Tower Drive-In, 500 E Bird Street

The Tower Drive-In Theater opened next to the Sulphur Springs water tower on Bird Street near Florida Avenue in 1952, featuring the movies Wait ‘Til the Sun Shines, Nellie, and Dakota Ill. Drive-ins for movies and food were popular after World War II, as Americans celebrated prosperity, cheap gas, and driving in their cars. Streetcars had vanished in Tampa, and residents took to their cars as the main mode of transportation. It was around the same time Sulphur Springs was annexed into the City of Tampa,

 Going to a drive-in was more than just seeing a movie. It was part theater, part restaurant, and part social gathering. They were a big part of 1950s teenage culture. Tampa had several drive-ins in the area, including the Dale Mabry Drive-In at 5055 S. Dale Mabry Hwy (next to where the Jai Alai Fronton was, the Fun-Lan at 3202 E Hillsborough Ave, The Hillsboro at 3306 W Hillsborough Ave., and the Auto Park at 3612 Causeway Blvd. The Tower was unique because it was built next to the Hillsborough River and that iconic water tower. One unusual drawback to building the drive-in beside a 200-plus-foot tower was an aircraft warning light on top of the tower that reportedly interfered with movie viewing. The light was eventually removed.

By the late 1950s, the Tower hosted a drive-in church on Sundays where believers could “worship in their cars”. The Tower thrived for much of the decade.

By the 1960s, the area's luster had worn off. It lost its identity as a resort area following its annexation. People stopped going to the Sulphur Spring pool due to reported dirty water and better alternatives. In the mid-1970s, the Hendrick family, who owned the old hotel and arcade, sold the property to the Tampa Greyhound track, and it was demolished. Once the destination businesses disappeared, nothing comparable replaced them. But the (non-functioning) water tower survived. The drive-in closed in the mid-1980s.

The theater was demolished in 1985, around the same time the Gandy photo was taken, as part of plans to redevelop the property with an upscale apartment or condominium project centered around the historic water tower. The project failed. In the early 2000s, the city acquired the property and formed River Tower Park.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved