Considered Gainesville's cultural center, the Thomas Center is housed in a beautifully restored Mediterranean Revival-style hotel. The Thomas Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and contains art galleries, 1920's period rooms, local history exhibits, performance space, banquet rooms, and meeting rooms. The Thomas Center is surrounded by the lovely Thomas Center Gardens and the Grace and Sidney Knight Children's Theatre. The center is the site of a variety of art exhibits and musical programs. The Thomas Center is located at 302 NE 6th Ave.

The Spanish Court is the central room which rises two stories to a full skylight. It is surrounded by a colonnade and second story Mezzanine area. The Long Gallery adjoins the Spanish Court with five sets of double doors on the south wall. This long room is fully paneled in walnut, has two fireplaces and carpeting. The Thomas Center has three meeting rooms available. The Sam Gowan History Room, Room 102, off the northeast corner of the Spanish Court contains a conference table that seats twelve people. The Lucille Maloney Room, room 105, contains a conference table that seats sixteen people. Gallery A is located in the lower level and seats forty people. Thomas Center Rental Information

The beautiful Downtown Community Plaza is located at 111 E. University Avenue on the corner of SE 1st Street and E. University Avenue in the heart of Historic Gainesville. It is available for concerts, festivals, church gatherings and more throughout the year; offering a covered stage as well as a picnic and park area. For Rental information, rules and regulations, please contact Krystal Martin, GPD at (352) 393-7527 or martinkr@cityofgainesville.org

"This Wondrous Place" is located at 401 SE 21st Avenue, Gainesville, Florida. Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1856. The City of Gainesville assumed ownership in 1944 and it remains the only municipal cemetery in Gainesville. This historic site also functions as an outdoor museum with stories of local historic developmental importance unfolding at every turn. In addition to the thousands of people to come to Evergreen to attend funerals, the cemetery also attracts visitors with interests in genealogy, tombstone art, photography and native plant material. More information. . .

University Of Florida

UF is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant, research university. The state's

History

In 1853, the state-funded East Florida Seminary took over the Kingsbury Academy in Ocala. The seminary moved to Gainesville in the 1860s and later was consolidated with the state's land-grant Florida Agricultural College, then in Lake City. In 1905, by legislative action, the college became a university and was moved to Gainesville. Classes first met with 102 students on the present site on Sept. 26, 1906. UF officially opened its doors to women in 1947. With more than 46,000 students, Florida is now one of the five largest universities in the nation.

Facilities

Florida has a 2,000-acre campus and more than 900 buildings (including 170 with classrooms and laboratories). The northeast corner of campus is listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The UF residence halls have a total capacity of some 7,000 students and the five family housing villages house more than 2,200 married and graduate students.

UF's extensive capital improvement program has resulted in facilities ideal for 21st century research including the McKnight Brain Institute, the new Health Professions, Nursing and Pharmacy Building, the Genetics and Cancer Research Center now being built, and the Proton-beam Therapy Center that will be located in Jacksonville. Overall, the university's current facilities have a book value of more than $1 billion and a replacement value of $2 billion.