Vision and the Business Community

One of the most important things I feel is necessary to rebuild the business community in Seminole Heights is vision. The ability to see what is not there.

Case in point. At the last Business Guild meeting, in the breakout session, someone made a comment that they could never see anyone shopping on Nebraska Avenue south of Hillsborough. This was ironic because the meeting was being held in A.W Windhorst Hall on Nebraska Avenue south of Hillsborough. I'm sure Don at Green Shift would be incensed at that comment. I was, as I live two blocks off of that stretch of Nebraska.

That person lacked vision. I look at that stretch and see marvelous opportunities. We have some great buildings that just need a change of use. (By the way this is probably the only section of Florida or Nebraska in Seminole Heights without a single used car lot.)

The ghost town (Nebraska and Osborne) is my favorite area of vision. I see the chain link removed from the back of the buildings, the overgrowth cut back and some enviromentally good paving (turfblocks) done to create a common parking area. This includes the side of Ybor Pizza. I see front overhangs placed back. Bricked up windows replaced with glass. The facades made more decorative.

I see roofs put on the two buildings just north of Osborne and the grassy area around it turf blocked. I see the Florida School for the Arts building fixed up, with its overhang put back and some windows put back.

What do we then have? A great little shopping and eating district. There is already a restaurant (Ybor Pizza), a framing store, and an art studio that could include a gallery component. More antique stores, gift/collectible/cards stores, and others could move in. A second restaurant could move in to complement what is offered at Ybor Pizza. Maybe another art gallery, or a statuary store. An ice cream store. Maybe the chocolate painter across from Home Depot would be willing to move there. This would create bounce back traffic between this area and the stores at Osborne and Florida. I could see many people from all over, coming to shop there. People could then walk across the way and watch people practicing their music or dance routines at the arts school, getting more business for them.

I love the two story brick building, next to the old Eckerds. What a great building. Someone would just need to buy up the empty lot across the street just north of it to make more parking. What an art galllery and studio that would make. The upper floor could be made into studio areas and downstairs the gallery. Or the whole thing could be some offices. There is so much potential there.

Or some one could buy all of those empty lots on that lot between NorthBay and Ida and build some townhomes with some shop space.

The old grey fruit stand/appliance store now owned by Phil Alessi also has potnetial. Since he owns the grass lot next door parking is no longer a problem. The house behind grey building that is part of the property could be converted to some commercial use also.

Some of this would require cooperation between different business owners, or least one person would have to buy out several people to make a vision come true. Susan and I discussed that perhaps what is needed is for a coop to be started amongst the residents, some to provide money and others to provide sweat equity, to get these kind of visions going. Or perhaps the Central City CDC could do something like that.

Vision. You have to look beyond the obvious.