Clock tower may top downtown plans

Treasure Island wants to revive its shopping district with landscaping, a wider median and a visual centerpiece.

By KATHY SAUNDERS

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

TREASURE ISLAND -- Like cheerleaders at a pep rally, architects and city planners are maintaining momentum for the revival of the downtown shopping district.

Two ideas emerged during a special workshop Tuesday: a four-story tower as a visual centerpiece on 107th Avenue and the city manager's solicitation for an identity. Said City Manager Chuck Coward: "We need a name for this place."

"When we get this thing finished, they'll be knocking your doors down," architect Phil Graham told downtown merchants. The city's recommendations arose from a series of meetings with business owners.

Graham proposed a 45-foot tower with a clock and some decorative feature, perhaps the city seal. Pedestrians could relax beneath it in a shaded area with benches and a public address system.

The landscaping would include gooseneck lampposts now being installed throughout the downtown area, palm trees and flowering plants.

The median would bulge to 35 feet at its widest point. Two lanes of 107th Avenue traffic would bend around the median on each side.

Finally, the median and tower would reduce from six to four the driveways leading to and from parking lots for the downtown shops. The center entrances would be eliminated, but turn lanes on 107th Avenue would lead to parking.

"We feel that this is what we need to do in order to keep this area special and to create a safe haven for pedestrians," Graham said. "I think it makes a town centerpiece and it makes a statement for the very heart of downtown. We want it to dazzle people."

City commissioners have $500,000 to spend on the downtown landscape, with part of the financing coming from a federal Community Development Block Grant. The grant program also will make money available to the shopkeepers for outside improvements to their stores.

Coward said the $25,000 to $50,000 needed to build the tower is not included in the current budget for downtown beautification. If commissioners like the idea, they will have to approve additional funds.

Along with the new center median, landscape architects proposed changes to the parking lots in shopping centers on both sides of the street. They want to realign parking places and add more plants. Their designs would add about 20 parking spaces in the downtown district.

The beautification project also includes creating two 10-foot walkways from City Hall on 108th Avenue to the Community Center behind downtown. The pedestrian corridors through downtown would be created with interlocking orange and red cement pavers that are separated with concrete strips.

The promenades would be lined with benches, bike racks, trash cans and flower pots. Some portions of the walkways also would be shaded. And the alleys and parking areas behind the downtown shops would be realigned and landscaped as well.

On the southwest corner of the downtown parking area, the architects suggested building a kiosk 10 feet by 30 feet for the Gulf Beaches of Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.

"What we're doing is creating a destination for people," Graham said.

Coward said it probably would take the city about nine months to complete the downtown beautification project once commissioners approve the concept. The federal grant money will be available Oct. 1.

Along with the landscaping, Coward also proposed renaming the area to draw more visitors.

In the next six weeks, Coward and city planners will be meeting with individual property owners from the downtown district to discuss the landscaping proposals. A follow-up public workshop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at City Hall, 120 108th Ave.

Merchants attending Tuesday's workshop said they were pleased with the landscaping plans and they wanted ideas for sprucing up their own storefronts.

"What a number of us would like to see is some sort of a rendering for the shopping center district," said property owner Bob Dowling.

"We would like some hints on which way we should go," said Sue Fisher of Fisher's Variety store.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.