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City Seeks Input On Guida Site

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By JOSE PATINO GIRONA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 5, 2008

WEST TAMPA - WEST TAMPA - The historical Guida house is back on the radar.

The city is hosting a community meeting at 6 p.m. July 15 at the David Barksdale Senior Citizen Center to get input on the future of the long-vacant building.

George Guida Sr., who was known as Mr. West Tampa, built the two-story, 5,000-square-foot home in 1951. It has a curved exterior, a basement and a heart-shaped driveway.

A civic leader and founder of George Guida & Son Home Furnishing and Decorating, Guida also was a founder of Central Bank of Tampa and a building contractor. He died in 1986 at age 71.

The city bought the house in the 1990s for more than $400,000, along with two nearby homes Guida owned that were later torn down. The house was named a local historic building in 2005.

Five years ago, local activists feared the house would be torn down to make room for a new West Tampa Boys & Girls Club. But the preservation movement gained momentum and Guida's home was saved.

In 2005, work was done to protect the building, including boarding up the windows and erecting a fence around the property.

Last year, the nonprofit Housing and Education Alliance decided not to pursue its interest in the building because the city wouldn't allow it to expand on the property.

The house is in the city's Macfarlane Park, 1700 N. MacDill Ave.

Jason Busto, a South Tampa resident who helped spearhead saving the Guida home, said he hopes there is a good turnout for the meeting and that the city is flexible on how the building can be used.

"I hope people will come with good ideas and a solid vision for using that space," Busto said.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Community meeting to discuss the future of the Guida house

WHEN: 6 p.m. July 15

WHERE: David Barksdale Senior Citizen Center, 1801 N. Lincoln St.

CALL: City's parks department at (813) 274-8615

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659 or jpatino@tampatrib.com.

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