Landscaping, Green Spaces and Public Commons in Urban Tampa

[tampasteve]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Is there also a "no public bathing" sign and 500 other common sense signs? Seems like common sense is dying faster and faster every year.

Common sense was flushed down the same toilet as that diarrhea.

Steve

[TampaIAm]

Curtis Hixon park Coming Along....opening on Sunday 1-24-10. Collective Soul will be playing there Saturday night 1-30 as part of the gasparilla celebration. Im really hoping the city uses this park as intended, especially when I go over to Vinoy park in St. Pete at all there festivals, concerts, shows, etc....

[TPAMAN]

While I am glad they decided to "open" up the waterfront and I understand the park is not completed just yet, it seems like alot of money for what they ended up with. IMHO

[TampaMike]

Downtown Tampa's new waterfront park debuts Sunday
By Shelley Rossetter, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jan 22, 2010 06:34 PM


TAMPA — The roar of pressure washers cut through the air, as crews scrambled to clean away dirt and debris to reveal the reward of more than 18 months of physical labor.

City officials won't be the only ones beaming with pride at Sunday's grand opening of the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.

The hard hats are proud too.

Throughout the week, electricians put final touches on lights overlooking the fountains, crews fixed out-of-place pavers, and landscapers trimmed tree branches. Workers also spray-painted the lawn green in defiance of winter.

"I just walk around and marvel at the changes everyday, to see everything come together is amazing," said Rick Lee, a superintendent who got his jeans dusty with last minute fixes.

The 8-acre park, designed by Thomas Balsley and Associates of New York, is the first of three projects debuting downtown this year. It features two interactive fountains, a children's playground, terraced lawn, dog run, bathrooms and a revitalized portion of the Riverwalk.

Next up is the Tampa Museum of Art, opening Feb. 6, and then the Glazer Children's Museum in late summer.

Workers at the Children's Museum are still in the thick of construction.

"I go home and tell my wife all about the crazy things I am working on," said Jose Bautista, a framer and drywaller there.

There's a ceiling shaped like a wave, and a column that is asymmetrical, both new tricks for Bautista.

In the bathrooms, workers laid glass tiles Wednesday meant to simulate the flow of water from the drain to the floor, something tile foreman Mitch Robertson considered a welcome challenge.

"I like these types of jobs; they test your skills. The layouts are complicated; you're using different materials, and it takes a lot to make it work," he said.

The building's design is the result of an architectural collaboration between GouldEvans, the firm that designed the University of South Florida's Marshall Center, and HaizLip Studios, a firm that specializes in children's museums, and is being built by J.O. DeLotto and Sons.

Over at the Tampa Museum of Art, designed by California architect Stanley Saitowitz, the dust has cleared and finishing touches include the installation of priceless art.

It's precision work, hard-hatted Lee found out.

"I learned about how light affects art, how heat affects art, how humidity affects art," he said. "I even learned how the touch of a finger can affect art."

Lee, a senior superintendent for Skanska, the company overseeing the construction of the park and Tampa Museum of Art, worked on the project from day one, replacing a crumbling museum with modern architecture.

Crews at all three sites said they are proud to have a part of something so important to the city.

"Everyone who worked on these projects put more of an emphasis on quality of work because these are places they will be bringing their families and children to and saying, 'I worked on that,'" said Chuck Jablon, a vice president on the project for Skanska.

Bautista said he will be excited when his kids get to see his efforts at the children's museum.

"I am definitely planning to bring them here," he said. "It feels good to know you had something to do with their fun."

On Thursday, electrician Richard Kuzma pointed proudly to the LED-lighted tiles in the park's fountain areas, in part his handiwork.

Watching the project evolve in his eight months on site left him marveling.

"Just seeing it come from the dirt phase to this type of quality is really invigorating," he said.

With the walkways dust-free and the grass a perfect shade of green, the hard hats will fade into the background until the next reveal is ready.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humanin...sunday/1067451

[HARTride 2012]

I've been driving by there the last few days. It looks real nice.

And for the first time in a while, the traffic signal at Ashley/Zack is in normal operation, instead of flasher mode.

[FloridaFuture]

It might just be the first time I've noticed it, but there's some new blue lights at the park tonight.

[sam06pr]

My dad came to visit on Friday. I wanted to walk around a park or something but there was not much I could think of, I ended up in St. Pete despite me hating the drive.
I passed by the park and museum and saw it was looking great. That is going to be my new relaxing/hang out place. Did anyone go today?

