The S. H. Kress and Co. Building is a historic 1928 building in Tampa, Florida, United States. It was part of the S. H. Kress & Co. "five and dime" department store chain. On April 7, 1983, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Located at 811 N. Franklin Street, the building has a second fronting on Florida Avenue and is in the Renaissance Revival architectural style. G.E. McKay was the four story building's architect, and it includes masonry, suspended bronze marquee, extensive use of terra-cotta ornamentation (on both its facades). It was "one of the last major commercial structures built in Tampa before the Great Depression".
The Kress store was located between a Woolworth and former J.J. Newberry. The buildings have been empty for more than a decade and redevelopment plans have stalled in the face of economic downturn. Plans by the Doran Jason Group to demolish two of the buildings and replace them with a "massive" condo development were held off in 2006. The Kress building would have been used as a lobby with office and retail space. The Newberry store was founded in 1911 and "is noted for its architecture", while lunch-counter sit-ins were held by civil rights activists at the Woolworth store in the 1960s.
In 2011, a fundraiser at the Kress building was cancelled due to the dispute over redevelopment plans. The building is to be used for social gatherings during the 2012 Republican Convention.
Video S. H. Kress and Co. Building (Tampa, Florida)
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Maps S. H. Kress and Co. Building (Tampa, Florida)
References
Additional sources and external links
- Hillsborough County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Hillsborough County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Kress Building
- Tampa's Kress building history
Source of article : Wikipedia
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