YBOR CITY/TAMPA, FL – DEC 8, 2014: The VIVA YBOR is a colorful mural celebrating Ybor City on 7th Avenue created in October of 2012 by Artist, Chico Garcia.
The upper right is a bust-portrait of cigar entrepreneur, Vincente Martinez Ybor, with the Tampa Bay Hotel (now the University Of Tampa) in the background. A yellow street car is layered behind the Have-A-Tampa Cigar Company logo which closed in 2009.
The Ybor City Rooster and Hen keep their celebrity status in the mural along with the bottom left image representing the tombstone of the famous Rooster, James E. Rooster.
Nice write-up. A couple of corrections/updates though. One, the minarets are the architectural centerpiece of the University of Tampa (originally the Tampa Bay Hotel), not USF, and two, Hav-A-Tampa unfortunately closed their doors in the summer of 2009. The mural is wonderful and is a great celebration of Ybor City.
Dear RKP,
I made the corrections and I wanted to thank you for being so kind 🙂 You are a true gentleman…With deep appreciation, craig