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Old Becomes New At Floridan Hotel

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JACK HARRIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

There's been a trend in urban areas in the United States in which abandoned or deteriorated grand hotels from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are being refurbished and returned to their former grandeur. The Don Cesar Hotel on St. Pete Beach was a trendsetter in this respect, and the Vinoy in downtown St. Petersburg is another success. In Clearwater, the Belleview Biltmore is about to undergo a similar transformation.

Now Tampa is about to get its entry in the restoration sweepstakes. The majestic old Floridan Hotel on Florida Avenue opened in 1927 with 400 guest rooms and a first-class restaurant and at the time was the tallest hotel in the Sunshine State. It flourished until the 1950s when the competition from suburban motels began to take their toll and it struggled until 1987 when if finally closed its doors.

In 1996, it was finally added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. But now, it's about to come alive in all its previous splendor. Antonios Markopoulos, a real estate investor, has put more than $6 million into the project, which will feature 195 standard rooms, 15 suites and 3 penthouses.

Previously, Markopoulos owned hotels on Clearwater Beach. But with the Floridan, he sees a showcase for downtown Tampa. As he says, "it belongs to the community."

A soft opening is planned by the end of this year, and it should be up and running full speed by Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Deadline

Incidentally, how many projects have we heard about that are to be finished by Super Bowl LXIII? There are hotels, road projects and beautification projects that are all scheduled to be ready "in time for the Super Bowl." It seems like getting the NFL Championship Game here from time to time (this is the fourth we've hosted) is a good thing or else we may never get anything done.

Lousy Predictions

Speaking of getting things done quickly, a lot of folks were amazed that the repairs to the Interstate 75 bridge at the 301 interchange south of Tampa were done so quickly. The bridge was nearly destroyed when a tanker truck crashed and burned, causing traffic to have to be re-routed to the northbound lanes of the expressway.

The original estimates indicated that it would take six to eight weeks to restore it, but, Shazam! ... it took only a week and a half before it was ready for traffic again. And the company that was hired to do the repairs scored a $300,000 bonus for an early finish.

I asked a DOT spokesperson who was responsible for the original estimate and she said it was a state employee. That's good because if the estimate was by the construction company, it could predict a longer time so it could increase its chances of landing the bonus money.

But the state employee who made the projection may need to go into another line of work. When a six-week prognostication is four weeks off target, that's not a job well done.

Jocularly,

Jack

Jack Harris co-hosts AM Tampa Bay from 6 to 9 weekday morning on WFLA-AM and is involved in a number of other radio and television broadcasts.

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