Landscaping, Green Spaces and Public Commons in Urban Tampa

[Jasonhouse]

^If that wouldn't encapsulate Tampa, I don't know what would.

[AKBTampa]

FYI the newest Creative Loafing discusses 3 of the museum projects underway in the area and under the TMA they briefly discussed the fate of the Kiley Gardens...

And the fate of Kiley Gardens, cherished by preservationists as a landmark in garden design, remains uncertain. According to Dave Vaughn, Tampa's director of contract administration, the city is currently working on a plan for "repair and limited reconstruction" of Kiley. There is no schedule for the project.

http://tampa.creativeloafing.com/gyr...ent?oid=394191

[tampasteve]

I like the reconstruction part! LOL, there would be less to reconstruct if the city had taken care of the park in the first place rather than letting it go to crap and cut down all of the trees....one of the only urban parks in Tampa's DT that actually had trees that were tall enough to be of use for shade.

Steve

[Jasonhouse]

The trees weren't right for the grid used though. Nor was the channels of water running through concrete, above a parking garage... The idea was great, the execution, not so much... It made maintenance needlessly costly and difficult.

[AKBTampa]

Then I hope this "repair and reconstruction" can find the right trees to use and a fix or reuse for the water channels. I still like the overall layout of the park.

[FloridaFuture]

Tampa mayor urged to drop Hixon Park improvement plan
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and allies say it's too late to turn back now on improvement plans.
By Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer
Published February 17, 2008


[Ken Helle | Times]
Iorio plans to pay for the park over the next several years with $3-million per year in property taxes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio has touted a planned $15-million renovation of Curtis Hixon Park as the making of Tampa's "Central Park," a living room for downtown residents, the front door to new children's and art museums.

But some say it's an unwise expense at a time when Iorio has proposed laying off nearly 100 employees, mostly janitorial and security workers, for a savings of about $1.3-million.

"Put it on hold. We've got more important things to do than build a park," said council member Joseph Caetano. "What was wrong with Curtis Hixon Park? Was it that bad?"

Council member John Dingfelder said he'll vote against the project when it comes to the council on March 20.

"Everything should be on the table," said Spencer Kass, president of the Virginia Park Neighborhood Association. "If it's a choice between the park and police officers, I'll take the cops."

Iorio insists the park is off-limits for cuts.

She has said the park is vital for the success of the new museums, although museum leaders have said that's not the case.

She also points out that the city already has spent $3.8-million to make it happen, demolition of the existing art museum has begun to make way for it, and construction of some infrastructure, such as electrical work, is tied into construction of the two museums.

"We would just never change direction at this point. This is going to be so positive for the community," Iorio said in an interview last week. "That won't help with our operational budget even if it were stopped, which we don't intend to do."

Indeed, putting off the park wouldn't automatically dump $15-million into the general fund that is used to pay employees and run city services.

But it would add about $1.5-million a year to the fund.

Iorio plans to pay for the park over the next several years with $3-million per year in property taxes collected in a downtown special taxing district.

The district, created more than 20 years ago to promote economic development, allows property taxes collected by the city, county, Children's Board and other taxing authorities to go directly to improvements in the neighborhood. Thanks to significant growth downtown in recent years, it generated nearly $17-million a year in property taxes this year. Most of that money goes to pay off construction debt for the Tampa Convention Center. But the rest is available for other projects.

Iorio wants it for the park.

Dingfelder would rather see that money go back to the taxing authorities - the county, the Children's Board and the city - which would give Tampa about $1.5-million a year.

"That would alleviate the need to eliminate those 100 people," said Dingfelder.

Larry Parker, head of the city's firefighters union, which is at a deadlock with Iorio on salary negotiations, also believes the park should be postponed.

"That could be delayed for a year or two and still be done during her term when things are better," he said.

Preliminary figures show declines in property tax revenue from state tax reforms will leave the city with a deficit of nearly $16.8-million next year.

Iorio has suggested reducing that deficit by $3.4-million by making technological upgrades and consolidating and privatizing some services, which would result in laying off about 100 employees.

City Council members generally oppose that plan. But some still support the park project.

Christine Burdick, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, said the money being used to pay for the park is available because of private investment downtown that boosted property values in the special taxing district, but it will result in a place to hold festivals and other cultural events for the whole city.

"That's the people's park," Burdick said. "The citizens need a place where they can go to celebrate and be together."

Council member Mary Mulhern said "it's a little late" to reverse course.

And council member Charlie Miranda said that while scrapping the park sounds good politically, some contracts on the project are already in place and its construction provides an economic stimulus by creating jobs.

"It's pretty hard to back away from that commitment," he said.

So how best to save money?

Miranda offers this option: "Don't spend it."

