Has Hillsborough Community College no shame?
It’s a given that it has no sense of history when it comes to architecture. Contemporary and functional, thank you, whether it’s for the Dale Mabry campus, where such a design works, or the Ybor City campus, where it affronts.
HCC is currently pressing on with construction of its 63,000-square-foot Ybor City student center in the same inappropriately modern design. Moreover, it has been dismissive of local input, including that of the neighboring Cuban Club.
How ironic that when it comes to respecting the historic charm and architectural integrity of Ybor, an institution of higher learning doesn’t get it – but the local McDonald’s and Burger King, as well as the Hampton and Hilton hotels, do?
And using an ostensible exemption from architectural guidelines is loopholier-than-thou arrogance. What’s wrong with simply doing the right thing? If Golden Arches can be compromised for the sake of aesthetics in an historical setting, why not a glass façade?
HCC is a community college that has learned nothing over the years and failed local history. By virtue of its incumbent campus, it is already responsible for one Ybor eyesore. Now the festering continues apace. That’s its cavalier contribution to historic Ybor City, the Latin soul of Tampa.