Plans for waterfront unveiled

CLEARWATER -- Early plans for an expanded Coachman Park include a marina, waterfront restaurant, community center and promenade along the harbor with a parking garage tucked into the bluff below City Hall, behind the new Memorial Causeway bridge.

Unveiled Wednesday to a crowd of about 50 people at the Harborview Center, color drawings also feature expanded green space and a new stage moved to the north edge of the park. Also included are tennis courts and an interactive water fountain.

Hired by the city to help revitalize the 18-acre property, design consultants Bellomo-Herbert and Co. prepared two scenarios. Company president Frank Bellomo framed them as "big-picture" proposals, subject to change with input from residents.

So far, the city has not addressed how to foot the bill. No cost estimates have been made public.

The main differences between the two plans are the location of cut-through roadways inside the park, the configuration of the proposed marina and the fate of the Harborview Center.

Both plans call for dead-ending Cleveland Street, but one would allow driving access to a road in the park, while the other would have Cleveland stop at Osceola Avenue.

A fishing pier fashioned out of a piece of the existing Memorial Causeway is also a possibility, along with marina slips on the south side of the new bridge, under one scenario.

That plan also retains parking between the Harborview Center and the new Main Library, while the other drawing extends green space out to Osceola and includes terraced water stretching toward the harbor into a large fountain.

At Wednesday's meeting, residents and city officials said they were largely pleased with the drawings, treating them as menus, picking and choosing their favorites from each.

Some residents questioned the need for surface parking lots, but Bellomo said some spaces are necessary to serve the marina and to draw people into the park.

Others questioned the size of the parking garage and the wisdom of placing a road along the water.

But in general, responses were positive.

"What I saw, I liked," said Tim Bock, owner of a condominium in Pierce 100. "I think the entire city stands to benefit from it."

City officials say they want to make the waterfront park -- and the entire downtown area -- a destination spot for families and tourists.

The Orlando firm also designed a sweeping $13.6-million downtown streetscape proposal that was presented in January. Next month, it will offer ideas on Station Square Park downtown. The city paid the consultants $50,000 for the three projects.

Reg Owens, the city's director of economic development and housing, said a redeveloped park would help the city draw visitors and tourists to the waterfront on weekends, part of the city's overall plan to bring more people downtown.

Because the land is zoned for recreation and open space, building a commercial restaurant there would require a public vote.

Owens said Clearwater likely will try to attract private developers to the area, then earmark some of the city's profits toward redeveloping the waterfront.

On Wednesday, Mayor Brian Aungst said the Coachman Park project may have to wait for the sale of City Hall as part of a much-anticipated downtown redevelopment plan that would include the Calvary Baptist Church property next door.

He called the new drawings encouraging and said the city is committed to moving forward, even incrementally, if necessary.

"I don't think we'll just stick them on a shelf," he said of the plans. "It may take a few commissions. We're keeping our fingers crossed."

Commissioner Frank Hibbard said he was hopeful about refining the plans, while Commissioner Hoyt Hamilton said he was pleased with public response so far.

"There wasn't anybody screaming bloody murder or anything," said Hamilton. "So that's good."

Clearwater resident Laird Gann praised the designs, but urged people to compare them with available land.

"You can't have open space like we're talking about and structures and parking along the waterfront," he said. "You can't do both."

After the meeting, Bellomo said his firm would shape the design ideas into solid, detailed proposals, then present them to city commissioners.

City Manager Bill Horne said the city is eager to press forward.

"If we have a plan, if we have the resolve -- and we do have the resolve," he said, "We will eventually get there."

-- Jennifer Farrell can be reached at (727) 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com ">farrell@sptimes.com .

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