For CL’s 30th anniversary, instead of taking a look at our own history, we decided to highlight some of the major positive changes that have happened in Tampa Bay over the last three decades. Here are some of the pivotal events of our third 10 years.
2009
Datz opens in South Tampa
Datz’s indulgent, Instagramable eats were way before their time, seeing how Instagram wasn’t even a thing when the doors of this buzzed-about South Tampa “deli” opened. Suzanne and Roger Perry, the wife-and-husband owners at the center of Datz — and now Datz Restaurant Group — just got it. As food-obsessed locals and out-of-towners know, Datz isn’t really big on moderation — or basic, well, anything. But that sure doesn’t bother diners who haven’t been able to resist scarfing down the eatery’s reimagined comfort food and inspired cocktails since 2009. Or sharing photos of their over-the-top spreads online, for that matter. The Datz FOMO is real. —Meaghan Habuda
2010
The Refinery opens in Seminole Heights
In an up-and-coming Tampa neighborhood called Seminole Heights, The Refinery has also changed the Tampa Bay dining game. When owners Michelle and chef Greg Baker debuted their flagship restaurant in 2010, it was a breath of fresh air, albeit air that nobody knew about at first. But then word got out about what was going on inside that tiny carriage house — creative, spontaneous, exciting stuff that shined a light on the area’s culinary community and influenced it as a whole. The weekly rotating menu supported by local farmers made for glorious uncertainty, as did the flexible beer and wine options. People, including the James Beard Foundation, were paying attention. Fast-forward eight years and The Refinery has left the carriage house to merge with its Southern public house sibling, Fodder & Shine, a few blocks north on Florida Avenue, where the Bakers’ philosophy of sustainability and constant change still live on — with the added bonus of a full-liquor bar, of course. —MH
2012
Gasparilla Music Festival debuts
Even in its first year, Gasparilla Music Festival’s intentions were clear. With UT’s minarets glistening in the background, a relatively modest lineup of more than a dozen bands including Deer Tick, Lee Fields and Ra Ra Riot showed that Curtis Hixon Park is by far the most picturesque and logistically sound music festival site in Tampa Bay. Now planning its eighth iteration, GMF and its dedicated army of volunteers seem poised to achieve the kind of longevity that other parties, like the nearly four-decades old Clearwater Jazz Holiday, have attained across the bay. (Full disclosure: From 2013-2016, this writer helped coordinate social media efforts for GMF) —Ray Roa
Hillsborough County passes anti-tethering law
No matter what you think, Sir Prance-a-lot and Queen Fluffybottom do not want to be tied to a tree in your yard. They want to cuddle with you on the couch and Netflix and chill. Hillsborough County agreed and, while they can’t mandate the “Netflix and chill” part, they could — and did — make it illegal to leave a dog tied up outside. Pinellas followed suit two years later, signaling to animal lovers everywhere that the Bay area was serious about its progressive attitude toward caring for our furry family members. Other cities have since passed a similar ordinance, and while we’d love to say that’s led to no one tying up their dogs ever, what we’ll say instead is that if you see it happening, you need to call your local PD and report it, ‘cause they can’t be everywhere and it’s not like the pups can call themselves, ya know? —Cathy Salustri
2014
St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman hires a new police chief
There’s a new sheriff in town. OK, well not literally — there’s actually a new police chief in town. Eschewing the carefully-cultivated list of applicants qualified to lead the St. Petersburg Police Department, a perhaps still a little wet-behind-the-ears Mayor Rick Kriseman shocked everyone by grabbing Anthony Holloway away from Clearwater. The new chief made inroads in the city’s historically black communities, instructing his officers to get out of their damn cars and get to know the locals so the community sees police as allies, not adversaries. Not to be outdone, Chief Holloway, too, started putting his own shoes to the street. Now, we’re not saying that’s why St. Pete hasn’t had any race-related national incidents lately (knock on wood) but we are saying that leadership sets the tone and idealogy, and Holloway clearly sends the message to the proud men and women in blue who work in his department: We are not the enemy. —CS
Mayor Rick Kriseman raises Pride flag over St. Petersburg City Hall
