Tampa Bay Hotel - Tampa, FL
Posted by: sfwife
N 27° 56.796 W 082° 27.838
17R E 355979 N 3092149
Historic Building on the University of Tampa
Waymark Code: WM2ADT
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/01/2007
Views: 40
From Wikpedia:
"The Tampa Bay hotel was built by railroad magnet Henry B. Plant at a cost of over 2.5 million dollars.[4] It was considered the premier hotel of the eight that Mr. Plant built to anchor his rail line. The Hotel itself covers six acres and is a quarter-mile long. It was equipped with the first elevator ever installed in Florida. The elevator is still in use today making it one of the oldest continually operational elevators in the nation. The 511 rooms, some of which were actually suites consisting of between three-to-seven rooms, were the first in Florida to have electric lights and telephones. Most rooms also included private bathrooms complete with a full-size tub. The price for a room ranged from $5.00 to $15.00 a night, during a time when the average hotel in Tampa cost $1.25 to $2.00. The building’s poured concrete steel reinforced structure was advertised as totally fireproof. The grounds of the Hotel spanned 150 acres and included a golf course, bowling alley, racetrack, casino, and an indoor heated swimming pool. In all 21 buildings could be found on the hotel's campus. The Moorish Architectural theme was selected by Mr. Plant because of its exotic appeal to the widely traveled Victorians that would be his primary customers. The hotel has six minarets, four cupolas, and three domes, which total thirteen, representing the number of months in the Islamic Calendar. In the early 90's all were restored to their original stainless steel state."
The Henry B. Plant Museum is housed in the South wing of the building. The rest of the building is now Plant Hall, part of the University of Tampa.
Make time to visit the museum--it's focuses on the Victorian era and the turn of the century.
Street address: 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL USA 33606
County / Borough / Parish: Hillsborough
Year listed: 1972
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Person, Architecture/Engineering, Event
Periods of significance: 1875-1899, 1900-1924
Historic function: Domestic
Current function: Education
Privately owned?: yes
Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2007 To: 12/31/2007
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.