Construction should begin in a year on a water fountain, boardwalk and picnic patios.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published June 13, 2004
TAMPA - Early Saturday morning, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio dedicated a sign touting Southeast Seminole Heights as a neighborhood of the year.
This time next year, she may be doing the same thing in Tampa Heights.
Iorio was in Tampa Heights to unveil a plan to renovate Robles Park, the neighborhood's largest park, as part of Tampa's Greenprinting Initiative, part of the Mayor's Beautification Program.
The renovations - which include an interactive water fountain, a boardwalk across the lake and at least seven new patios in a shaded picnic area - are expected to begin in about a year.
"Green space by itself is nice," Iorio said. "But when you can turn it into a real destination point with water features, a bridge, picnic shelters, it's really going to become a focal point for the community."
Robles Park is the second area to be approved for a Greenprinting makeover. Southeast Seminole Heights was the first; about $500,000 worth of improvements are scheduled to start in September.
Iorio and a host of neighborhood residents spent a large chunk of the day in Robles Park to celebrate the announcement with music and a cookout.
Lena Young-Green, president of the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association, called the park "a centerpiece and point of pride" in the neighborhood. But as Tampa Heights has grown in recent years, the park has become less popular. When the group decided to apply for Greenprinting money, everyone agreed on where the money should go.
"Robles became the first priority," Young-Green said. "Everybody seemed to agree that we should start with this one."
Sharonda Jacobs lives just up the street from Robles, but she had never been there before Saturday. But she brought her son and niece there to sit in the shade and get a glimpse of what the park might someday look like.
"They need to do something for the community to make it better than what it is," Jacobs said. "They need more things to play on, more activities."
John Haas, a senior project manager with the design firm behind the renovations, said there is not yet a cost associated with the project. Nonetheless, Erin Budde, executive director of the Greenprinting Initiative, said the city hopes to break ground in about a year.
As little girls danced and boys played football in the hot summer sun, Young-Green said next year would be perfect. It would give residents another excuse to hold a second Robles Park party.
"We expect to have an annual community festival," she said, "which we know will get bigger every year."