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified February 16, 2008, 23:54:10]

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/17/Hi...rged_to_.shtml

[dudeintampa]

This is just so typical of many city council members... I would agree that this project should have been postponed, but the decision should have been made before they started demolishing the existing museum!

Now, if they choose to pull the plug on this, we'll have ourselves a terrible looking vacant swath of land and we'll ultimately spend a fortune trying to make it work with the new museum when things actually do move forward.

It's just like the whole LEEDs agrument that came about with the new museum. No one on city council cared enough to ask until the 11th hour if the new art museum was designed to be LEED certified. When told no, some members actually wanted to go back to the drawing board yet again.

Oh wait... Let's spend another couple of million on a consultant to study whether or not we should move forward.... I hope the mayor prevails on this fight.

[Jasonhouse]

Welcome to Tampa.

[AKBTampa]

City Council and County Commission are beginning to sound like a broken record!!! I agree that now that they have begun to tear down the museum that they should follow through with creating the park. But they can definitely cut back on all the amenities proposed and leave it as a nicely groomed open space!

[FloridaFuture]

^Problem is, this is supposed to be a centerpiece park. If you cut back, it's just another waste of open grassy space in the hot Tampa sun.

[AKBTampa]

I got this email today from the Downtown Partnership, for those of you interested in learning more about the Curtis Hixon Park remodeling...

Tampa Downtown Partnership invites you to coffee with Mr. Thomas Balsley

Mr. Balsley is the architect of the New Curtis Hixon Park and we are very pleased that he has been able to make some time available to show and further describe the plans for the $15 Million renovation of this significant public space.

Where: Maestro’s Restaurant at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (1010 North W.C. MacInnes Place)
When: Monday, February 26th at 8:30am to 9:30am
Parking: Parking as available on the arrival plaza
This is a FREE event. All who are interested are encouraged to come to this event. Please share this message with anyone you believe would benefit from this opportunity to learn more about the new Curtis Hixon Park

[ChicagoNative]

*
CORRECTION NOTICE
The previous notice had the wrong date.* Please note this event is on Monday, February 25th.
*
Tampa Downtown Partnership invites you to coffee with Mr. Thomas Balsley
*
Mr. Balsley is the architect of the New Curtis Hixon Park and we are very pleased that he has been able to make some time available to show and further describe the plans for the $15 Million renovation of this significant public space.


Where:*Maestro’s Restaurant at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (1010 North W.C. MacInnes Place)
When:* Monday, February 25th at 8:30am to 9:30am
Parking:* Parking as available on the arrival plaza
This is a FREE event.* All who are interested are encouraged to come to this event.* Please share this message with anyone you believe would benefit from this opportunity to learn more about the new Curtis Hixon Park.
*

[Maxim98]

Wish I could go.

=(

[Jasonhouse]

There's no way I can go. I took a 1/2 day from work yesterday, and I just started! (doctor's appt)

[FloridaFuture]

Park Architect Outlines Plans, Answers Critics
By GARY SHEPHERD

New York City landscape architect Thomas Balsley’s designs can help transform a city wasteland into a lively, thriving, urban oasis.

A section of the east bank of his hometown Hudson River, for instance, was once “a nest of rotting railways and a haven for drug dealers and addicts.” After Balsley’s magic, 3-acre Riverside Park South filled with joggers and dog walkers and now “features marsh grasses and boardwalks that curl like ribbons,” according to an online NYC forum.

Thus, designing Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park is both a labor of love and business as usual for Balsley. “A city needs a very vibrant park and open space system to claim a vibrant downtown,” Balsley told a Feb. 25 downtown Tampa morning coffee crowd. His work is “a first step in establishing a great new civic space for downtown Tampa,” said Balsley.

“It’s almost a ‘duh,’ but Tampa does not now have such a space.”

Bounded by Ashley Street, the Poe Parking Garage, the Hillsborough River, and Rivergate Tower, the 3.5-acre Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park will become the central destination in the $40 million Riverwalk project, a 2.2-mile walkway to link Tampa Heights to Channelside.

The park is controversial. When Balsley spoke to Tampa City Council in early February, his plans got a chilly reception. Besides a hefty price tag during an economic downturn ($15 million for the park’s first phase, $5-$10 million more later), Council members worried about creating a homeless haven and questioned some specific design elements.

Apart from financing, Balsley addressed criticisms during his recent briefing to about 45 people at Maestro’s Restaurant at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. The Tampa Downtown Partnership organized the architect’s talk; half the attendees took part in previous park stakeholder meetings at the same venue.

Balsley said an overall aim is to create a place where women and children feel safe to visit anytime. The park is aligned to provide great views of the splendid University of Tampa architecture to the west, and several park sites offer good stage locations for concerts and other events, said Balsley.

