Plant Field stretches out ahead of you. This was Tampa’s first major athletic multi-purpose stadium, built in 1899 by Henry B. Plant on the grounds of his Tampa Bay Hotel to host events and activities for guests. Imagine a large field ringed by an oval race track, flanked by a large covered grandstand on the western straightaway with portable seating that could be moved to accommodate horse racing, car racing, baseball games, entertainers and politicians.
Over the decades Plant Field drew Tampa residents and visitors to see those events, and it hosted the first professional football and the first spring training games in Tampa. It was also the long-time home of the Florida State Fair. Change arrived as Al Lopez Field opened in 1954 and Tampa Stadium opened in 1967; those venues became the preferred places for many of the events that had long been held here.
The adjacent University of Tampa gained ownership of the facility in 1971, and with Tampa Spartans football moving to Tampa Stadium and the Florida State Fair moving to a much larger site east of downtown in 1976, Plant Field was used primarily for university events and student recreation. The grounds where the Tampa Bay Hotel and this busy field once drew crowds now sit quietly beside the university next to you.