View source for German-American Club of Tampa

{{Short description|Historic German-American Club Building}}
[[File:German-american club ybor.jpg|thumb|314x314px|The German-American club in Ybor City, Tampa.]]
The '''German-American Club of Tampa''' (also known as the '''German-American Club''', the '''German Club''', and the '''Deutscher-Americaner''') is a historic building that opened in 1909, serving as a community space for German, [[German Americans|German-American]], and Jewish people in [[Ybor City]], [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], [[Florida]]. It is one of several [[History of Ybor City|historic mutual aid societies in Ybor]] that were constructed during the city's "Golden Age."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lastra |first=Frank Trebín |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61748343 |title=Ybor City : the making of a landmark town |date=2006 |publisher=University of Tampa Press |others=Richard Mathews |isbn=1-59732-002-1 |edition=1st |location=Tampa |oclc=61748343}}</ref> Founding members of the German-American Club included the Maas family, owners of [[Maas Brothers|Maas Brothers department store]], and four-term Tampa mayor [[Herman Glogowski]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Tampa's German Club, once a symbol of exclusion, now symbolizes inclusion |url=https://www.tampabay.com/hillsborough/tampas-german-club-once-a-symbol-of-exclusion-now-symbolizes-inclusion-20190411/ |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref>
== Architecture ==
This three-story building was designed in the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]]-style, which is a subset of the [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] movement in architecture. Its historic marker describes "fine classical details and proportions ... with concrete bock molded to appear as tooled stone masonry" in addition to exterior and interior [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] pillars.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Hillsborough - Preservation - Florida Division of Historical Resources |url=http://apps.flheritage.com/markers/markers.cfm?county=hillsborough |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=apps.flheritage.com}}</ref>
== History ==
The German-American Club building has served many purposes, having served for over a century as a social club, mutual aid society,<ref>{{Cite book |last=M. |first=De Quesada, A. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/42669415 |title=Ybor City |date=1999 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=0-7385-0057-7 |oclc=42669415}}</ref> Hebrew Association, community health center and more in the [[Tampa Heights]] neighborhood.
=== The Official History ===
The building is labeled with a historic marker, which was sponsored in 1998 by [[Tampa, Florida|The City of Tampa]], [[Ybor City]] Development Corporation, and [[Florida]] Department of State [[Secretary of State of Florida|Secretary of State]], [[Sandra Mortham|Sandra B. Mortham]]. The marker reads:<blockquote>
Organized in 1901, the German-American Club was one of the few non-Latin ethnic clubs in Tampa. Club members laid the cornerstone for a building on the northeast corner of Nebraska Avenue and 11th Street on February 23, 1908, followed by a grand opening on January 1, 1909. Fine classical details and proportions marked the three-story building, with concrete bock molded to appear as tooled stone masonry. With a stage for speakers or theatrical productions, a swimming pool and a bowling alley, the building served Tampa's German and Jewish population until its sale in 1919. From 1919 to 1924, it housed Tampa's Labor Temple Association. The [[Young Men's Hebrew Association]] bought the building in 1924 and remained until 1944. Focusing on education and recreation for Tampa's Jewish community, the association held gym, art, and music classes, and outdoor sports and leisure activities. Various groups including an insurance company and the Hispanic organization, [[Masonic lodge|Los Caballeros de la Luz]], occupied the building after 1944.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>
=== A Raid on the German-American Club ===
The historic marker leaves out a dark moment in the German-American Club's history. In 1918, on [[Armistice Day]] at the end of [[World War I]] and fueled by anti-German sentiment, locals stormed the Club and defaced it. A 1997 Tampa Bay Times article on the subject<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=REBIRTH |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1997/11/30/rebirth/ |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref> recounts: <blockquote>With hammers, rifles and steel bars swinging, the neighborhood men smashed their way into the club, an elegant stone building that sits on Nebraska Avenue at the edge of Ybor City. The hooligans punched out windows. They stomped apart chairs. And then, at the peak of their anti-Kaiser fury, the rowdies ripped out the busts of famous German intellectuals that lined the club's foyer and dragged them into the street.</blockquote>The event marked the end of the building's affiliation with the German population in Tampa. Tampa's German-American Club chapter moved to a new location on Rome Avenue. Shortly thereafter, in 1919, the building was sold and passed between several owners over the following decades. By 1993, the building was in a state of disrepair when the [[Tampa, Florida|City of Tampa]] foreclosed on it, after its owners failed to pay maintenance fines.<ref name=":2" />
=== Renovations and Restorations ===
In 1997, then-Mayor of Tampa, [[Dick A. Greco|Dick Greco]] – who had taken singing lessons at the Club as a child – led an initiative to restore the German-American Club and turn it into a municipal building. In order to fund the project without burdening taxpayers, the project was turned over to the Tampa Bay Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO).<ref name=":2" /> It eventually became home to the Sunshine State Economic Development Corporation.
In 2019, the building took on a new purpose once more. The building was purchased by area non-profit organizations, [[Metro Inclusive Health]] and CAN Community Health, in partnership with the Capitano family.<ref name=":0" /> The subsequent restoration project, which was selected for a [[Hillsborough County, Florida|Hillsborough County]] Historic Preservation Challenge Grant<ref>{{Cite web |title=County Selects Projects for 2019 Historic Preservation Challenge Grants |url=https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/newsroom/2019/08/07/county-selects-projects-for-2019-historic-preservation-challenge-grants |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=www.hillsboroughcounty.org |language=en}}</ref> to repair the stucco exterior façade and windows.<ref>''[https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/library/hillsborough/media-center/documents/grants/hpcg/hpcg-success-stories.pdf Historic Preservation Challenge Grants: Past Awards.]'' Hillsborough County, Florida.</ref> Renovations also included the addition of an attached health center building.
== Now ==
The German-American Club is home to area non-profit organizations, [[Metro Inclusive Health]] and CAN Community Health. These 501(c)3 healthcare organizations provide health resources with a focus on [[HIV]] testing and treatment.<ref name=":0" />
== See also ==
* [[History of Ybor City#The Mutual Aid Societies (social clubs)|The Mutual Aid Societies of Ybor City]]
* [[El Centro Español de Tampa]]
* [[Centro Asturiano de Tampa]]
* [[Ybor City Historic District]]
== References ==
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{{morecat|date=August 2022}}
[[Category:1909 establishments in Florida]]