Downtown Tampa - Page 2
The old Federal Court Building
Completed in 1905, the building was used as a post office and customs house for this growing, port city. Built in the classic Beaux-Arts style - with stone, marble, three-story columns and other trappings of elegance - the courthouse radiates formality, simplicity, order and tradition.
The entrance, elevated from the street, divides two symmetrical wings, and sits at the top of sweeping stairs that empty into a main portico. The building was converted into a courthouse in 1984 until completion of the current Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse in 1998. It is now abandoned. There are rumors of converting it into a history center.
See old postcard when this was the US Customs House and Post Office. Another postcard
Stepping back a bit, we see the old courthouse contrasted with the new Sam Gibbons Courthouse on the left.
This kiosk on the Franklin St. Mall affords the weary pedestrian a place to rest, and the time to rest. The top is in the style of the minarets of the University of Tampa.
Downtown Page 2