The Sicilia Club, built in 1929, became a movie theatre when the club folded. Its owner, B.E. Gore, led the way in challenging Tampa’s obscenity laws.

The Sicilia Club was founded in West Tampa in 1914 with 95 members at 2112 Main Street. In 1929, when Antonio Italiano was president and the club had a membership of 500 Italian residents, it moved to this location at 2001 N Howard Ave. Built for $65,000, the first floor had a café and club offices, and theater seating for 800 persons, and the second floor had a dance hall and access to the theater balcony.

Leon S. Cazin opened his original Cazin Theater at Howard and Main Streets after remodeling the former 400-seat Royal Theater in 1926. He took over the theater at the Sicilian Club, calling it the Cazin Sicilia Theater of West Tampa, on the Fourth of July, 1931. Cazin was active in the Latin American community and was once the chairman of the El Carnaval De Los Latinos (The Latin Carnival).  

Cazin’s theater was open until 1934, when the Sicilia club folded, and its members joined their sister club L'Unione Italiana in Ybor City. The theater, then called the Howard Theater, took a bawdy turn in 1938 with its new operator B.E.Gore began showing “uncensored romance” films as the only independent theater in Tampa. He accused the local theater chain “monopolies” of coercing a city alderman to force him to close. In August of that year, movies “Ecstasy,” “The Valley of the Nude,” and “Marijuana” were seized, and Gore was arrested following a complaint that they were obscene. He was freed after a hearing. In October, Gore was arrested again for showing the same movie at his Broadway theater in Ybor City. That theater was located in the Italian Club in Ybor. The indecency charges were dropped that same month. The Howard Theater remained open and, by 1941, was hosting civic groups like Rosa Valdez’s kindergarten group and a Baptist missionary association and had begun offering movies from Warner Brothers. In 1943, Gore was again arrested, but this time for hosting a Burlesque show that featured indecency. He and his entire cast were put in jail but bonded out. Gore, a dancer, and comedian Charles “Cotton” Watts were convicted of presenting an indecent act. Gore spent 30 days in the hoosegow. In 1946, he was arrested twice in one day, first for showing the film “The Body Beautiful,” then again two hours later when, after he was released, he defied police orders to close the theater and showed the movie again. He was fined $600. He soon sold out to the Claughton theater chain. Gore died at the age of 55 in 1951.

In 1947, the Westown Theater opened in the fully renovated building, showing full-length movies. Before closing in 1956, the complex returned to its live theater roots, hosting the Westown Players theater group.

The former Sicilian Club was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 but was in rough shape. In 1999, businesswoman Linda Wilcox attempted to open a restaurant and theater reception hall in the shuttered building but was rebuked and denied by residents and City Council in her quest for a liquor license. Giving up, the building continued to deteriorate. The West Tampa Community Boxing Club later restored it. In 2001, they successfully lobbied the city to designate the building as a local historic landmark, securing its place in history but limiting buyers. They moved out, and it again fell into disrepair.

 In 2021 the North Carolina-based Black Horse Studio bought the structure for $1.2 million with plans to spend close to $2 million to transform it into a commercial production studio for movies and photography.

See comparison photos Here

© Chip Weiner. 2023. oldtampaphotos.com