The last phase of the four-decades long process of creating and completing Tampa's Riverwalk is nearing an end. On Tuesday morning, it was announced that construction will begin on what is being called the Kennedy Boulevard Plaza, which will link MacDill Park with Curtis Hixon Park. This phase of the project is possible thanks to a $10.9 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, courtesy of Barack Obama and his Transportation Department.
The man who started the project four decades ago, former Tampa Mayor Bill Poe, was the only former public official invited to join Mayor Bob Buckhorn to make remarks at today's ceremony. Poe made the most of it in a sometimes rambling, occasionally hilarious speech that lasted nearly nine minutes.
Poe and Buckhorn were joined by the previous four mayors of Tampa who were also involved with the Riverwalk — Bob Martinez, Sandy Freedman, Dick Greco and Pam Iorio. Buckhorn invited them to stand behind him as he began his remarks.
"This was not part of the program," Buckhorn said about his spontaneous gesture to invite the former mayors to stand behind him as he spoke. "But this is not my accomplishment. This is our accomplishment."
This article appears in Jun 6-12, 2013.