The City of Tampa has lots of balls in the air regarding the west bank of the Hillsborough River, but the possibility of redeveloping Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park is one aspect that has drawn concern among members of the public and the City Council.
In an article in the Tampa Bay Times in late September, Mayor Bob Buckhorn discussed his ideas for the park, including adding a restaurant and retail, setting off alarms with Councilman Frank Reddick.
Reddick had other issues as well, such as wanting to unearth more about a deal that the City Council and Mayor Pam Iorio made in 2003 with the nonprofit Stewards Foundation, whose mission is to use rowing to teach responsibility and teamwork to young people. The agreement allowed the foundation to lease areas of the park for $1 a year for 25 years; so far Stewards has built a temporary boathouse in the park, but not a permanent structure as originally contemplated.
The concerns of Reddick and other councilpersons prompted the mayor's chief of staff, Santiago Corrada, to go before the Council today and explain just what is going on with Riverfront Park.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2012.