The Palladium Ballroom Tampa and the Budisco wholesale record store. © Skip Gandy. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection

AER In The District-205 W Cass Street under construction 01-31-23. © Chip Weiner

In 1937, Tampa West Coast Hardware Company remodeled the building on this plot of land at 205 W Cass Street, close to the river downtown. That business closed, and by 1947 Table Supply Food Stores opened here. Table Supply merged with Kwik Check Grocery by 1956. The Palladium Ballroom opened here in December 1957, just in time for a big New Year’s Eve party featuring music by the Fabulous Skyliners. The Budisco wholesale record store on the corner of the building moved out as the Palladium moved in. The venue would go on to host many events, including music, boxing, and large dances. The Palladium Ballroom moved to 40th St. and East Broadway, and the building was demolished in 1965, the same year Curtis Hixon Hall opened, and construction began on the John F Germany Library. In 1921, after the land sat empty for decades, developers started building AER In The District. When the hardware store was built in 1937, it sat at the corner of Cass and Highland Streets. Through the years, Highland transformed into Macinnes Place. AER has closed that road (see the entrance gate in the photo) and is integrating it into its development.

© Chip Weiner. oldtampaphotos.com

The Palladium Ballroom, 205 W Cass Street. © Skip Gandy. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection

The Palladium Ballroom Tampa interior. © Skip Gandy. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection

Rear of the Palladium Ballroom at 205 W Cass St, Tampa.© Skip Gandy. Courtesy of the USF Digital Collection