Centro Asturiano - Now

Now

Membership declined following the close of the hospital in 1990. The main focus of the club has shifted from medical care, its original purpose, to preserving the history of the club and its members and to a more social function.

The current building, which has been in use since 1914, originally boasted a recreational floor, a floor largely devoted to study, and a party floor. The first floor hosted a gymnasium, a cantina for card, chess, and domino games (the space is now rented by an outside restaurant), a billiard room with five tables, and a three lane bowling alley that has been converted into a kitchen for the restaurant. The second floor holds offices for the club administrators, an extensive library, several reading and educational rooms, a smoking room, ladies parlor and dressing lounge and the auditorium and stage. The third floor houses the balcony of the theatre and a large ballroom. The ballroom was and still is, to a lesser extent, used for public dances that were a main social interaction between young club members or their children. Many of the current club members met their spouses at a dance at the Centro. The ballroom also houses private parties such as birthdays, wedding receptions, anniversaries, and many other celebrations. When the building was opened in 1914, the Tampa Daily Times ran an article on the architecture and features of the new club headquarters: “It is a monument to the memory of those who have devoted their best endeavors to the welfare of the institution, and a palace to those who stand faithful to its noble ideals” (May 16, 1914).