Tampa man makes it his mission to restore old cigar factories in Cigar City
TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa had 200 cigar factories in the early 1900s, and only a handful still stand today. But for Robert Holsopple, restoring the ones that survived has become a full-time job.
FOX 13 toured the old Perfecto Garcia Cigar factory in Ybor City, which is the one Holsopple is currently restoring.
"I imagine 100 years ago, a guy had a hand saw, and he was cutting that thing, and he made it just right," said Holsopple as he walked through the factory that opened in 1914.
His imagination also extends to what it will become in its next life.
"About 36 high-end apartments that will have a mixture of industrial, modern and historic look," he said.
People will live in a space where hundreds of immigrant cigar workers labored. The old cigar factory is a four-story, 48,000 square-foot monster that might give other contractors nightmares.
Restoring a cigar factory isn’t for the faint of heart or the short of cash.
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"I've talked to people who want to buy an old building. They ask me what I think, and I tell them, ‘whatever you think you want to spend, triple it.’"
But Holsopple came recommended. A decade ago, he restored another factory that’s now the headquarters of Arturo Fuente Cigars in Ybor City.
It’s a palace from the past, restored in full detail, and it took years to complete. He’s already worked on the Perfecto Garcia factory for four years.
"This will probably be the last," said Holsopple. "My goal is to finish this before I’m 80 years old, and I have three years to do that."
He still has lots of work to do.
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"I love it. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning," he said with a smile.
Every new day forward Holsopple seems to step back in time to reimagine the factories made famous in the Cigar City.