Centro Asturiano
1913 N. Nebraska Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33602
1913 N. Nebraska Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33602
3 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Centro Asturiano (Official)
Additional Info
Functions: Cultural Center
Styles: Beaux-Arts
Nearby Theaters
Built as a full-service cultural center for the fractious, large Cuban comunity of Tampa in the early part of the century. It had a large ballroom, restaurant, meeting rooms and other amenities. 1914 is listed as completion year and the architects were Bonfoey & (M. Leo) Elliot. There were several large cultural clubs of the era and several of these grand buildings survive.Two, at least, including this one showed movies often in it’s large theater. I have to expect that most showings were in Spanish.
The building was landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1974.
Contributed by
George H.Hill III
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
That is a wonderful photo of a spectacular building. Thank you for posting.
George
Please provide any stories or information that you might have about this theatre (or any single-screen theatre in Tampa) here… http://historictheatresintampa.blogspot.com
This will assist us in preserving the history surrounding these theatres in Tampa. Thank you!!
Wow…didn’t think this place was on here! I moved to Tampa in the early 90s & my earliest memory of this location was known as the ‘Casablanca’ nightclub! It was my home away from home on Saturday nights. It was especially nice in that it re-introduced me to my latin roots in music & Salsa dancing (I’m Puerto Rican by nationality, but born & raised in NYC) & now my preference to dance at ALL is Salsa dancing! Not to mention it was “all-ages” because I recall being younger then 18 when I frequented this club! Good times! Don’t remember seeing a movie theater room though, but then again, the ballroom used for the nightclub was on the 2nd floor & that’s where I always went, so no surprise there (the building is HUGE!)
This is such a beautiful building but I don’t believe the Centro Asturiano Club ever ran movies (at least not as a commercial theatre.) They may have run films from time to time for club members but Centro Asturiano was never advertised as a movie theatre in the papers.
The Italian Club housed the Broadway Theatre, and the Centro Espanol Club housed the Casino Theatre. Both were commercial movie houses years ago. But I don’t recall that the Centro Asturiano Club ever had its own movie theatre.
Even so the large beautiful theatre on the 2nd floor (with the balcony on the 3rd floor) certainly looks like it could have been a movie house but I believe it was used strictly for stage performances.
Nice looking building.
Has anyone heard of Teatro del Circulo Cubano that would have been in operation in the 1920s? Thanks.