This category is a tie because it can be judged by two different criteria: scenery and architecture. Eckerd College, while it doesn’t showcase spectacular architecture, certainly gets mucho points for its awesome waterfront view of Tampa Bay from nearly everywhere on campus. The buildings could be made of adobe and twigs and those sights would more than make up for it. The University of Tampa, on the other hand, easily has the most stately and unique architecture of any local college campus. Plant Hall, itself a historic landmark, looks like the residence of a past-century European king with its iconic minarets. The heavy use of red brick all around campus — on the Macdonald-Kelce Library, Vaughn Center, David Falk Theatre, Frank P. Urso Hall and Plant Hall — only adds to the toney feel. And the view of the Hillsborough River isn’t bad either. Eckerd College: 4200 54th Ave. S., St. Petersburg, 800-456-9009, eckerd.edu., Univ. of Tampa: 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, 813-253-3333, ut.edu
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2008.
