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Paint Job Will Restore UT's Plant Hall To Original Colors

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

Wellington De La Cruz paints a window frame on the east side of Plant Hall.

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By JESSICA DaSILVA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 2, 2008

TAMPA - Plant Hall, a Tampa landmark for more than a century, is being repainted to reflect the colors of the original building.

Cynthia Gandee, executive director of the Henry B. Plant Museum, said the building's original shades of greens and grays were chosen to highlight the building's architecture.

The paint job will cost the city and University of Tampa a combined total of $500,000, Gandee said. It should be finished by the end of the year.

Plant Hall was built by Henry B. Plant in 1891 as the Tampa Bay Hotel. The 511-room Moorish-styled hotel was modeled after Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, and attracted some of the country's richest and most famous people, including Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, Stephen Crane and Babe Ruth. It is now home to the University of Tampa.

"We feel the building is the most important building in Tampa and one of the most important in Florida," Gandee said. "It's essential we do this type of restoration to keep the building pristine."

Reporter Jessica DaSilva can be reached at (813) 259-7851 or jdasilva@tampatribune.com.

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