'Lady Columbia' sign lights up Ybor City

Clearwater-based USAmeriBank bowed to history as it raised an 11-foot sign at its new Ybor City branch, housed in the former Columbia Bank building. The sign reflects the style of the Lady Columbia sign that graced the building in the '40s and '50s, complete with neon lights.

The old Columbia Bank opened in Ybor City at the height of the Great Depression, in 1936, and managed to thrive in the neighborhood for decades.

USAmeriBank chose the distinctive image rather than a standard bank sign because it fit the culture on Seventh Avenue, Shari Middleton, senior vice president and branch manager, tells Coffee Talk. “The Lady Columbia sign was such an iconic sign back in the day. That was always part of our thought process, to bring her back.”

StudioMax Design, a Tampa-based design and advertising company, and Thomas Sign & Awning Co., a Clearwater sign manufacturer, collaborated on the sign for the Ybor site.

But the sign is only part of the story. Inside, in additional touches with historical echoes, USAmeriBank installed tin ceilings and marble floors. The restoration, for which USAmeriBank CEO Joe Chillura was the driving force, was important to the bank's strategy in embracing the community, says Middleton. And the community has responded in kind.

Many residents and merchants in the district have joined the bank as customers since the branch opened in March. “Ever since Columbia Bank left, Ybor City has never had a community bank,” the branch manager says.

But Middleton, too, has reason to appreciate local history. “My very first job was at the Columbia Restaurant. I used to wash, dry, and fold the table linen there,” she says. “My mother worked here in Ybor as a child, with my grandmother—so my roots are very deep in Ybor City, so I feel like I'm back home,” she notes.