The clubhouse of the Cuban Civic Club is threatened with closure after 50 years

TAMPA, Florida. – The clubhouse of the Cuban Civic Club of Tampa Bay is fighting to stay open after a recent building inspection. The nonprofit has operated out of the building on Memorial Highway in Hillsborough County since 1974. Its ballroom has been the setting for thousands of celebrations, concerts, corporate events, weddings and more over the years.

The club is proud to be able to rent the premises at a reasonable price.

“We’ve held events like Cuban girls’ 15th birthdays, which is a big event, or 16th birthdays, weddings, domino championships, all kinds of celebrations,” said club president Dr. Daniel Plasencia. “We do it for all kinds of Latin Americans, Africans, Haitians. You name it, we’ve held all kinds of events over the years.”

Dr. Plasencia said the club was surprised after a recent visit by a Hillsborough County fire inspector.

“There has been a fire safety ordinance in place since 2007 that states that sprinkler systems must be installed at events with more than 300 people,” he explained. “But we don’t have that. We thought we had been protected all these years.”

He said the county is giving the club a year to comply with regulations or the entire 6-acre campus will be closed.

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“They actually overlooked it, but recently they said, ‘No, you’re in violation. But we’ll give you time; you can hold events as long as there aren’t more than 300 guests in the facility.'”

The club has received two bids for an automatic sprinkler system for the ballroom, both valued at around $300,000.

“Our secretary was the one who received this news and she started crying because she realized we don’t have it. We’re going to have to close it,” Dr. Plasencia said.

Dr. Plasencia said membership fees from the club’s 70 active members are barely enough to cover the basic cost of the facility. And because the ballroom is made available to the public at a low price, the club makes little to no profit from the events.

He hopes the community will help raise money for the sprinkler system.

“A way for people to support us and see if we can raise that much money,” he said.

An online fundraiser is being planned. In the meantime, the club plans to meet with Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen via Zoom to discuss options for financial support.

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