Centro's Future Up For Debate
By JOSE PATINO GIRONA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 18, 2007

WEST TAMPA - The city is seeking community input about the future of the Centro Espanol de West Tampa, 2306 N. Howard Ave.

A public meeting is set for Tuesday at the historical Centro. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. to allow participants to tour the 1912 building. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. with a brief presentation by city staff before the audience is asked for suggestions.

'No firm decisions have been made,' said Jeanette LaRussa Fenton, the city's West Tampa and Drew Park manager. 'That is one of the reasons we wanted to have the public meeting.'

Some have voiced interest in housing social services, a West Tampa museum and theater group at the Centro.

Last month, Mayor Pam Iorio said any tenant must generate revenue for the city, which can't pay the estimated annual maintenance costs of $135,000 indefinitely.

'This is not a building the city can subsidize,' Fenton said. 'That has been communicated repeatedly and it will be communicated at the meeting.'

Centro Espanol was built as a social hall for the Latin community, offering a cantina, ballroom and theater, and operated until 1976. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

In 1999, the city sold the long-vacant building for $1 to the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League, which planned to restore it. The nonprofit organization folded in 2006 after 84 years, leaving debts of $1.8 million to Wachovia Bank, $795,000 to the city and $422,000 to the county.

The city paid Wachovia Bank $1 million for the building in January.

The county loan will be forgiven if the building retains a social service use for several years. A portion of the city loan was from federal grants and will be forgiven in 2008 if the building is used for public service. The remainder will be forgiven five years after renovations are completed.

The city has applied for a $350,000 state grant to help repair the roof, a project estimated at $400,000. The estimated cost to rehabilitate the theater is $1.6 million.

Kim Rivers, a creative arts specialist with the city's creative arts division, said she would like the theater group to move to the Centro. The group, which mainly performs puppet shows at libraries and recreation centers, has been housed in a cramped building on Rome Avenue since 1989.

'I feel a little beaten down but haven't given up,' Rivers said.

'Fiscal responsibility and community investment are hard to balance,' she said. 'You want to do the right thing, but you have to pay for it somehow.'

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 835-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/18/st-centros-future-up-for-debate/?news

I really like this building it is really pretty, and it would work great as a West Tampa History musuem. It could also be a theatre, it all depends!
I hope all goes well for this building

Someone needs to talk to those in charge and have the Spanglish name changed into something consistently spanish or consistently english.

Someone needs to talk to those in charge and have the Spanglish name changed into something consistently spanish or consistently english.

Uh yeah, I'd agree with you on that one. The current name sounds stupid...makes no sense at all.

The meeting is tonight....

Activists, Tampa Seek Ways To Save Historic Latin Social Hall
By JOSE PATINO GIRONA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 25, 2007

TAMPA - Art met practicality Tuesday night at a spirited discussion over the future of the Centro Espanol de West Tampa.

Participants said they support marrying private business with culture and art as long as it saves the 1912 building and keeps it open for public use.

Activists said they want the building, 2306 N. Howard Ave., to offer space for theater, arts, education, civic discussions and celebrations, such as wedding receptions and birthdays.

'This is not a collection of bricks and steel,' said Anthony Carreno of St. Petersburg, who grew up visiting the Centro for Spanish-language movies, school dances and wedding receptions. 'It is much more than that.

'We can't do irreversible damage to this gem,' he said. 'It would be a crime.'

Centro Espanol was built as a social hall for the Latin community, offering a cantina, ballroom and theater. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and operated until 1976. The building also is a local historic landmark.

In 1999, the city sold the long-vacant building for $1 to the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League, which planned to restore it. The nonprofit organization folded in 2006 after 84 years, leaving debts of $1.8 million to Wachovia Bank, $795,000 to the city and $422,000 to Hillsborough County.

The city bought the building for $1 million from Wachovia in January.

With annual operating costs estimated at $136,000, officials say the city must find paying tenants.

But there are restrictions on how the property can be used because federal grants helped pay for renovations, said Jeanette LaRussa Fenton, the city's West Tampa and Drew Park manager. The building must be used for social services, such as assisting seniors or children, or offering job training, drug abuse counseling and home ownership seminars.

The city could also meet the grant requirements by leasing the property to a for-profit business that hires nine low- to moderate-income employees. Or the city could repay the $2.5 million in federal grants, Fenton said.

The building, which is about 30,000 square feet, needs a new roof. The city has applied for a $350,000 grant for that work, Fenton said.

The theater also needs rehabilitation. Fenton couldn't provide a cost, but the work previously was estimated at $1.6 million.

Attendees said they were pleased with Tuesday's meeting, which included a tour of the Centro, and hold hope for a solution. Along with their suggestions, they asked city officials to be patient and sensitive to the community and the building's history.

'We are afraid they may react too quickly; that they do something to get it off their plate,' said David Bolock, a West Tampa resident and co-chairman of the West Tampa Council on Arts, Culture and History.

