Commentary

A word to the streetwise

By COLETTE BANCROFT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 10, 2003

Last Thursday, the Tampa City Council took up the task of renaming Ice Palace Drive, a street that runs for a few blocks south of the hockey and concert venue recently renamed the St. Pete Times Forum.

The proposed street name was St. Pete Times Forum Drive, but rookie council member John Dingfelder protested that that would be confusing.

"I don't recall streets in St. Petersburg named Tampa," he said. He's right, although there is a Tampa Road in Palm Harbor (and a St. Petersburg Road in Oldsmar).

Dingfelder suggested the street be named Times Forum Drive instead. The council was so flummoxed, it tabled the issue until today.

The St. Petersburg Times paid a pretty penny for naming rights to the arena. But maybe Dingfelder has a point. Just imagine the havoc the proposed name could wreak on tourists.

New Yorkers know that when visitors from Texas wander down to SoHo, they're often confused by Houston Street. "Somehow we made a wrong turn and ended up back home," they're heard to say. "But where are all the big-haired women, and why does everyone pronounce 'Houston' 'HOW-ston?' "

In Chicago, small packs of men in heavily insulated clothing roam Michigan Avenue, clutching fishing poles and small ice axes, with which they periodically try to chop holes in the sidewalks.

So maybe it's best not to confuse Tampa visitors with a street name that might make them think they're in St. Petersburg. Think of the poor souls wafting alone through the downtown Tampa streets, fruitlessly searching for acres of waterfront public park, a bunch of art galleries and restaurants open after dark. It's just too sad.

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