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By Dakota Galvin, College of Arts and Sciences

When the Tampa Theatre opened its doors in 1926, patrons were welcomed with velvet seats, ornate décor and the promise of first‑class entertainment. A century later, the details that once defined one of the nation’s most elaborate movie palaces are being digitally revived.

In collaboration with USF Libraries and the Tampa Theatre, the Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) has completed the 3D digitization of the theater’s surviving original furniture and decorative pieces. These newly captured digital assets will be on display at a special exhibition at the Tampa Bay History Center celebrating the theater’s 100th anniversary.

Designed by renowned theater architect John Eberson and built by Paramount Pictures, the Tampa Theatre is one of only four functioning movie palaces remaining in Florida. Its rarity reflects a national decline that began after World War II, when movie attendance plummeted due to the rise of television and the mass migration of families from city centers to the suburbs. That broader downturn left many historic theaters vulnerable — and Tampa’s was no exception.

After surviving threats of demolition in 1973, a major fire in 1991 and decades of wear, the Tampa Theatre has weathered more than its share of close calls. Many of its original furnishings and decorative pieces have endured that same turbulent history — and some are now beginning to show their age. Jill Witecki, Tampa Theatre’s Vice President, said this moment forced the organization to confront just how fragile its historic collection had become.

The USF Libraries had already been supporting the Tampa Theatre through its 2024–25 Oral History Project, documenting the stories behind the landmark’s first century. So when Witecki reached out to Amanda Boczar at the in August 2025 about 3D scanning several deteriorating furnishings, the partnership expanded naturally. The Libraries connected Witecki with IDEx, forming a collaborative effort to preserve the theater’s history in multiple digital formats.

The project also offered students like Aiden Eylward — a graduate student in applied anthropology and a project manager with IDEx — hands‑on experience in digital heritage work.

“Digital heritage is about access,” Eylward said. “It’s about creating digital representations so people who might never interact with these objects still have a way to engage with that history. This project really clarified how powerful those tools can be.” 
For the Tampa Theatre, digital access became especially important as staff began confronting the condition of their century‑old collection.

“Tampa Theatre prides itself on being the most intact Eberson atmospheric left anywhere in the world, due in large part to the fact that we still have most of our original fixtures and furnishings,” Witecki said.

As staff began cataloging items for the theater’s Second Century project, they discovered that decades of informal storage had taken a toll.

“Some of the pieces were — according to our furniture restoration expert — ‘too far gone’ to save,” Witecki said. 
Still, the team was determined not to lose them entirely.

“We didn’t want to let them go without making a thorough and detailed record of what had been here,” Witecki said. “Photos were good, of course, but I was familiar with IDEx’s scans of the Jackson House and wondered if that level of detailed capture might allow us to recreate some of the lost pieces in the future. At the very least, these state‑of‑the‑art scans maintain the spirit of our ‘intact’ Eberson theatre, even if the remnants of the pieces themselves have literally crumbled to dust.”

While IDEx focused on 3D scanning the surviving furniture, the USF Libraries’ Digital Initiatives team conducted 360‑degree Matterport scans and still photography of the theater’s entryway and interior ahead of planned renovations. The Digital Initiatives team will archive all the resulting data and develop an immersive virtual tour that pairs the scans with the oral histories collected during the earlier project.

As the scope of the deterioration became clear, the theater turned to IDEx to help capture what remained. When the request reached IDEx director Davide Tanasi, he knew this was an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the Tampa landmark.

“This is the kind of project that reminds you why you do this work. These objects carry the personality of a place that has meant something to this city for a hundred years and knowing that we got to them in time — that the record is secure and accessible to anyone who wants to explore it — that feels like a real accomplishment,” Tanasi said.

Visitors will be able to explore the newly digitized artifacts as part of a special at the Tampa Bay History Center later this year.