This series of emails was sent to me regarding opening up the Sulphur Springs Tower Park to the public.
>>> Alan Wright 06/29/06 10:07 AM >>>
Hello All~
Season greetings marking the liberty of our land! I am writing to recommend that the gates to River Tower Park at Sulphur Springs be opened so that the people that worked to acquire and pay for that land can use it.....use it in a passive manner for picinicking , hiking, exploring the river, the tower, etc. This is a 13+ acre park site that is well maintained but not opend to a very large community that desparately needs park/open space. I realize there are no improvements there now and that work is beginning along the shoreline....but that should not preclued the citizens of Tampa from using this great asset for recreational activities....NOW! The community has owned that land a number of years. The community paid for the land. The community has waited for a plan to be completed. The community has waited for improvements to be made. The community is tired of waiting. It will cost NOTHING to open these gates, to allow the neighborhood/community use of the land. River Tower Park at Sulphur Springs represents the city's commitment to improving the area. A vacant, unused parcel of land does no one any good.
The new boardwalk connection linking Sulphur Springs Pool Park with River Tower Park at Sulphur Springs is underway. Don't let this be a boardwalk to nowhere. Encourage park use now so that as future park improvments are made they can be seen, appreciated and use!
No more excuses. Open the park NOW. The people will come.
Thanks and have a good holiday!
Respectfully,
Alan Wright
as a founding member of Friends of the River, the organization that helped preserve River Tower Park for the neighborhood, i second Alan Wright's plea to open the park. Sulphur Springs and Purity Springs areas really need park space, for picknicking, fishing, and walking.
Open gates from sunrise to sunset would greatly benefit our communities. While improvements would be nice, we do not need them at this point to enjoy the park.
With Alan, i urge you to open the park. Soon!
Law Office of B. John Ovink, P.A.
check my website at www.ovink-immigrationlaw.us
and definitely check out this: www.friendsofhillsboroughriver.org
Alan,
I appreciate your frustration about the park being closed. As I have mentioned to you in the past, we can open the gates, and as you say that costs nothing, but without vehicular control, the old problems from when the land was open will probably resurface. The main issue that we had was that people drove stolen cars into the river. Even if they don't drive into the river, it is not wise to have a situation whereby people can drive all over the park.
In my meetings with the neighborhood association, they voiced a preference to have parking closer to the water and not by the street. Using bollards to outline the drive and the parking area would cost over $10,000.00 We are investigating other methods for control, but bollards are about the most reasonable method. Parking by Bird Street would be less expensive, but people would have to walk the depth of the park to reach the shade. What seem to be "excuses" to you are, in fact, actual problems that as managers of the property we have prevent--even if it means not allowing vehicular access. One alternative we could explore in the interim is to install a pedestrian gate to allow the exploration and access you mention.
Thanks,
Tom Johnston
Tom~
Thanks for your thoughtful reply but they are the same responses expressed for the past 5-yrs.....responses that continue to keep the public from enjoying one of the most beautiful pieces of land in the city. The fact that this public park space has been closed for 5+yrs is not just frustrating, it is unconscionable. It is underutilization of a precious natural resource and of the public dollars used to acquire the land, land the public expected would be useable park space.
If provisions can be made to have pedestrian access, that is a start. Of course folks will have to walk the entire depth of the park to get to shade as you point out. Isn't that the idea behind a park space....to encourage walking, exercise?
A thought that occurs to me is that locating surface parking in proximity to the riverfront is not environmentally/aesthetically desirable....ever....for a number of reasons. Why not take an alternative pro-active approach to solving this problem? Consider moving the existing fencing along Bird Street back 15-feet or so and allow off-street parking on the site NOW, along the roadway, away from the waterway and then only allow pedestrian access to the rest of the park? That would only cost the labor to move the fence, would be environmentally sensitive, would control vehicular traffic and allow closer monitoring of the park's use. Everyone wins!
I understand the City's desire to provide the best park experience possible...at every park. Your plans for this future park space are great. But lets face fiscal reality.....competition for project dollars city-wide is tough and enhancing this park space is going to take time. Unfortunately the funding needed to fully improve this park space won't be available for some time. So, in the meantime, HAVING the opportunity to be able to go to the park NOW, in whatever condition, is better than none at all.
Sulphur Springs needs River Tower Park OPEN NOW and it CAN HAPPEN with a little ingenuity and your help!
Keep doing your best....and it is good work! We appreciate you! Have a good, safe 4th of July weekend.
How ironic is it that the only excuse they can use is the lack of adequate parking when this property is surrounding by lot nearly the size of all of the Disney parks put together. I certainly hope that they don't make the same mistake they made at Lowry Park wherein they just eliminated all of the beautiful green spaces the park used to have in order to make room for cars. In my opinion a parking lot is the polar opposite of a park. I always like to use New York's Central Park as the perfect example. Is there parking there? NO!!! The park is valued for its wide open green spaces which allow people to GET AWAY from the cars. Don't you get it??? As for the idea of putting the car park closer to the water instead of the street....that idea is just purely preposterous. Put the parking as far away from the natural beauty of the river as possible. It will not hurt any American to walk over to see the river. There is a theme here...NATURAL BEAUTY.....OPEN GREEN SPACES. Look at Rivercrest Park. It has no parking lots. All of the parking is along the street. And it is truly one of Tampa's most beautiful parks. Look at Al Lopez Park. I call this place the "part-time" park. It becomes a huge parking lot for all events at the stadium. It should really be the other way around. All of the surrounding parking areas of the stadium should be used as park space all year and then used to park vehicles during the games. All of the wasted space just sits there all year totally underutilized. And then we have this Mayor (God bless her) that wants to spend over $40,000,000 on the Riverwalk project. Not that I don't think that the Riverwalk is a great idea, but what about all of the other parks???? Please prioritize a goal to protect and improve our precious green spaces before they are all gone!!
ReplyDeleteI vissited the SS pool this morning for the first time in years,(thanks to some comments I read on this blog) and have come to appreciate this beautiful and underutilized area. I am all for opening the park to all.
ReplyDeleteOur Mayor (God bless her) is an IDIOT!!! She has put us taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars building new parks. Why in the hell are we building new parks in New Tampa. The developers up ther are making Millions, require them to include xxxx number acres of green space. She is wanting her damn riverwalk (also agree, not a bad plan... just not ready now) however, she never created a plan to relocate the homeless. So now, we have a beatiful section completed, but I for one don't feel safe taking my children there because I don't even feel safe there. It was push through before it's time so that she can stand on stage during election and say look what I accomplish. Other mayor's tried, I did. Remember that when she runs for re-election, she did push through the river walk with money that should have been put to other, already established, parks that the residents of this city could have benefited from.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how feasible it would be for our non profit to use the park as a football area! We're in the process of starting a football team for the area kids, and this a major hurdle for us. Please help!
ReplyDelete(salterseldred@yahoo.com) 813-391-4109