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A fancy way to theme park?

City officials say Busch Boulevard reflects poorly on Tampa to the millions who visit Busch Gardens every year.

By MICHAEL VAN SICKLER
Published June 13, 2005

TAMPA - To explore the African-themed terrain of Busch Gardens, visitors must plunge past an imposing frontier: the blight of Busch Boulevard.

It is a gateway entrance devoid of the fanciful landscapes adorning the roads to SeaWorld and the Disney theme parks in Orlando. For many of the millions who visit Busch Gardens every year, the chain link fences, cement plant, liquor stores and pawn shops flanking the six-lane strip are all they see of the region.

"In the minds of the tourist, this is Tampa," said City Council member Shawn Harrison. "Driving Busch Boulevard is a vastly different experience than driving to Disney World. There's no comparison."

City and county transportation officials are planning a road project designed to transform a 4-mile span of Busch Boulevard into a safer and more visually pleasing experience. The project would emulate some of the theme park's ambience, with mosaic-tiled benches, decorative pedestrian lighting, colorful banners, and ornamental shrubs in the shape of animals.

But while the Orlando theme parks pay for street cosmetics surrounding their gates, taxpayers are footing the early costs of the Busch Boulevard project.

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Planning Organization that Harrison chairs will vote on spending $560,000 in state and federal tax dollars by 2009. Though it's unclear who will pay the project's remaining $3.5-million, officials at Busch Gardens say they have not been asked to contribute.

This wouldn't be the first time taxpayers picked up the tab to spruce up Busch Boulevard. In 1999, the city spent $237,000 in local and state taxes to enhance the medians between Interstate 275 and 50th Street.

And in a deal struck by former Mayor Dick Greco but carried out under Mayor Pam Iorio's administration, it cost taxpayers $6.4-million to widen Malcolm McKinley Drive, otherwise known as the northern tip of 40th Street, from two to four lanes between Fowler Avenue and Busch Boulevard.

This segment stretches between Busch Gardens and its water-theme park Adventure Island. Included in the project were the digging of two tunnels beneath McKinley Drive linking Busch Gardens to its parking lot. While the theme park paid for landscaping along the road and one tunnel, taxpayers financed the other tunnel at a cost of more than $340,000.

City officials call these projects smart investments. The effort to make Busch Boulevard look nice will improve the impressions of tourists. McKinley's widening is needed to accommodate future traffic.

"This is for everybody's benefit," said Steve Daignault, the city's administrator of public works and utility services. "We're not doing this for Busch Gardens."

Others aren't so sure.

"The clear beneficiary of these projects is Busch Gardens," said John Dausman, a resident of the Temple Crest neighborhood south of Busch Boulevard and along 40th Street. "Why should taxpayers finance it? What possible benefit do taxpayers in Seffner get out of this?"

Dausman has targeted government spending before, and was recently hired by Hillsborough's internal performance auditor to review a program for luring high-paying employers to the county.

A former employee of Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, he has sued that agency claiming he was fired for blowing the whistle on spending irregularities. HARTline officials have said he was fired for improperly grabbing another employee, a claim he disputes.

Joseph Jordan moved from New Jersey to his home near Busch Boulevard in 1961 when the road was still called Temple Terrace Highway. It was a sleepy, two-lane blacktop.

Jordan, now 70, doesn't like what has become of Busch Boulevard. The parking lots, narrow sidewalks and traffic congestion make the street extremely unpleasant, he says.

"I hope whatever they end up doing on Busch Boulevard, they make it look more like those streets at Disney World and SeaWorld," Jordan said. "They seem more inviting and don't scare people away."

But Jordan said Busch Gardens should pay for the project.

"They're the ones who will profit from it," he said.

It's not that easy for Busch Gardens.

SeaWorld owns the property that lines both sides of the roads that lead to its park. It maintains the landscaping along these sections, said Becca Bides, a spokeswoman for the park.

Four main roads funnel traffic into the 47 square miles owned by Walt Disney World. A special taxing district financed the construction and maintenance of these roads, mostly with property taxes paid by the Disney theme parks and the resort hotels that line the roads.

The ownership of those roads allows Disney more freedom in spending money to maintain them, resulting in lavish entryways that proudly announce the approaching parks.

"The show begins when guests enter our gateway roads," said Kim Prunty, a Disney spokeswoman. "We want them to know they've entered Walt Disney World when they drive up."

By comparison, Busch Boulevard is a state road that is a crucial truck route. Any money spent on it must be vetted by state officials to make sure it doesn't interfere with the road's main purpose -- the unfettered flow of 45 mph traffic.

Numerous property owners, from fast food restaurants to shops that sell fireworks, complicate who pays for improvements.

"Disney can control every aspect of their roads," said Mark Rose, the vice president for design and engineering for Busch Gardens. "To fix the problems along Busch Boulevard, we need all the separate owners of businesses to comply, and that's very difficult to do."

This wouldn't have posed a problem for Busch Gardens if it had remained the beer garden that August A. Busch Jr. opened in 1959. Although it drew millions when it opened, it was modest by today's standards. A bird show and a petting zoo were the main draws.

Now the park has become one of the nation's leading theme parks, featuring more than 2,700 animals, live shows, restaurants, shops, games, and rides. It vies for the same dollars that are spent in Orlando's parks, but can't duplicate the fantasy feel surrounding those attractions.

The theme park already maintains the Busch Boulevard medians between 30th and 40th streets, Rose said. It also agreed to maintain the landscaping along the one-mile stretch of McKinley Drive that was completed in March.

But Busch Gardens needs to contribute more to the projects that border its property, said Dausman, who regularly attends MPO meeting to criticize the progress of the $80-million 40th Street widening project. He said the city completed the McKinley part of the section because it serves the theme park. Meanwhile the rest of the project that serves residents along 40th Street has languished. It won't be completed until 2009.

"We've been waiting so long for this project and now we have to wait even longer because the city wanted to do that section first," Dausman said. "It's not right."

Harrison, a city council member, said Busch Gardens will be asked to contribute to the Busch Boulevard project.

"They're a great partner with the city of Tampa and they already maintain the median in front of their park," Harrison said. "They should see a benefit to their park as a result of this project."

Busch vice president Rose said he's encouraged that city leaders want to fix Busch Boulevard and the park will consider its options.

"We want to improve things," Rose said. "But at this point, we haven't been asked to contribute."

--Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3402 or mvansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 13, 2005, 01:42:15]