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Park named for 'gentle giant'

By JON WILSON
Published January 21, 2007

The late Dell Holmes, a 6-foot-7 man friends described as a "gentle giant," will have his name forever attached to a gentle and peaceful spot on the shore of Lake Maggiore.

The dedication ceremony for Dell Holmes Park is 10 a.m. Saturday. The park is at 2741 22nd St. S and the public is invited. Mayor Rick Baker is the keynote speaker.

Litdell Holmes Jr. served as St. Petersburg's parks director from 1983 to 2003 after he was recruited by Lee Metzger, who ran the city's leisure services for years.

Holmes died in 2003 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 58 years old.

"We won a lot of accolades for our parks under Dell's administration," said Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis, who will be master of ceremonies at the dedication.

Among other things, Davis said, Holmes helped make Interstate 275's route through St. Petersburg more than a strip of concrete and asphalt. He pushed for "linear parks" - landscaped medians and shoulders along the route, said the deputy mayor.

Holmes was born in Christfield, Md., attending schools there and going on to George Washington University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1967.

While directing the city's parks, Holmes was an instructor for the North Carolina State University annual Park and Recreation Maintenance Management School.

In St. Petersburg, he was a co-chair of the Community Alliance, was active in the Rotary Club, and served as commissioner of the Tampa Bay Pro-Am Basketball League.

The 20-acre Dell Holmes Park features a fitness trail, driving range and putting green, picnic shelters with grills, a gazebo and a fishing pier.

[Last modified January 20, 2007, 23:58:20]