The Ritz Ybor opened as the Rivoli Theatre in 1917, a red brick house in the heart of historic Ybor City. Picture a red brick building with a silent movie house on the first floor and apartments above — the first theater of its kind in the United States, built to serve the Afro-Cuban community in this emerging neighborhood. Over the decades its face and purpose have shifted: in 1931 it was expanded and reopened as The Ritz Theatre, then screened standard films until December 31, 1965, when it moved into nude shows and XXX-rated films.
In September 1983 developer William E. Field purchased and remodeled the property, but a bank foreclosure in 1987 forced him to close; that same year the building was leased to The Masquerade nightclub. Later it served as a cinema, an adult movie theater, a nightclub and a concert venue before being transformed into its current incarnation in 2008, becoming one of Tampa’s premier live music and events venues. Listen to the layers of the place — the silent films, the renovations, the concerts — still echoing across the red brick facade and the streetscape before you.