Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

I love the old buildings downtown – the old Floridan Hotel, Woolworth’s, etc. – I can always imagine all the activity that used to surround them 40, 60, 80 years ago. Every time I walk around downtown Tampa, I take a trip by my favorite of these – the old Maas Bros building on Franklin. Sometimes, I’ll walk around the entire block, wondering who would buy it, how they could restore it, what amazing things I could find inside it. The last couple years have seen the Maas building fall into serious disrepair. The city removed the old awnings last year, for safety reasons. It’s a great old building, but to look at the details, you would see how this place really needs serious help. It’s got a really nasty stench to it – decay, mold…. It’s really stinky. Along with a handful of other old downtown buildings, firefighters have been ordered not to save Maas Bros, should it catch fire. And now the city council wants it razed for future development. I actually remember shopping there in the late 80’s/early 90’s… Now I’ll never get to look around inside… and today my heart is a little bit broken.