Politics & Government
Mayor: We Will Transform This Downtown
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced construction plans for Tampa Riverwalk, a new audio cell phone tour of the city's waterfront narrated by Gayle Sierens, and a new project for the historic Water Works building in Tampa Heights.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced construction plans for the next link of the Tampa Riverwalk on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
The CapTrust Segment will add 220 feet to the waterfront pedestrian walkway by MacDill Park located at 100 N. Ashley Dr.
The $1.5 million project is expected to be completed by February 2013.
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“This is a priority for this administration, we are absolutely going to finish this Riverwalk,” Buckhorn said. “When we get this finished, we will transform this downtown. You will be able to walk from the Straz Center all the way around to the History Museum.”
The mayor also introduced a new audio cell phone tour of the city's waterfront developed by the nonprofit Friends of the Riverwalk with funding from Verizon.
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Dial 813-319-8441 to hear the narration by WFLA-News Channel 8's Gayle Sierens. Then, enter the number provided at one of the seven stations along the Riverwalk to get historical perspective of the city and updated information about venues along the waterfront.
The self-guided tour will enhance the experience of out-of-town guests as well as residents, the city said.
“It’s neat to be part of something like this,” said Sierens. “What a great community project.”
Also Wednesday, the mayor announced that Columbia Restaurant Group and Metro Bay Real Estate won the bid to redevelop the historic Water Works building in the Tampa Heights neighborhood.
“It will be a chophouse and seafood restaurant,” Buckhorn said. “The Water Works building with the surrounding property has been a hidden gem of the Tampa Heights neighborhood for the better part of the last century. Now, with this plan, we are going to re-energize that property and make it into something special."
The project, which will include a new park, a restored spring, and a restaurant with views of the Hillsborough River, is expected to be competed by the end of 2012.
Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, The Straz Center for the Performing Arts, and Water Works Enterprises had also .
Located along the east side of the Hillsborough River in Tampa Heights, the 9,800 square foot Water Works brick building is a local historic landmark. It was constructed in the early 1900s as Tampa's third potable water pumping station. The station was decommissioned in 1930 and later served as city office and storage space.
