Circulo Cubano de Tampa, Cuban social club in Ybor City, Tampa, United States.
Circulo Cubano is a three-story yellow-brick building with white stone trim. Its central arched entrance has a white stone frame, carved stone urns on the flanking low walls, and brick steps behind a low metal railing. Above the door, a sign reads "CIRCULO CUBANO"; a projecting section rests on two tall columns, with three round-arched windows at the top level and rectangular windows below. A triangular pediment and balustrade top the roofline.
El Club Nacional Cubano, founded October 10, 1899, became El Círculo Cubano in 1902 as a mutual aid society. Its first building, completed in 1908 at 10th Avenue and 14th Street, burned in 1916; the club then had about 2,600 members. Architect M. Leo Elliott designed the present building, constructed in 1917 and opened in 1918.
The club's name comes from its 1902 re-founding as El Círculo Cubano, a mutual aid society that paid for members' medical care. Its theater, ballroom, cantina and library hosted dances and boxing; a gym and boxing ring stood behind the building. A 70-year-old mural by Juan Aciego decorated the ballroom ceiling until part of it collapsed in 1996.
The building is located in Ybor City at 2010 North Avenida Republica de Cuba and is easily accessible from the street. It functions as an event venue and community center, so it helps to check in advance what activities or events may be taking place.
During the 1918 influenza outbreak, the building was converted into a temporary hospital serving both members and non-members of the community. This episode reveals how the institution extended its role beyond its own membership to help the broader neighborhood.
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