Tampa Riverwalk

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Being that it is a little cut off from the CBD and Downtown, having the parking lot is no big deal. Considering how any development for this area has not occurred, I'm not going to b*tch about there being a parking lot. What did you want, a parking garage?

I was thinking more along the lines of good enough transit access that DT patrons and residents wouldn't necessarily need a car to get there.

With that said, I think this is a good move by Buckhorn to pick off low hanging fruit, though I wonder if it isn't a bit premature to develop this project while the land around it is still mired in bankruptcy proceedings, and the redeveloping areas elsewhere around DT are nowhere close to being built out. (I think they should have had a master redevelopment plan, then fully redevelop one part of DT, then move to another part of DT and repeat. We're trying to redevelop multiple neighborhoods at once with no plan, and I think it's diluting the redevelopment of all of them and exposing our urban pioneers to unnecessary risk.

Regardless, the Gonzmarts will make the best of it, and have the deep pockets needed to wait out what could be several years of slow business, while the massive dead zone around this parcel begins to fill in.

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by tampasteve

OK, I am AAALLLL about the Riverwalk, I think it is great and a huge asset to the city. With that said though, why on earth should the federal govt. pay a dime towards this?

This segment in question is a hugely important part of the whole Riverwalk, but it is not a transit project that will facilitate any real movement of people. This is a local project benefiting local people and has a minuscule impact on any job creation.

Steve

Which is why the Fed DOT will have a good laugh amongst themselves, and will kindly tell us no. Again.

[Del Mayberry]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

Where?

The former Trump lot is fenced in again & they have what looks like most of the river walk done except for the pavers. Building around the Cap Trust should be interesting. By looking at that area today, it reminded me a lot of when I thought TTT was u/c. I still want a scraper there, not another park.

[kmthurman]

I dunno if anyone has mentioned this "international ideas competition" before, [re]stitch Tampa is asking for submissions. They originally had a deadline of December, but it was about connecting the river to high speed rail --- which is dead now. So now it's just about the river "as a spine." Anyway the deadline is March 20 after two extensions so I don't think there is a ton of interest and the interest that does exist had to rip up what they had at first.

So anyways, I thought it would be fun if a group of amateurs -- some of you might already be doing it as students -- to get together and put together a design. I am paying the entry fee and going to be doing it myself for fun, but I was wondering if anyone wanted to be a part of it.

[TampaMike]

Tampa Riverwalk to honor six local trailblazers
By Richard Danielson, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Mar 06, 2012 09:47 PM

When nine local historians met to pick the first six pioneers to be honored on Tampa's Riverwalk, they came up with three men, two women and a surprise.

The surprise — the first selection announced at the Tampa Bay History Center Tuesday — was not an individual, but a group: the earliest mound-building Indians to settle around Tampa Bay and in what is now downtown Tampa.

The others represent early strivers in shipping (James McKay Sr.), railroads and hotels (Henry B. Plant), cigar-making (Vicente Martinez-Ybor), nursing (Clara Frye) and women's rights (Eleanor McWilliams Chamberlain).

"What resonates with me is that these were individuals who not only cared about themselves and their families, but about their community and helping someone else," Mayor Bob Buckhorn said during the ceremony.

Each honoree will be memorialized with a bronze bust created by Tampa artist Steven Dickey. The art is expected to be installed on the Riverwalk in the next six to nine months. The nonprofit Friends of the Riverwalk privately raised the $15,000 needed to make each bust.

As the Friends of the Riverwalk raises more money, the group will call together the historians to make more selections and install more markers, said Steve Anderson, who chairs the Friends' historic monument trail committee.

Meanwhile, city officials plan to work on some fundraising of their own by re-applying for a federal transportation grant to build the last big leg of the Riverwalk. That piece will connect MacDill Park to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Its estimated cost is $12 million because the Sheraton hotel and other properties along that section are built out to the seawall, forcing the Riverwalk to be built over the river near the bank.

"We're going to get it done, and at the end of this we will have a celebration unlike anything that we have ever seen," Buckhorn said.

"When that Riverwalk behind you is finished in the not very distant future," Anderson said, "the city of Tampa is going to be transformed in ways that we are just now beginning to realize."

Not only will it be a place to walk and enjoy the waterfront, he said, but also to dine, to meet others and, with the historical monuments announced Tuesday, to learn about the history of Tampa.

To be considered, the honorees had to have lived here at some point, left a significant, positive legacy and been dead for at least 15 years.

For the descendents of those selected, Tuesday's ceremony was a moving tribute.

"It means a great deal, because to me, he was my idol," said Martinez-Ybor's great-grandson, Rafael Martinez-Ybor, 83, a retired banker who lives in Temple Terrace. "I'm very proud to carry his name."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humanin...lazers/1218708

You can also email info@friendsoftheriverwalk.com if you have any suggestions on who should be honored with a bronze statue.

[CS-moab]

The construction of the Riverwalk Docks started last week! In case you don't know what I am talking about, check this out: http://www.tampagov.net/appl_tampa_a...ReleaseID=8530

[Jasonhouse]

Looking forward to when they open. Gonna surprise my dad one day when we're boating on the river and take him to the Columbia Cafe.

[kmthurman]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

Looking forward to when they open. Gonna surprise my dad one day when we're boating on the river and take him to the Columbia Cafe.

Yeah they are going to be awesome. The Feds help pay for those though

[tampasteve]

IIRC this is the same dock that is to be used for the water ferry system eventually...but I might not be remembering the spot in DT correctly.

Steve

[Jasonhouse]

^I hope not.

[TampaMike]

Kevin, you going to the opening of the new Riverwalk section? I'm planning on heading down.

[kmthurman]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Kevin, you going to the opening of the new Riverwalk section? I'm planning on heading down.

Sure, Friday morning right?

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by kmthurman

Sure, Friday morning right?

10 am I believe it is. Everyone else is invited (duh) as well.

[HARTride 2012]

10am? I cannot go, I have to work at 10:30am

[TampaMike]

Yeah it seems like Tampa likes having events when people are normally working.

[kmthurman]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Yeah it seems like Tampa likes having events when people are normally working.

Ehhh -- I would say ribbon cuttings are done for the press not "us" in Tampa and everywhere else

I have a new meeting tomorrow morning so I may be late.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by kmthurman

Ehhh -- I would say ribbon cuttings are done for the press not "us" in Tampa and everywhere else

I have a new meeting tomorrow morning so I may be late.

I'll have a camera, close enough to "press" I will get.

That's alright. My luck is I'll be late as well. Gotta remind myself that there is traffic around 9 am in Tampa lol

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by kmthurman

Ehhh -- I would say ribbon cuttings are done for the press not "us" in Tampa and everywhere else

Maybe that's part of the problem...

[kmthurman]

Tampa wins TIGER Grant for the Riverwalk and Crosstown expressway Greenway

https://twitter.com/Danielson_Times/...16296180875266

[jonknee]

That fills a huge gap. Gets past the Sheraton and under Kennedy, connecting Curtis Hixon to the rest of the Riverwalk. It will feel like a huge expansion.