Port Tampa City Library

Port Tampa City Library
General information
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Address	4902 W. Commerce St.
Town or city	Tampa, FL
Coordinates	27°51′51″N 82°31′41″W / 27.8640660°N 82.5279230°W / 27.8640660; -82.5279230
Opened	1951
Renovated	1997
Website
http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/locations/ptm/

The Port Tampa City Library is an historic building in Tampa, Florida. Located at 4902 W. Commerce St., it is a neighborhood branch in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.^[1] The original library building, located at 8611 Interbay Boulevard, was staffed and operated by volunteers from the Woman's Club and Civic Association of Port Tampa City from 1951 until 1961, when Port Tampa City was annexed by the City of Tampa. The Tampa library system took over the library in 1962.^[2]

New home

The Neo-classical structure at W. Commerce Street was opened in 1926, and was the location for the First Bank of Port Tampa. It closed after the stock market crash of 1929. In the years to come it would house a grocery store, a health clinic, a flight school, and a boutique.^[3]

In 1993 the Women's Club began a funding drive to save the old bank building, which had been vacant for many years, after members noticed a demolition notice attached to it. By 1994 the building was made a landmark, and the Club eventually raised $5,000 to help save it. That money was given to the Friends of the Port Tampa City Library. In 1998 the 5,700-square-foot building reopened as the Port Tampa City Library, with a grand opening ceremony on June 14, 1998 — Flag Day — and the centennial of the embarkation from Port Tampa for Cuba bound troops in the Spanish–American War.^[4]

Design

The interior of the library includes marble and terrazzo floors; a cast plaster, coffered ceiling with egg-and-dart and dentil molding; custom made cherry cabinetry; and, on the second floor, a Maritime Reading Room. The outside has a marble base and glazed white terracotta tile, Ionic pilasters and panels with urns and floral decorations, and bronze doors set in bronze frames. Also outside the building are the Port Tampa City Benches, commissioned in 1998 through Hillsborough County's Public Art Program. The benches, fabricated by artist Susan B. Gott, consist of 28 kiln cast, multi-colored glass tiles set in steel.^[1]

References