Site

Located on a formerly vacant lot across from the historic J.C. Newman Cigar Factory in Ybor City, Cigar Workers Park transforms an underutilized urban parcel into a publicly accessible green space. Privately funded and maintained by J.C. Newman Cigar Co., the park provides an intimate landscape experience within one of Tampa’s densest historic neighborhoods.

Program Challenge

Transform a dusty, unused lot into a lush urban park honoring the generations of workers who shaped Tampa’s cigar industry. The project needed to function simultaneously as a daily public amenity, employee gathering space, and flexible event venue for the adjacent cigar factory.

Solution

The design organizes the park into a series of distinct yet interconnected zones, creating a gradual transition from the activity of busy Columbus Avenue to quieter covered gathering space. The pavilion constructed of blackened steel and clad in salvaged heart pine from a historic North Florida tobacco barn draws from Ybor City’s industrial architectural vocabulary while establishing a flexible space for community events and informal use.

Material selections reinforce the site’s connection to the surrounding historic district. Salvaged brick street pavers and variegated concrete hex pavers establish a textured and durable ground plane, while the concrete of the fountain is imprinted by reclaimed barn wood as a symbolic reference to the generations of cigar workers connected to the adjacent factory and the broader history of Tampa’s cigar industry.

Landscape and environmental strategies were integrated throughout the project. A perimeter bioswale manages stormwater runoff while softening the urban edge of the site. Native and climate-appropriate plantings—including mature live oaks, date palms, ornamental grasses, and flowering shrubs—create shade, support pollinators, and establish a resilient landscape. Custom-designed bat houses further contribute to the ecological function of the park while reinforcing its identity as a carefully crafted civic space.