West Tampa Museum of Art??
October 31, 2007 at 3:38 pm by Wayne GarciaThe city of Tampa could kill two birds with one stone if it follows through on today’s announcement that it might move the Tampa Museum of Art to the former Centro Espanol de West Tampa temporarily while a new museum is built downtown.
From the city’s news release:
Tampa Museum of Art Considers Temporary Home in West Tampa
Centro Español de West Tampa Building TargetedTampa, Fla. (October 31, 2007) – Tampa Museum of Art (TMA) will soon consider the Centro Español de West Tampa building as their interim location. TMA’s executive committee will meet on Friday, November 2, 2007 to discuss the option and pending the committee’s approval, Centro Español de West Tampa will house the museum during the construction phase for their permanent location at Curtis Hixon Park.
Centro Español de West Tampa is one of Tampa’s most significant historic and cultural assets. The facility would allow all museum operations to be housed in one location including educational programs, exhibitions and community outreach efforts. The temporary home will allow museum staff to offer classes to neighborhood residents as well as increase the opportunity for access to the art collection. Admission would be by contribution.
Originally, the City and TMA planned for the museum to be temporarily housed at the Tampa Convention Center. An unfinished portion of the Center would have been built out to house the museum and eventually provide opportunity for other uses. The original estimate of $250,000 to build out the space increased to over $700,000. At that price point it was no longer practical to spend that amount of money for a temporary museum.
The City of Tampa reacquired the Centro Español de West Tampa building and adjacent properties from the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League and Wachovia Bank in January 2007. The facility was built in 1912 to serve the citizens of West Tampa and functioned as the social center for the community. It was added to the National Register of Historical Places on July 30, 1974.
Here’s my West Tampa cover story that addressed the problems (and opportunities) with the Centro and the entire neighborhood. I’m not sure that putting it off the market for a few years gets West Tampa any closer to its dream of rebuilding a community that was once the fifth largest city in the state. In other words, it would be a short-term benefit (or could be) that would delay a permanent tenant in the Centro that could be a linchpin for redevelopment efforts. I’m struck by the possible similarities to the Modern’s temporary home in Queens. Unless the TMA is willing to leave a little sumthin-sumthin behind in the Centro? Like maybe any Latin-related art that could find a permanent home in West Tampa?
