Dishing with Mark & Carrie
5-13-15
Big Changes In GaYBOR/ Ybor City
MC Film is Now CLOSED After 28 Years
First and utmost, we want to THANK YOU for your 28 years of support, patronage and your friendship. Mark, Carrie, Mr. Bill and Miss Amber want to let you know that if and when we open up again, we will let you know.
“Dishing with Mark & Carrie” column in
www.MCFILMFEST.com will still be as informative and active in weekly stories as ever for the West Florida community.
Starting in 1989 selling Gay & Lesbian movies at Gay Festivals & events. Opening our first store, MC FILM across from University of Tampa open Friday – Sunday. The second MC FILM store was 1400 s/f and located on Kennedy Blvd and Himes for 9 years. The store facilitated large Gay Pride retail store, a theater and community room for 60 people, video rentals and sales, gay pride, clothing, Chotsky’s and greatly known as the gay community information center in Tampa!
The shop hosted so many events in the community including Harvey Milk Candlelight Vigil, Gay Spring Thing, Ellen Degeneres HRC Coming Out Party, Versace’s murderer manhunt by local police for Andrew Cunanan, the first national Gay TV ad for Time Warner Communications, the screening of thousands of movies for Tampa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, 14 plays showcased and performed by local gay actors and writers, dog & cat adoptions, gay youth & Transgender meetings, the meeting stop for Hillsborough County Human Task Force (now Equality Florida) and the campaign headquarters for Carrie running for Tampa City Council.
MC Film was also the Gay Pride Shop up at Sawmill Resort for its first year of opening. We were the planning office for Orlando’s Gay Day’s at Disney for 7 years.
Onward and moved to St. Petersburg to the new then, Suncoast Resort back in 1998. The 4 story pink hotel had 23 first floor stores, cafes, and 4 large bars plus the outside pool patio T-Dance bar with 120 hotel rooms and convention center.
. Both DVD & videos were for sale and rent, clothing, rainbow gifts, Dance music CD’s, jewlry along with thousands of other gay pride items. We traveled to a large variety of trade shows in Las Vegas, Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando and New York for specialty gay and rainbow themed merchandise. That in its self was a job but we loved doing it.
In 2007 we wanted another MC FILM location in Ybor City as we live in Tampa and traveled the bridge daily. We found the Ybor location full of stuff but for rent. A 2 story below the streets sewer was being built on 15th street and most of the businesses were closed and out of business. 44 empty stores on 7th Ave.
We called a lot of friends and said, “If you want to open a store, bar, restaurant or have a non profit, Ybor City is available.” With that being said GaYBOR District Coalition was formed and a new chapter in Tampa history began!
G.BAR has New Ownership, Southern Nights Coming
The un-surprise announcement came Saturday afternoon from co- owners, Stephen Moss & Steve Donahue about the sale of G.Bar.
The bar sale takeover is June 1st. The sale was slipped out in the local gay papers in February.
“Now it is official.” said Stephen Moss. They still own the Social Club and Honey Pot on 7th.
Final Weeks for Ybor’s Don Vicente Historical Inn
The oldest building in Ybor City, the Don Vicente Historic Inn was sold last fall and this is its last 2 weeks of luxury sleeping in the boutique hotel. The famed luxurious wood paneling throughout the first floor is eye candy memorable. The Shiver Family has done a lot to promote Tampa and Ybor City.
Stop by and take a fab look at what was but will not be!.
