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Where are the trail's friends?
By LISA GREENE, Times Staff Writer What can you buy with $93.04? Not a Mongoose Pro Crossway 350 21-speed bike. That will set you back $369.99. Not Rollerblade Core XTV skates. A pair of those with 78mm wheels and snazzy blue trim go for $239.
As the trail's operating budget is $300,000 each year, that's $299,906.96 short. "Kind of pathetic, wasn't it?" said Frank Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Friendship Trail Corp., the nonprofit group charged with raising money for the bridge. But it gets worse. That $93.04? "A lot of it was mine," Miller confessed. It's not that the trail is unpopular. Every sunny weekend the 2.6-mile bridge, touted as the world's longest recreation trail over water, is dotted with runners, cyclists and skaters. Officials estimate 250,000 people used it last year. "We would like to urge people to bring a buck to the bridge each time they visit," Miller said. "One-hundred percent compliance would mean we're almost there, right?" And it's not that the trail, an old highway bridge rescued from demolition, lacks supporters. It links two counties. It's on land owned by the Florida Department of Transportation. It has a government oversight committee and its own nonprofit group. But since the bridge opened in December 1999, fundraising has fallen woefully short. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have an agreement to share costs of the bridge, but donations originally were expected to pay for much of the upkeep. The Friendship Trail Corp. has contributed about $19,000. Most of its money-making ideas have remained just that -- ideas. Selling banners to corporate sponsors to hang from bridge light poles. A fundraising concert. Allowing a cell phone company to build a tower there. Just recently, Miller said, the group decided that sponsoring a race across the bridge this year would cost too much to put together. Meanwhile, most of the $7-million that the state set aside for the bridge is gone -- used to build railings, fishing piers and make repairs. Government officials say that fund will go dry next year. Tampa contributed $50,000 to the bridge, but St. Petersburg refused to match it. Hillsborough County Commissioner Jan Platt, who chairs the bridge oversight committee, said that last year's public donations were "pitiful" and that more fundraising needs to be done. But Platt also said the trail's costs are comparable to other public parks' and too much fuss has been made about the shortfall. "This has just become a beating boy, unfortunately," she said. "The bridge has won all kinds of national awards, and we ought to be happy with it." Bridge advocates see reason to hope. The counties are close to an agreement with FDOT to lease the land at each end of the bridge, now home only to parking lots and portable toilets. That would allow permanent restrooms to be built and vending machines, which could bring in money. Fundraisers also are studying whether selling engraved bricks, which could line the bridge curb, would be a workable idea. Liz Warren, director of the Pinellas County park department, said county officials also are discussing ways to attract corporate donors. "It's a very creative and unique resource," she said. "I think the trail bridge has some fundraising potential that hasn't been explored." Pinellas park officials, who operate the trail, recently added two more donation stations at each end. The main reason user donations were so low last year was because the silver metal pipes, placed last July in the grass beside the bridge, were hard to see, they said. "Often people go out to exercise and they don't have cash," Warren added. "People are more concerned about having their car key and their water bottle." The new pipes are kelly green and placed on the bridge curbs with a sign above asking for donations. But several bridge users said Friday they hadn't noticed the new pipes, which are only a few feet high. "Maybe if they were yellow or something," said Tampa resident Kathy Dueffer, who had just finished skating the bridge. "But I'll bet most people don't even think about donating. They just figure the city takes care of it." "That's pathetic," exclaimed skater Gina Quinn, who promptly skated to her car, got out a dollar and donated it. "Ninety-three dollars for the whole year? That is pathetic." Still, Quinn said, she had skated right by the green pipes without noticing them. St. Petersburg resident Keith Stone bikes across the bridge every few weeks; but he hadn't seen them, either. Stone said he would hate to pay an admission fee, but he wasn't sure how to raise more cash. But one thing Stone was sure of: "Not a lot you can get with 93 dollars," he said.
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
