Gavino Gutierrez, a Spanish immigrant, is credited with bringing Vincente M. Ybor and Ignacio Haya to Tampa and convincing them to build cigar factories. He also surveyed and plotted Ybor City. Ybor asked Gutierrez to be the architect and foreman for his factories. Gutierrez designed and constructed this 3-story structure in 1904, with storefronts on the bottom and the Dixie House Hotel on the second floor. The third floor was a clubhouse.

Ybor City thrived until the Great Depression impacted the cigar industry in the 1930s. Demand dropped as people lost the disposable income of the 1920s. Following World War II, returning soldiers moved out of Ybor City to find sustainable work, taking their money with them. As the area depressed, buildings deteriorated.

The Ybor City Pedestrian Mall was created when 16th Street was closed, and the land between these buildings and El Centro Espanol to the west was paved and decorated in 1962-1963. The block between 7th and 8th Avenues had white and black hexagonal pavers creating a walkway around a center fountain decorated with Spanish tile. Once discarded, turn-of-the-century cast-iron lamp poles that once lined 7th Ave were salvaged and placed in the area. Delays and red tape earned the venture the nickname “Ybor turtle project”. The mall, part of an Ybor redevelopment plan, was built to restore the Latin feeling to Ybor’s business district and attract tourists. Officially named “El Paseo de Ybor”, the mall opened on June 1, 1963, with Mayor Julian Lane presiding.

By the mid-1990s, the mall was on the chopping block as Mayor Dick Greco pushed for a new development, Centro Ybor shopping and entertainment project, in another attempt to revitalize the district. The thought was that the $43-million, 210,000 square-foot complex would bring tourists back, attempting to slow the trend of bars and clubs opening in the district. El Paseo de Ybor was razed, and Centro Ybor opened in 2000. It was a financial boondoggle. Developed by a public-private partnership, management had financial problems, forcing the city to take over the loans in 2004. Big brands moved into the complex, but the tourist dollars were insufficient to sustain their rents. Dozens of businesses have moved in and out since Centro Ybor opened. The site where the Gutierrez building was is now a craft beer hall called the Ybor Tap Room. Upstairs, Big Storm Brewery was recently evicted following allegations that the owners were behind in rent.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved