Park N Sleep Motel, 505 Memorial Highway

Park N Sleep Motel, 505 Memorial Highway. 1954. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

The Park Motel, 2709 W Kennedy Blvd,, 2022© Chip Weiner

The Park N’ Sleep Hotel was built in 1953 for $50,000 at 505 Memorial Hwy (now 2701 West Kennedy Blvd.) Perhaps the most notorious thing about the place is that it was owned by George Zaharias, husband of the legendary American athlete Babe Zaharias. Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias won two gold medals in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Track and Field before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LGPA tours in her professional career. A municipal 18-hole golf course named after her opened in 1974 in the Forest Hills area of Tampa and is still an area favorite. Babe died in 1956 from colorectal cancer. George sold the Park N’ Sleep in 1968 for $80,000.

Now called the Park Motel, its vintage look stands out among the other more modern buildings along this section of Kennedy. Its neon sign and jalousie windows are gone, but the original structure still had the classic 1950s look.

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Vol.2

Babe Didrikson Zaharias with husband George and greyhound dog at Tampa Golf and Country Club. 1951. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Babe Didrikson Zaharias holding leashes of 4 greyhounds at Tampa Golf and Country Club. 1951. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System