Growth, Changes on Davis Islands in the 1980s
Davis Islands has experienced several periods of growth during its eighty year history.
One of the more important spurts occurred during the 1980s, when expansion first had a
significant impact on the Islands’ original building stock. Though Tampa General
Hospital provided the main impetus for change, other projects left lasting impressions on
the landscape of Davis Islands.
Tampa General Hospital has brought more prosperity, and more controversy, than any
other institution on Davis Islands. Opened in 1927 as Tampa Municipal Hospital, Tampa
General first expanded in the mid 1950s. By 1980, the hospital was again too small for
the county’s burgeoning population. The hospital authority released plans for a 1000 bed
expansion to the hospital, which would more than double the facility’s capacity.