This week’s sneak peek into Buildings Alive! is Swope Rodante, P. A. The law firm resides in the tallest building in Ybor City, which originally housed Florida's first brewery, the old Florida Brewing Company. This building once was the site of a natural spring discovered in 1824 and named the Government Spring, which provided water to Fort Brooke. The spring made it possible to have a pool and ice factory built around its waters. In 1896, Vicente Martinez-Ybor and Eduardo Manrara, seeing the need to provide beer for the vast number of workers they anticipated moving to Ybor, opened the Florida Brewing Company, which ran until 1961. Changing hands numerous times after closing and eventually falling into disrepair, the building was salvaged by Swope Rodante. In 1999, their multi-million-dollar restoration breathed life back into the building and restored it to its former grandeur while adding a modern flair.
