
tlsloews I always try for the largest size on every photo but the computer has a mind of it’s own. Some photos will enlarge three times their normal size and others just slightly larger. It’s very fustrating. I’m following the same scanning/enlargement procedure for each one so they should
all enlarge equally. The photo above is at its max enlargement.
Nick,I want to thank you for your work.I guess i sent pictures to the wrong person,but Robin is busy with Tlsloews theatre pics.
Is it hot down there,I know it hot here,sorry if I got off-topic,it bothers some people.
Nice photo Nick but could you make it bigger,now I sound like Mike.Thanks for your info.
A USF class in session in one of the larger theatres. Could be one of the original III or IV cinemas now completely redone.
View link
Cinematour is not very good anyway.
NO i am NOT going to Cinetour.I can’t get hooked on another theatre site. CT is all i need.
He’s right.i need to start Emailing you guys. It’s me.