Among design considerations:
Sightlines have been designed with safety and security in mind.
On the park’s southern edge near Rivergate Tower, plans call for a restaurant and a long pavilion building to house City parks offices, bike rentals, and other interests.
The pavilion building will have a vegetation-covered “green roof.”
A café is planned facing Ashley Street. Also along Ashley, a visitor information center is part of “the social engineering that goes with the design work.”
In the park’s central section, plans include a shallow, lighted “mist fountain.” The “skim fountain” water feature – with surface water just one-quarter inch deep – can be turned off to create an open plaza.

Plans for “T-A-M-P-A” spelled atop huge individual pylons are being revised, possibly to align with themes realized during the 2009 Lights on Tampa event.
The main north-south pathway runs the length of the park, while westward pathways slope down several feet toward the river.

Zigzag mounds and valleys of green space will be interspersed with terraces of green space wide enough for family picnics. There will be garden spaces throughout the park.

A dog run is a key concept, as “dog owners are a constituency that will visit the park two times per day. It will help people meet one another; it’s a wonderful way to build social ties,” Balsley noted. The dog run will be in the park’s northwest section.

“Shade, shade, shade. We heard that so many times,” he said. Thus, trees and permanent shade structures will be throughout the park. “We’ve added trees as the design progressed,” Balsley said.

And, “we’ll have fantastic lighting,” from the glowing mist fountain, to feature, safety and accent lights, he said.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio enthuses that the park will be Tampa’s “waterfront crown jewel,” a signature outdoor setting and “a living room for downtown residents.”

Tampa has already committed nearly $4 million on design and other work, and demolition of the Tampa Museum of Art is making way for a new TMA – a cornerstone element, along with a proposed Children’s Museum.

The park would be financed at $3 million per year by bonding property taxes collected from a special downtown Tax Increment Financing district. That district now generates $17 million per year used for debt service on the Tampa Convention Center and other downtown projects.

Meanwhile, Tampa Museum of Art trustee and former chair Cornelia Corbett and her husband, Richard Corbett, in late February pledged the largest individual contribution to the art museum’s capital campaign, $2.5 million. The $33.5 million, 66,000-square-foot, three-story museum will be in the northwest part of the park. Construction is slated to begin in April 2008, with TMA opening in late 2009, just west of the site the Children’s Museum.

NOTE: Plans for Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park go before City Council on March 20.

http://www.tampasdowntown.com/newsletter.aspx?newid=69

[FLHawk]

It's frustrating when our city leaders hedge on building nice parks partly because they're concerned it will become a "haven for the homeless." Yah, that's a GREAT reason not to improve and/or build parks. While we're at it, let's get rid of street benches and wide steps, cuz they might sleep on those in the evenings as well.

How about they try to address the much larger and infinitely more complex issue of how to help / handle the homeless situation, instead of poo-pooing public projects where they might congregate?

[HARTride 2012]

Agreed. Tampa Bay's homeless problem just seems to be getting worse and worse.

[AKBTampa]

It's not that I'm opposed to having a nice park, but it seems that we are spending alot on amenities we don't need, i.e. a skim park? Why are we putting in water features when it seems that we are perpetually in a drought? By all means let's build this park! However, I don't think it has been planned out very well, especially when it could be tied in with the Kiley Gardens, that the city has left to rot! Why not downscale the current Curtis Hixon Park plans and then push that money to renovating Kiley Gardens, you will get a nicer, larger connected park with the same amount of money!!!

[dudeintampa]

I agree with most people that it would be prudent to do the basics now and pay for the luxuries later, but unfortunately I just don't trust our elected leaders to follow through on this promise....

Look at the streetcar for example, everyone was sold on the big loop system and planned phase II, but look at it now... They don't even want to give it a chance or follow through on their commitment to do phase II.

Another example, - Look at the Channel District. It will soon be FOUR years since the TIF district was approved. What city improvements have taken place? Almost none! Millions have been spent talking about doing this and that - but virtually zero projects have been started and/or completed in four years! Hell, the Downtown Partnership has had a much greater impact on the Channel District than the TIF has....

My fear is the same will happen with this park. If we don't force them (the city council) into doing this park the right way, we will be allowing this park to follow the same fate that most of city projects have been comprimised with.

I've sent the city council a letter in the past basically telling them outright that their actions speak louder than words - and that their actions are telling the developers and pioneers who actually want change and better standards that they stand alone in that goal. The city talks a good game, but they consistently fail to deliver.

Just look at the 2007 TIF budgets. Millions of dollars being wasted for administrative and consultant fees... It's incredible that the residents in those districts haven't demanded for full accountability.

[HARTride 2012]

In short, our city is a big f**king mess. Partly due to the slumping housing market and government incompetence.