'We don't want it to be that a corporation comes in and makes it their office,' Bolock said.

If no agreement is reached, one option is to 'mothball' the building to protect it from deteriorating until a solution is reached, Fenton said.

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 835-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/jul/25/me-activists-tampa-seek-ways-to-save-historic-lati/?news-metro

Saving Centro will be challenge
The 95-year-old historic landmark needs care.
By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published July 27, 2007

Jan Groh peered into the glorious theater of her childhood Tuesday, with its Mediterranean and Moorish arches and exposed brick.

She remembered the Saturdays in 1945 when her mom didn't worry about the little girl's short walks alone to the Centro Espanol, when 9 cents could buy laughs at Abbott and Costello features and the entire community danced, ate and played dominos under one roof.

But Tuesday night, she saw something else in the historic national and local landmark: a roof that needed replacing, discarded office cabinets, scattered paint cans and bad termite damage.

Groh and about 90 of her neighbors gathered at the 95-year-old Centro Espanol building this week to learn from city officials just how bad the disrepair is and to envision the best plan to bring it back to life. There's no shortage of ideas for future uses of the building. Just a shortage of money.

The last occupants of the building, the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League, dissolved in debt last year without finishing building renovations, owing Wachovia Bank $1.83-million, Tampa nearly $800,000 and Hillsborough County $416,000.

The city bought the building in January for a little more than $1-million, but can't afford the $136,000 it will take to sustain the building each year. Officials need to find occupants to fill the building, who can run and restore it. The change, officials hope, will catalyze economic development for the West Tampa community. But occupants will face limitations. Restrictions tied to almost $2.6-million in grants require the building to be used for community cultural purposes.

Maura Barrios, with the West Tampa Council on Arts, Culture and History, proposed a cultural center, where neighbors could enjoy movies, lectures, art exhibits and concerts.

Chef Eric Holland wants to teach disadvantaged neighbors how to cook for free, in an in-house culinary school.

Developer Ed Turanchik wants to see the theater restored to its original grandeur a multimillion-dollar endeavor for which the city has no specific estimate yet and paired with a restaurant.

Already, some have inquired about the building: Tampa Bay Credit Union, state Rep. Michael Scionti, charter schools, caterers, major local nonprofit foundations and churches.

Let's get the County Commission involved, residents said. Let's put out a request for proposals, as the city did for the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory.

City officials will take the community input gathered Tuesday night and develop a plan to find occupants. If they can't be found, the city will look into "mothballing" the building, boarding it up to protect it until an acceptable use is proposed.

"This is a treasure," Turanchik said. "It shouldn't be offices. It should be an iconic cultural asset, in perpetuity. Take the time to do this right."

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 26, 2007, 09:05:16]

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/27/Citytimes/Saving_Centro_will_be.shtml

Centro Espanol Faces Setback
By JOSE PATINO GIRONA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 13, 2007

WEST TAMPA - Roof repairs for the historical Centro Espanol de West Tampa may have to wait a little longer.

The city recently learned it isn't a finalist for a $350,000 state grant it hoped would pay for roof upgrades for the 1912 building.

'The application was not among those that were ranked for funding,' the city's West Tampa and Drew Park manager, Jeanette LaRussa Fenton, wrote in an Oct. 5 e-mail.

'I am having some folks look at other funding sources, but I haven't received that report back,' Fenton said Monday.

Centro Espanol was built as a social hall for the Latin community, offering a cantina, ballroom and theater. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and operated until 1976. The building, 2306 N. Howard Ave., also is a local historic landmark.

The city sold the building in 1999 for $1 to the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League, which planned to restore it. The nonprofit organization folded in 2006 after 84 years, leaving debts of $1.8 million to Wachovia Bank, $795,000 to the city and $422,000 to Hillsborough County.

The city bought the building in January for $1 million.

Community activist Leo Alvarez called the state's decision disappointing and surprising.

'I look at it as a minor setback,' he said.

Alvarez said he plans to create a committee with people who attended a July discussion on the Centro's future in hopes of gaining momentum to use Community Investment Tax revenue for repairs.

The 30,000-square-foot building needs repairs to the theater, windows and grand staircase. Theater repairs have been estimated at $1.6 million.

City officials say tenants are needed to help cover the building's annual operating costs of $136,000.

Federal grants require the building be used for social services. The city could meet the requirement by leasing the property to a for-profit business that hires low- to moderate-income employees. The city could also reimburse the $2.5 million in federal grants.

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 831-2110 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

http://southtampa2.tbo.com/content/2007/oct/13/st-centro-espanol-faces-setback/?news

:ohno:

Why not make it into some sort of Hispanic cultural hub, seems like common sense to me. There are certainly more than enough Hispanics in the vicinity that if sufficiently motivated could easily support many types of latin centric organizations, programs and activities in the facility. At some point communities such as these have to step up and embrace/support their own heritage. Just my opinion though, I could be wrong.