Francis J. Kennard

Who was Francis J. Kennard?

Francis J. Kennard was a prolific architect of many prominent buildings in Tampa, Florida. The public buildings he designed are often in the Neoclassical style. His work includes Hillsborough High School, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, and the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel. Kennard employed the French Renaissance Revival style in his design for el Centro Español de Tampa as well as influences from Moorish Revival and Spanish Mediterranean Revival.

Kennard's expansion plan for the Boca Grande Hotel became the Gasparilla Inn. At the opening, a contact he made later contracted for Kennard to design for the Colonial Theatre, called Art Deco although it predates that style's designated period.