University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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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

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!. 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

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been arranged and rearranged to house Tampa University's growing student population 1 and 2. Mrs. Plant's interior decorating has 3- The main lobby ot the Tampa Ray Hotel the completed extravaganza, the New York Journal of Com- merce and the Boston Saturday Evening Gazette referred to Aladdin and The Arabian Nights. Some 15,000 people received engraved invitations to the opening celebration: Tampa Bay Hotel will open for guests Saturday, January 31. 1891, and the opening ball will take place Thursday. Febru- ary 5, to which you are respect- fully invited. Flagler wired in answer to this. Where's Tampa Bay? Plant wired back, “Fol- low the crowd.” When Plant brought his rail- | road to Tampa in 1884, the little -------—---------------------------- town held 700 people and two or three shops. Now its popula- tion totaled 7,000, and there were several city blocks of bright brick shops. The fabulous Tampa Bay Hotel drew worldwide attention. Cabinet men, kings' ambassa- dors made their winter homes there. It was not unusual for 20 multimillionaires to gather at a single dinner. Celebrated artists appeared there frequently — to perform or to vacation — Sarah Bernhardt, Pavlowa, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Modjeska, Southern, Ada Rehan, Emma Calve, Sembrich, Nordica. Receptions and conventions kept the hotel filled for years; then rival hotels sprang up nearby. Friends joked about Plant’s Folly when half the suites stayed empty. He would answer silently with a gallant wave of his hand. Then in 1898, when the destruction of the U S. battle- ship Maine touched off the war with Spain, Tampa became a natural port of embarkation of troops to Cuba. American offi- cers, expecting to trudge through alligator swamps and rattlesnake hideouts, found themselves basking instead in a sumptuous palace in a jewel- like setting while waiting for the ships that would take them to Cuba. 21