[jonknee]

I walked down today and it's a great space. I'll be eating lunch there frequently.

[TampaMike]

I believe both are the LED lights under the fountains. And you can also see the lghts under the platforms own the lawn.

There's a article on tbo.com about the grand opening and they spoke with a few skateboarders who were told to leave for causing disruption during the whole event. They said it's discrimatory that they were kicked out from the park. HELLO!!! There's a skatepark 7 blocks east from Curtis Hixon, leave it alone. Although the skate park does need some work and added obstacles.

[Jasonhouse]

So I went down there... yeah, I read the plans right... I don't like the solution they came up with for the whole area much at all... PLEASE can we get some competent urban planners working for the city?

[TampaIAm]

Went to the opening, met the mayor, pics and all. I asked her about Kiley park area, and she indicated they could not plant any trees there because of the amount of maintenaince they require, and as the city builds these parks, the monies to maintain the parks is shrinking, so you will see parks built that can pretty much take care of themselves(low maintainance)...there were alot of nice features, i'd call it a modern urban space as opposed to a 'park'...concerts, evets and festivals will be boiling hot during the day in the summers, not alot of shade trees, shaded benches, areas etc...the dog park was very small, but my biggest gripe would be the amount of concrete used....lots and lots of concrete. All in all though, it is a nice space!! I also asked the mayor about the "TAMPA" sign, and she added it wasnt in the budget....

[tampasteve]

I like it for what it is - The front lawn for two museums and an entertainment type park on the Rvierwalk. Hopefully Tampa will eventually get a real urban park, but this is pretty nice given the space involved and the money available.

Steve

[TampaIAm]

Here is an interesting sign near the fountains:

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by TampaIAm

Went to the opening, met the mayor, pics and all. I asked her about Kiley park area, and she indicated they could not plant any trees there because of the amount of maintenance they require, and as the city builds these parks, the monies to maintain the parks is shrinking, so you will see parks built that can pretty much take care of themselves(low maintainance)...

She gave you an off kilter explanation. The reason the city can't put trees there is because the roof of the parking garage underneath wasn't designed properly for such a use. To put trees there, they would have had to rebuild the roof of that garage. (don't worry, it still leaks even without trees)

In fact, that whole garage is a mess and should have been torn down. The garage could have been rebuilt vertically next to Rivergate Tower on the north side (However, the bank cube would make a GREAT spot for a robotic garage imo), allowing the service road going to Rivergate Tower to be eliminated. Then, the receiving bay for Rivergate Tower could have been rotated 90° to come off Ashley right next to the building (under the new garage), instead of following the river for over 100 yards (that's what makes that huge seawall that will make the riverwalk so miserable around the Kennedy bridge, and makes DT look so nasty from UT)...

With that road, wall and most of the space consumed by the garage freed up, Curtis Hixon Park could not only be about double its current size, but the main green could be tripled in size. Additionally, it would have dramatically improved access to the riverwalk heading south, while also dramatically improving the arrangement and flow of the whole development. The way it is now is a complete joke. You've got a cheap building, service area, a road, and an abrupt elevation change serving as the centerpiece of the park. WHO in the hell looked at that on a plan and said, "yeah, that looks great, let's do it!"

They shouldn't have bothered until they had the money to do it right. Now we're stuck with a half-assed park for at least another generation.

[gstolze]

I kind of like the overall concept they came up with. However, for Kiley Gardens, I would turn it into an outdoor art space with a few nice pieces of art. In addition you could place some of those humongous terracotta planting pots which can hold shrubs or small trees.

[TampaMike]

Can't we just have one of the big companies in the city donate a couple trees? How seriously f*cked up can the city's budget be that it can't afford some trees?

[Jasonhouse]

I guess landscapers can't afford political connections.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

I guess landscapers can't afford political connections.

lol, watching CNN today and them going through some of the wasted money, we could have millions of $$$ in trees.

[jonknee]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Can't we just have one of the big companies in the city donate a couple trees? How seriously f*cked up can the city's budget be that it can't afford some trees?

They're working on it--the city is working to get funds from the community for rehabbing Kiley Gardens with trees. I ran into a friend who's got an internship for it on Sunday. As Jason mentioned, the parking garage was having major problems. I'm not sure if they plan to use planters this time or not, but that seems like a good idea.

[SkyDiveJunkee]

Originally Posted by TampaIAm

Here is an interesting sign near the fountains:

I do believe this is the first time I've seen the words "diarrhea" and "diapers" etched in stone.