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Sunken Gardens sheds fake stone walls
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- Sunken Gardens continues to emerge from its long, concrete-encased sleep. Much of the fake stone that dominated the exterior of the gardens and covered the facade of the adjacent building was removed and hauled away last week. "It came down fast," said Mary Campbell, director of Sunken Gardens. "Now you can see some of the interesting architectural details." The removal of the walls, for decades a distinctive feature of the tourist attraction, is part of a $2.7-million face lift for the gardens, which were purchased by the city in 1999 after a citywide referendum voted to add them to the city's public parks. The "stone" is concrete blown over a metal frame, and "built like a bunker," Campbell said. Laid bare was a wall of the 1927 55,000-square-foot building the city is gutting, which will house Great Explorations, the Hands On Museum, park administration offices and retail space including, city officials have said, a restaurant. Campbell said the concrete facade that obscured the garden entrance will be replaced with a wrought iron fence. The building was built as an open-air market, then remodeled as a Coca-Cola distributing plant and most recently the Sunken Gardens gift shop. Great Explorations officials have said they hope to begin work on the interior in the fall with an opening next summer.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