At the end of his two terms as mayor of St. Pete, Rick Kriseman will be known for a lot of things. Tweeting out a citywide ban on Trump? Check. Being the first mayor to take active steps to fix a failed sanitary sewer system? Check. Raising the Pride flag for the first time ever over St. Petersburg City Hall? You’re goddammned right he did. He also attended the parade, marched in it and, for the first time ever, has been a mayor who makes an attempt to understand and show solidarity with underrepresented groups. In response to the person who emailed us this week asking why we were so pro- Kriseman, because this. This, and a zillion little things like it that we see happening under his guidance, is why. America may be a scary place right now, but inside St. Pete city limits, love lives here and hate has no place. For all the people who have had to live with the anxiety and fear of repercussions for not fitting into society’s outdated idea of “normal” (is that even a thing anymore?), Kriseman’s support of the LGBTQ communuty has been welcomed and, what’s more, needed. —CS
2015
SHINE Mural Festival debuts
If Portlandia wants to put a bird on it, St. Pete wants to put a mural on it. Since its beginnings in 2015, the annual fest has slapped some 35 murals in and near DTSP. Run, curated and supported in large part by the artists themselves (thought there’s been grumbling over various issues), the fest has taken to painting the town — literally. Seriously, we’re running out of walls to paint, guys. Artists from as far as Hong Kong, Portugal and the Netherlands and local treasures like the Vitale Bros., Chad Mize and Carrie Jadus (we love her Tesla mural hard, OK?) have come together every fall since to blanket the ‘Burg in color, messages and art. While not every mural comes about because of SHINE, it’s probably fair to say that since SHINE has been a thing, local businesses have found money and motivation to fund other murals as well. After all, what’s better marketing, God’s Waiting Room or We’re Lousy With Damn Murals? Yeah, we think so, too. —CS
Pride comes home to Tampa
Suck it, Ronda Storms. Seriously, in 2005 — after more than two decades of Pride celebrations and parades in Hillsborough County — then-commissioner Rhonda Storms shut it down. But this anniversary isn’t about her; it’s about how love won in Tampa when, in 2015, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn welcomed the fest back with open arms and told the USF Tampa paper, The Oracle, having Pride back in Tampa would help clear the “black cloud over the city.” Tampa Pride just celebrated its fourth year since its return and, quite honestly, we think the rainbow flags on its pirate ship logo class those galleons up like you wouldn’t believe. Plus, it’s a celebration of love and love winning and the freedom to be who you truly are, which is, in reality, the classiest thing ever. —CS
2016
Tampa Riverwalk opens between the Straz Center and Water Works Park
Back in the good ol’ days, we had to drive to get from the Tampa Bay History Center to Tampa Heights. Of course, back in the good ol’ days, the Tampa Bay History Center was much smaller, located elsewhere and no one went to Tampa Heights. The Riverwalk’s been a game-changer in more ways than one. One, it lets you walk through the best of Tampa without falling prey to traffic. Two, it showcases the urban portion of the Hillsborough River without putting you at risk of falling prey to gators. Three, it’s seriously a fantastic idea. Whether you’re going from Point A to Point B or merely taking a stroll along the waterfront, the Riverwalk allows you a way to do it in style. The architecture is attractive and you have to respect any public works project that took 40 years to build — it started as an idea from then-mayor Bill Poe in 1975, and the earliest iteration was a bunch of wooden planks put in front of then-Curtis Hixon Hall in 1976. Yeah, yeah, Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that, but the Coliseum was built in under a decade. Of course, the Romans weren’t dealing with gators, private funds and taxpayers able to grouse on the internet. And, hey, the Leaning Tower of Pisa took 344 years to build, so in the grand scheme of things, the Riverwalk was built in the blink of an eye — and it isn’t even sinking! —CS
2018
Joe Redner wins case to grow his own medical marijuana
Love him or hate him, strip club impresario, occasional political candidate and tireless pursuer of his version of liberty Joe Redner has always had a knack for getting under the, er, skin of conservative bureaucracies. Currently battling stage 4 lung cancer, Redner’s latest crusade has implications that go far beyond his own belief in personal freedom: He took on the Florida Department of Health’s obvious and now unconstitutional recalcitrance to move forward with the people’s demand that provisions for the availability and use of medical marijuana be enacted by suing the state for the right to grow his own, and he won. A judge ruled in his favor earlier this month; the case is currently caught in a series of stays and appeals, but advocates nationwide are paying close attention, and many in Florida consider the judge’s decision a precedent-setting victory that could finally get the wheels rolling here at home. —Scott Harrell
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 3, 2018.
