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Politics & Government

Downtown Tampa Gets Ready for RNC Chaos

Beyond the closed streets and the fenced in venues, downtown Tampa began looking increasingly different over the course of Friday afternoon.

The only thing flooding downtown Tampa on Friday was metal fencing and Republican National Convention event staff.

As the city prepares for a bombardment of delegates, media and protesters, the pre-event crews began transforming the city into a Republican party zone on Friday, decorating everything from parking garages to the Tampa Bay Times Forum and erecting tents, fence structures and barricades.

The Tampa Convention Center is surrounded by a chain link fence, but that looks only marginally intimidating when compared to the heavy duty, bound together fence work surrounding entire city blocks where government and law enforcement buildings sit.

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While every precaution has been taken to ensure that statues, windows and valued property on city land will resurface after the event unscathed from protesters, organizers are paying close to attention to the tropics where Tropical Storm Isaac threatens to dampen the festivities.

Covered walkways and a number of tents and have been set up to help keep those in attendance dry, both in the event zone and at Curtis Hixon Park.

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