17 Years Later, Tampa’s Straz Center Begins $80 Million Expansion

After years of planning and fundraising, construction has officially started on the $80 million expansion of Tampa, Florida’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts. 

A groundbreaking ceremony was held April 6 at the center’s grounds along the Hillsborough River. 

Global architecture firm DLR Group, which has worked on performance centers across the U.S., designed the expansion, while Clearwater, Florida-based Creative Contractors is handling the construction. 

Rendering of Tampa, Florida’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts. Image: DLR Group

The commercial construction project is expected to be completed in 2027. When it’s done, visitors will notice a new event center and outdoor pavillions, a fine-dining restaurant, and a redesigned road system that DLR says “better connects the Straz to the river and downtown core.” 

April 2025’s groundbreaking has been almost 20 years in the making. Calls for expansion began back in 2008. It took another eight years for renderings to be released. Now, almost 10 years later, the Straz is just a couple of more years away from making the upgrades a reality. 

Back in 2021, the City of Tampa approved $25 million in funding for the expansion, while Hillsborough County chipped in $23 million. The remainder of the $80 million are coming from private funding and donations. 

Tampa, Florida’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts, is shown in a rendering. Image: DLR Group

In a statement on their website, The Straz calls back to the years of fundraising and expectations for the project, saying, “The excitement and visibility of our boundless campaign will firmly position The Straz among the world’s elite cultural institutions and unite the world in a shared vision of Tampa as a rising cultural and economic powerhouse.” 

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