University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

Page 23 text:

!. A view of the Tampa Bay Hotel from across the Hillsborough. Notice the railroad :ars in the foreground where Curtis Hixon hall now stands. 2. and 3. The Rathskeller. ast and present. pub. Outside the building, thirteen skyscraper Moorish minarets get regular coats of silver paint to keep them gleaming in the sunlight, indicating the heart of Tampa to travelers for miles around. When UT President B. D. Owens officially designated the University as Tampa's Landmark of Learning five years ago, administrators agreed the landmark should be visible 24 hours a day. The community has responded by contributing funds for lighting six of the larger minarets. Another historic landmark of the UT campus is the DeSoto Oak, which according to legend was the site of Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto’s treaty with the Indians. The DeSoto Oak was recently admitted to the prestigious Live Oak Society. Because of Plant Hall's colorful history, the building itself has been named to the National Registry of Historic Places. 19

Page 22 text:

The Way We Were For several weeks during the Spanish American War, Theo- dore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders stayed at the University of Tampa. It wasn't a university then. It was one of the most lavish hotels in American history built by railroad and steamboat mag- nate Henry Bradley Plant in 1890 at the immodest cost of $3,500,000. If Teddy and his men could board a time capsule and return to the fabulous Florida resort today, they would stare in disbe- lief at college students raising beer steins in the Rathskeller where once crowned heads of Europe gathered for a nightcap. For the Rough Riders, a stroll along the second and third floor corridors would be an awesome experience. A series of 26 eth- nic theme classrooms furnished by University of Tampa patrons has replaced the elegant hotel suites of the past. Adding to the visitors’ bewilderment, march- ing band music often booms from the serene ballroom where aristocratic ladies in hoopskirts once dipped and swirled to sedate Viennese waltzes. Probably the most disarming revelation to a sightseer from the past is that Plant Hall, a: Tampa Bay Hotel has beer renamed, has remained func tional throughout most of her 81 years while keeping much of he original physical splendor intacl The Moorish influence of th decor has been preserved ir restoration of the lobby, ball room, Swed Corridor, Haze Ward Lounge (old hotel dininc room), Dome Room and even ir the ornately carved, wood-pan eled elevator, most of whict was done within the past si; years The Rathskeller recently has been refurbished to resem ble an old-fashioned English

Page 24 text:

The old Tampa Bay Hotel began as all great creations with a vision. Henry Plant had seen the possibilities of Tampa's deepwater port as a trade link with South and Central America and Europe. He vowed to build Florida's west coast in similar fashion to Henry M. Flagler's development of the state’s east coast. To attract attention to the then unknown village of cigar factories, Plant declared, I’ll build in this port of Tampa the richest, most magnificent hotel in the world. And so it was. The materials used in construction would have been enough to erect a small city: 7.576 barrels of shell, 452 carloads of bricks, 3,041 barrels of lime. 2,949 barrels of cement, 2,244 tons of steel, 69Vz tons of iron, 232 boxes of tin, 242 kegs of nails. 5,050 feet of iron cornices. 689,500 feet of lumber, 1,700 square feet of stone dressing, 28 polished granite columns and tons of other materials. Upon completion, the dark red brick building, spanning a square mile, had sixteen mas- sive columns flanking each of three main entrances. Stone steps led to two rambling ter- races, each as long and wide as a village street. Moorish arches supported balconies. Domes and minarets towered above the building’s five stories. Atop each of the 13 minarets was a crescent moon, one for each month of the Moslem year. Plant wanted his furnishings to equal the splendor of the building. He gave his wife unlim- ited sums to travel to Europe and the Orient with secretaries and art collectors in search of suitable treasures. Among the acquisitions were former pos- sessions of Marie Antoinette, Louis XIV, Louis Philippe, Napo- leon, Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, and Mary Queen of Scots. In describing