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Tampa to buy waterfront land for new park
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD © St. Petersburg Times, published January 3, 2001 TAMPA -- The city plans to spend $5.5-million for 1.6 acres of waterfront land at the southern tip of downtown for a planned park, with the ultimate aim of creating a riverfront promenade stretching to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. The City Council will discuss the deal Thursday. A state grant would cover about $2-million of the purchase price for the land at 411 Ice Palace Drive, said Parks Director Ross Ferlita. The land is owned by Chavez Properties of Cincinnati. The city already owns about 2 acres of land adjacent to the property. Workers have seeded that site with rye grass, which is expected grow in time to brighten the area for Super Bowl visitors, Ferlita said. But the park construction -- benches, mangroves, aquatic grass, palm trees and other vegetation along the water -- probably won't begin until summer and won't be completed until next year, Ferlita said. "The two parcels together will be a large tract of land on the river," Ferlita said. "It'll be one of the biggest parks we have. We could have had high-rise buildings. Instead, the mayor decided he wanted to see park land." Council member Linda Saul-Sena said a memorial will be built in the park to commemorate the history of the area, which played a role in a 19th-century battle between the U.S. Army and the Seminole Indians. Part of the memorial will tell the story from the Seminole perspective, the other from the settlers' perspective.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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