When was plant hall built

To this day, University of Tampa students remain in agreement that the only thing more terrifying than a mountain of overdue assignments is a run-in with the ghost of Plant Hall, although admittedly he does make for a pretty good excuse. More: Top 10 Haunted Places in Tampa. Plant Hall is a stunning feat of Moorish Revival architecture quite unlike anything else in the city, characterized by its Victorian gingerbread trim, red brick exterior, and silver domes and minaret turrets.

The hall was originally built as the Tampa Bay Hotel by wealthy businessman and railroad mogul Henry Plant, who modeled the hotel after European architecture to appeal to his well-traveled Victorian guests.

Along with the Tampa Bay Hotel, Plant constructed seven other luxury resorts across the southern United States to act as pit stops along his railway line, the Plant System. Along with its unique architectural style, the hotel possesses quite a few other novel features. The building itself covers six acres of land and stretches a quarter-mile in length.

The hotel also boasts the first-ever elevator installed in the state of Florida. In the s, this was quite a feat! Even more impressive, the mechanism still operates to this day, making it one of the oldest continually operating elevators in the United States. In the s, luxury hotels in the American South were a fairly novel concept, and Henry Plant was more than happy to cash in on the fast-growing market. The architecture was specifically designed to thoughtfully appeal to European travelers.

The Moorish Revival style featured unique and innovative details. The towering building was made visually interesting by its many arches, towers, and cupolas. The hotel was the first in Florida to feature an elevator, electric lighting, and in-room telephones. The elevator is actually still operational to this day. The accommodations also boasted private bathrooms and fireproof walls. This gave Plant the justification to charge nearly ten times as much per night as other hotels in the area.

Filled with luxurious decor, the hotel attracted wealthy celebrities and politicians like Babe Ruth and Teddy Roosevelt. The hotel suffered greatly from the decrease in travel spending and was forced to cease operations.

Because of the struggling economy, the hotel was abandoned for three years. Previously housed in a local high school, the small college now had much more room to grow. The school quickly transformed into The University of Tampa. Plant Hall became the main building of campus operations. The building was carefully evaluated and efforts went underway to restore and preserve the structure.

It was modernized to make it more efficient while the original architecture was kept intact. The southeast wing of the building became The Henry B. Plant Museum. Many students and university employees have encountered unexplainable events in the old building. These happenings have led to The University of Tampa as being known as one of the most haunted campuses in the entire country.

Students have reported feeling the presence of others in empty rooms in Plant Hall. Unexplainable physical energy has been experienced by many in the old building. Doors have been creaked open and closed with no one touching them.

Footprints have been heard from empty floors above. Eerie, cold sensations have also been felt in the indoor space.

The Hotel also boasted a golf course, tennis and shuffleboard courts, billiards, croquet, and even a racetrack. The Music Room hosted grand balls and orchestra concerts during the week. The Casino also served as a spa with a heated indoor swimming pool located below the removable floorboards to reveal a relaxing oasis. The Grand Salon, or parlor, was a place of inspiration filled with European statues and Venetian-style mirrors.

In The New York Times writer, William Drysdale commented that, gentlemen of the pen who can write a column or two about a snow-capped mountain peak and go into ten-page ecstasies over a sunrise should stand in the middle of the Tampa Bay Hotel parlor and let their immaculate English flow unrestrained.

Following a formal eight-course dinner of fine wine and haute cuisine in the Dining Room, guests could stroll along the serpentine walks that wove through an exotic landscape of tropical flora and garden statuary.

The Flower House, filled with rare plants from all parts of the world, was one of three charming conservatories on the grounds. The grounds of the Hotel were just as awe-inspiring as the building itself, spanning acres. Local historians credit its builder, railroad and shipping magnate Henry B. Plant, with the transformation of Tampa from a sleepy fishing village to what would become a vibrant city of the 21st century.

Built between and , the hotel was designed to surpass all other grand winter resorts.