"La Setima" street signs may go on auction block | News

Tampa, Florida -- First there was the debate, is it 'La Setima' or 'La Septima'?

After more than a decade, the letter 'P" prevailed as the correct Spanish spelling of Ybor City's 7th Avenue.  'La Septima' it will be.

Read:  Ybor City: 'La Septima' prevails over 'La Setima'

The secondary street signs with the 'La Setima' spelling went up in 1998 after a request from Ybor City historian, Frank Lastra.

'La Setima' may not be the correct spelling in the Spanish dictionary, but Lastra contended it's the way the first residents of Ybor City spelled and pronounced the street.

Fran Costantino disagreed and has been fighting this issue for more than ten years, but felt now was the time to give it one last shot as tens of thousands of people get ready to descend on Tampa Bay during the Republican National Convention.

"I guess I got infused again with the RNC coming, the Miamians are going to be coming, the Marco Rubio's, the Diaz-Balarts, we're gonna have people in Tampa who will think we are absolutely illiterate and uneducated," she told 10 News last month.

The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which is made up of city council members agreed, voting 5-1 to change the signs.

Now, you may be able to own this piece of Ybor City history.  The city council will vote today, June 7, on whether to go along with Councilman Charlie Miranda's proposal to auction off the 'La Setima' signs to help offset the costs of the replacement signs which is estimated at about $2,000.