Who doesn’t like eating out with friends? Eating delicious food that is prepared by a professional chef is already a great treat, but this activity is made even more fun with the addition of friends and/or family. It is for this reason that restaurants are popular and profitable. Sadly, for many residents of Florida, the oldest, and one of the most beloved restaurants in the state is being closed temporarily due to a termite infestation. Not only is the oldest restaurant in Florida under attack from termites, but eradicating these termite pests will take a tremendous amount of manpower. This is due to the restaurant’s enormous size, which takes up an entire city block. Although, pest control professionals are hard at work, many residents fear that their favorite eatery will no longer be open to the public.

The Colombia Restaurant in Tampa, Florida is said to be the oldest restaurant in the state that is still standing. This restaurant has been serving the public since 1903, and the building’s beauty and sheer size attract tourists from all over the globe. Like many old and historically significant buildings, the Colombia restaurant has become infested with subterranean termites. Not only does this building attract termites on account of its age, but the fact that it is located within the state of Florida does not help either. Florida sees the greatest abundance and diversity of termite species when compared to all other US states. This is due to the states termite-friendly tropical climate, as well as to the many shipping ports located on the coast of the state. Over the years, several invasive termites have accessed the US through Floridian ports.

This restaurant’s termite infestation is being eradicated through a tenting fumigation. As many as sixteen people will have to work together in order to fit the enormous tent over the massive restaurant. A whopping 600,000 cubic feet of tenting is required for this job. To give you some perspective, this amount of tenting covers ten and a half football fields. Once the tent is firmly in place over the restaurant, fumigants will be released within the tent in order to poison the millions of termites that are currently inhabiting the structure. This termite-tenting operation is one of the most involved and largest fumigations to ever occur. The fumigation will be conducted over a period of 48 hours, and the restaurant will reopen on September 4th.

Have you ever had to have your home or apartment complex fumigated for termites?