Thursday nights were going to blow up at Channelside, until the idea got shot down.
The area was primed for a Thursday night series of summer fireworks displays after an estimated 5,000 people gathered for a holiday show Sunday. Florida Aquarium officials raved about the event, and the StarShip dining cruise sold out.
The Channelside restaurants also did bustling business and at least one spot, Margarita Mama's, was caught off guard having only a limited number of servers for the typical slow Sunday.
Mayor Pam Iorio, who celebrated her wedding anniversary at Grille 29 on Sunday, was impressed with the family-driven crowds, the music and the jugglers.
"I think as Channelside becomes more of a residential community, we're going to see a lot of evenings like that," Iorio said.
The Downtown Tampa Attractions Association, which staged the event with a big-name sponsor (AOL Broadband), also has plans for similar exhibits on the Fourth of July and the Sunday before Labor Day (Sept. 5).
"It accomplished our mission of attracting families to downtown on a traditionally slow holiday weekend," said StarShip CEO Troy Manthey, who also serves as the president of the attractions association. "It was just incredible."
Unfortunately, the idea to set off fireworks all summer was rejected because of security concerns lodged by the Port Authority and the Coast Guard.
On holiday weekends, security is at a heightened level, but on your average Thursday night, that's not the case. Routine scheduled fireworks also could allow terrorists to plan large explosions, which would be muffled by the normal boom of the fireworks.
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AS WE STRIVE to bring more vibrancy to downtown, event planners may want to consider the Community Banner Program. The Merchants Association of Florida can produce colorful banners for non-profit and special community events.
It has 700 pole banner spots available in downtown Tampa, on Channelside Drive, on Dale Mabry Highway near Raymond James Stadium and at Tampa International Airport. The costs are significant (two-color banners average about $150 apiece for 50-60 banners), but Tom Feaster, the group's manager of association services, said the price is often offset by corporate sponsors.
Recent events that have utilized the banners include the Gasparilla Arts Festival, the Radio City Music Hall celebration at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and the Celebrate The Riverfront event at Riverfront Park.
I like the banners because they lend a sense of big-city importance to an event, yet remain tasteful. I don't know if we'll ever get to the point where pole banners dot the interstates, but when I ride into Miami on the Palmetto Expressway, I get an instant sense of what's happening in the city.
If downtown Tampa wants to become a regional center, it has to do more than stage events, it has to capture the attention of folks riding through to other destinations.
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REALLY, AT THE CORE of all this talk about revitalizing downtown and redeveloping East Tampa and making the city more livable is civic pride. In fact, Iorio is kicking off a civic pride campaign today at the Tampa Convention Center at 9:30 a.m. At a time when some surveys indicate visitors think more highly of Tampa than residents do, a campaign seems ideal.
The Lightning's Stanley Cup pursuit has been a shot in the arm, but maybe our excitement shouldn't be limited to those rare moments when one of our sports teams is chasing a championship.
