''For the similarly named building in West Tampa see

El Centro Español of West Tampa El Centro Español of West Tampa is a historic site in the West Tampa, Florida, West Tampa neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States. It is located at 2306 North Howard Avenue (Tampa). It was designed by Fred J. James. On July ...

'' El Centro Español de Tampa is a historic building in the

Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly ...

neighborhood of

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

, in the U.S. state of Florida. Built as an ethnic and cultural clubhouse in 1912, the red brick structure situated at 1526–1536 East 7th Avenue is today part of a shopping and entertainment complex. It remains one of the few surviving structures specific to Spanish immigration to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries,"El Centro Español de Tampa".''National Park Service''.
Retrieved May 6, 2010. a legacy which garnered the Centro Español building recognition as a

U.S. National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government fo ...

(NHL) on June 3, 1988. El Centro Español de Tampa is one of two individual structures within Hillsborough County to be so designated. The historic and cultural significance of El Centro Español de Tampa was noted well before the announcement of its NHL status. As early as 1974, the building was included by the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as one of the

Contributing Properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

within the Ybor City Historic District. The building remains an important component of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, which on December 4, 1990, gained more distinct recognition as a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. It is now home to Jason Fernandez's restaurant Carne.

History

Immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from Spain (including some by way of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

) to the bustling factory town of Ybor City in 1891 established El Centro Español as the first of several ethnic social club and mutual aid society organizations. El Centro Español served as the organizational model for its later counterparts such as El Centro Asturiano, El Circulo Cubano, L'Unione Italiana, and others. These clubs grew to play vital roles in Ybor City's development and were of particular importance in welcoming and orienting new arrivals to the immigrant community. In exchange for membership dues, they offered not only social, cultural, and recreational opportunities, but educational programs and health care."Cigar makers & the Mutual Aid Societies".
Retrieved May 6, 2010. El Centro Español in 1904 went so far as to build their own hospital, the Sanatorio del Centro Español, which was in its day among the top medical facilities in Florida. The organization's first clubhouse, an ornately constructed frame structure flanked by two towers, was built in 1892 on the site of the present Centro Español building, and featured a theater, dance hall, canteen, soda fountain, and classrooms, where English courses were offered. The club's membership expanded rapidly, surpassing 2,600 people by 1908, and soon after outgrew their facility. The club replaced their original clubhouse with the building today known as El Centro Español de Tampa in 1912. In the same year, the organization established a second clubhouse, El Centro Español de West Tampa, to serve the Spanish population of

West Tampa West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa. West Tampa is located west of the Hillsborough ...

. After several decades of prosperity and growth, El Centro Español and the other area social clubs entered a period of decline. Factors such as

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and restrictions in immigration curtailed the influx of potential new membership, and sent much of the area's existing population looking for work elsewhere. By World War II, much of the organization's roles in terms of health care and social welfare were absorbed by government and private interests. The membership base declined further as the now second and third generation

Spanish-Americans Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...

more freely interacted with the rest of the population and more closely identified with American culture. In 1983, the organization consolidated their remaining membership to the West Tampa clubhouse, and the Centro Español de Tampa building was sold. After sitting vacant for several years, it wa
restored in 2010
and now houses Ghost Party Haunted Tours. The West Tampa clubhouse house
The Hillsborough Education Foundation
and it
Teaching Tools for Hillsborough Schools
program. Tampa Centro Espanol plaque01

Architecture

The Centro Español building was designed by Francis J. Kennard, an architect who was responsible, either solely or in part, for many Tampa Bay area structures now considered to be of historic importance, including Hillsborough High School, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, and the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel."Florida – Pinellas County".''National Register of Historic Places''.
Retrieved May 6, 2010. Kennard employed the French Renaissance Revival style in his design for the building, with heavy influence from

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

and Spanish Mediterranean Revival styles. The structure features

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

construction of red brick with white stone accents. The shape is a basic rectangle, exposed on all but the west side, consisting of a -story-tall main block, with an attached rear wing of stories. The building's south facade along 7th Avenue features an arched main entrance in Moorish style with cast-iron trim. The long, east facade resembles a palazzo, an effect commonly utilized in Renaissance Revival designs, and also incorporates the use of cast-iron balconies.

References

External links

*
El Centro Español de Tampa
a
National Register of Historic Places, National Park ServiceFlorida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs

Hillsborough County markers

Great Floridians of TampaCentro Espanol de Tampa Collection
at th
University of South Florida
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Centro Espanol De Tampa Buildings and structures completed in 1912 Buildings and structures in Tampa, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Tampa, Florida National Historic Landmarks in Florida Renaissance Revival architecture in Florida Moorish Revival architecture in Florida Mediterranean Revival architecture in Florida Spanish-American culture in Tampa, Florida Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida Ethnic fraternal orders in the United States 1912 establishments in Florida Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Florida Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links