Downtown Tampa - page 1

This colorful mural faces downtown commuters as they leave downtown heading northbound at 1102 N. Florida Avenue at the corner of Royal Street.

 

Read about this mural and the artist, Carl Cowden, III

 

In the letters that spell "Tampa" you can see the Sulphur Springs water tower, the Gasparilla ship and accompanying flotilla, the old Tampa Bay Hotel now the University of Tampa, a streetcar in Ybor City, and a nature scene on the Hillsborough River.

 

The skyline in the background shows downtown Tampa across the Hillsborough River as it appeared in the old days.  The bridge could be the old Lafayette Street bridge which is now Kennedy Blvd.

See the entire building

 

 

 

Signed City of Tampa porcelain plate, 2009 - commemorative plate signed by Mayor Pam Iorio featuring the art work of artist Carl Cowden.

 

Artist Carl Cowden, III

 

 

 

 

 

In April of 2012, the mural was removed in order to repair the wall it was painted on.  A serious problem had developed over the years--moisture had seeped into the stucco on the wall causing cracking which threatened to damage the mural according to Gaspar Properties, the owners of the building.  The City of Tampa's public art program is funding the project. Including labor and materials, the cost is $12,000, with half of that marked for Cowden to repaint the mural.

 

Carl Cowden, III's website

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Standing on a scissors lift, Mural Artist Carl Cowden III, 56, right, of Tampa, and his two sons Carl IV, 20, left, and Griffin, 19, center, repaint the City of Tampa mural on the side of the building on Royal Street near Florida Avenue in Tampa, Fla. , on Thursday, July 5, 2012

 

Work on repainting the mural began in June, 2012 and was still in progress as of July.

Tampa Mural, We Wish You Were Here
Iconic Tampa Mural Becomes Blank Wall

 

 

 

Below:  The same building in 1957.  Photo courtesy of Johnny Cinchett whose father, John F. Cinchett of Cinchett Neon Signs in Tampa, made and installed the Pepsi-Cola sign on the roof.

Place your cursor on the photo to add the mural and color.

The bar & grill located at far left was "Stix's Glass Lounge."


                   Finished!


Downtown as seen from Julian B. Lane Park at the Hillsborough River, Jan. 2011

Same view in 1926

Looking south on Florida Ave. from in front of the new Federal Courthouse building.

 

The taller building is the Franklin Exchange Building

Another view of the Franklin Exchange Building

 

Sacred Heart Catholic Church building on N. Florida Ave. has been the ecclesiastic jewel of downtown Tampa, Florida for nearly a century.  Ground was broken for its construction on February 16, 1898, and the cornerstone was laid on February 4, 1900. The official dedication was held January 15, 1905.

The church looks much the same today as it did then. The gleaming white marble main altar and delicately arched altar railing, the magnificent stained glass windows and stations of the cross, the solid oak pews and entry doors, and the distinctive petal-shaped porcelain tile flooring are all original materials.

Read about the stained glass windows.

 

See old Hampton Dunn postcard 

 

Sacred Heart Church side view.

 

See another postcard

 

Burgert Bros. 1922 Sacred Heart church photo

 

Burgert Bros. 1927 Sacred Heart church photo

 

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