Britton Cinema 8

Nunzienick on July 15, 2009 at 3:40 am

The above article contains two incorrect statements. The Britton was never twinned. It was first tripled and later 8-plexed. It opened in 1956 as a huge (and I mean HUGE) single screen theater.
It was big! Standing at the back of the auditorium and looking towards the screen, the main level seemed like a full block long. The newspaper ads proclaimed: “when at the Britton you’re at Radio City Music Hall! It had 70mm capability and a giant 60' wide screen. I believe capacity was just shy of 1,900. It also had a balcony. Not certain who the original owner/operator was but it was sold to General Cinema around 1972 (this was around the same time the single screen Loew’s Theatre on Westshore Blvd was also purchased by GCC).

Anyone remember the Loew’s? Following the Britton’s grand reopening as a triplex in 1973, GCC announced similiar plans were underway for the Loew’s which was twinned and renamed Austin Cinema I & II — a disaster but that’s another story.

The Britton was totally destroyed when they tripled it. The front half of the auditorium was basically left intact and was the larger of the three theatres. The rear half was divided into two smaller screening rooms with each room retaining half of the original balcony. I believe GCC closed it around 1991. In 1992 it was purchased by Muvico and sliced into 8 small screening rooms. It was terrible. I went once and never returned. That was enough for me. It closed once again when Muvico pulled out and was later reopened by Regal. The above article states Regal closed it in 2001. I believe it was sometime during the 1990s that it fell under the ownership of Zota Theatres for a time but not sure exactly when.

I haven’t kept close tabs on the Britton in the past few years but I recall it being in operation for several years since 2001. I heard it just recently closed again. Probably for good this time.

Scott: The 20-screen theatre in Centro Ybor opened under Muvico — it was never an AMC theatre. There has been talk of cutting the theatre down to 10 screens and rennovating the other half for office space. That doesn’t suprise me at all. There were very few people there each time I’ve been. Hard to believe the theatre has hung on this long without Muvico pulling out.

Mikeoaklandpark on January 6, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Wehn I moved to Tampa in 1983, the theatre was a triplex run by General Cinema. When GC pulled oout of Tampa it was purchased by Muvico and than Regal and than closed and reopened under the current owner. Right behind this theatre was the AMC Twin Bay 4 which used to be AMC’s discount house in Tampa. I was in the theatre once after it became 8 screens and it was terrible. Most of the theatres were very small like a living room. Before it closed as a GCC theatre, it had one large theatre that held about 900 people and 2 smaller theatres.