Silver’s 5-10¢ and $1.00 Stores On 7th Avenue
Silver’s 5-10¢ And $1.00 Stores On 7th Avenue. 1929. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, University of South Florida Digital Collections.
Amphitheater Ybor, 1609 E 7th Avenue, Tampa, FL 2020. © Chip Weiner
Sliver’s 5-10¢ and $1 Stores opened here in 1929 when Joseph Kasriel closed his department store. Silver's had an 18-seat soda fountain and offered everything from women’s fashion to knick-knacks and ran the store until 1950. National chain H.L. Green Co. took over that year and continued as a five-cent to one-dollar store. Green Co. merged with McCrory stores in 1960 and lasted until 1962. The building then sat vacant for years
In 1998, The Amphitheater opened as a popular nightclub and concert venue. It abruptly closed in 2007 as party crowds in the district began to dwindle. The owners then reopened it, first as the Ybor Amphitheater and later as Club 360. In 2009, Club Tantra tried its hand at the space but did not make it. 2011 brought another reopening as The Amphitheater, but this time as an event space. The great Disco Ball fire of 2016, where reports say attempts to move and weld a disco ball over the dance floor set the building ablaze, gutting it. It is currently empty and marketed for lease after some structural repair, including a new roof.
From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 2
The Ybor Amphitheater fire on April 4, 2016, caused by a disco ball welding accident, gutted the historic building. © Chip Weiner
DJ at the Ybor Amphitheater 2011. © Chip Weiner
Ybor Amphitheater sign. © Chip Weiner
Amphitheater Ybor 1609 E 7th Ave 2011. © Chip Weiner
Amphitheater dance floor with disco ball