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Memorial waits for park plan to solidify

The veterans wall would be a new park's centerpiece in a conceptual site plan Oldsmar officials are set to consider tonight.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published December 6, 2005

OLDSMAR - The veterans memorial wall, now within earshot of traffic on Tampa Road, would be moved from its spot outside City Hall to a more lush, peaceful setting overlooking Tampa Bay.

First, the City Council is scheduled to consider a conceptual site plan for Veterans Memorial Park tonight.

If council members approve that, city staffers can start working up detailed plans for the picnic shelters, gazebo and bocce ball court planned for the 5-acre plot off Shore Drive.

They can also start preparing the waterfront site for the wall.

The city's parks and recreation advisory board has already approved the proposed site plan, said director Lynn Rives. Although construction details have not been drawn yet, what is certain is that the park will be a passive park. That means no lit stadiums, no ball games, courts or boat launches.

"We want people to walk out there and enjoy the sunset or the sunrise and enjoy the bay," said Mayor Jerry Beverland.

City Council members voted unanimously in March to name the property Veterans Memorial Park.

The budget calls for $450,000 for the park, but Rives said that number may increase. The park's centerpiece will be the wall engraved with 320 names of Oldsmar's veterans. Now sitting on State Street, the wall will be moved to the park by the end of 2006, Rives said.

Other than the wall and gazebo, the park will be mostly open space dotted with picnic shelters and native plant gardens. A canoe launch area is planned by the beach.

The conceptual site plan also includes fitness equipment areas, environmental education signs and park trails.

The city bought the plot on the bay in 2003 from Roger Kumar with the intention of converting Kumar's home, an incomplete 1920s hotel, into a cultural arts center.

Kumar originally sold the city all 6.34 acres for $2.5-million but asked for 0.8 acres back to build a new home. The city ended up paying Kumar $2.2-million for the land. Half of that was paid through a grant.

Plans for the cultural arts center changed when engineers estimated repairs to the building would cost another $3-million. The building was demolished.

The project will take several years to complete, but Rives said he anticipates construction will begin in late spring or early summer.

Beverland said he is excited about the city's getting another park.

"R.E. Olds didn't know when he built (the hotel) in 1918 that it was meant for a park," he said. "It took the council of 2003 to decide for him."

[Last modified December 6, 2005, 02:15:34]