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The State of the Parks Post-Irma
As we were preparing to send this newsletter, Hurricane Irma came barreling toward Florida, and Life-as-We-Knew-It came to a sudden (and fortunately brief) halt as the entire state seemed to prepare for utter disaster. Few would argue that Tampa Bay was most fortunate in being spared much of Irma’s fury, and most of our residents have begun a grateful return to normalcy.
Storm-damaged tree in Straub Park awaits pruning.
Now that the cleanup has begun in earnest, we checked with the Parks & Recreation Department for the City of St. Petersburg, and Superintendent Phil Whitehouse had good news to report: “Quite honestly, we really dodged a bullet.”
While a number of smaller trees fell, many were able to be righted and staked and should survive. Several larger trees in the waterfront parks—as well as a number of palm trees—were uprooted and will require stump-grinding and removal. Many trees also suffered broken limbs which will require pruning. Already, most of the damage has been cleaned up and removed, save for some uprooted stumps.
Currently the city is focused on city-wide debris removal and have enlisted the parks crews to assist, so the complete cleanup of the parks may take some time. But as Phil reports, the Waterfront Staff is working hard to get the damage handled as quickly as possible.
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WPF Advocates for Our Waterfront Parks
The Miss ion of the Waterfront Parks Foundation remains unchanged, “To support the preservation and enhancement of the historic Downtown Waterfront Parks for the enjoyment of the residents and visitors of St. Petersburg.” However, due to the Pier redevelopment, we increasingly find our organization in an advocacy role for the Waterfront Parks, as well. The debate continues from the early 1900s when some wanted the waterfront as an industrial port and others wanted a waterfront park. Thankfully, the park advocates won that debate! The Waterfront Parks Foundation was established in 2012 to uphold and defend that decision and assist the city of St. Petersburg in guiding the future development of our waterfront parks to preserve open views of Tampa Bay and guarantee a high level of maintenance, function and aesthetics indicative of this valuable asset. We continue to celebrate its role as a centerpiece of our downtown, an economic driver for the community, and its stature as the 3rd largest contiguous park system in North America.
The Foundation has become a major voice for our waterfront park system. We are advocates for the park and guardians of its preservation and character. This includes being alert to preserving green space, park‐appropriate facilities and furnishings including statuary, site furnishings, utilities, etc. We have been involved in the Pier development and Waterfront Master Plan Update issues, acting as a “voice for the parks.” Following is current information on the Foundation efforts:
- WATERFRONT MASTER PLAN UPDATE—The Foundation participated throughout its development of the Master Plan and made recommendations that were included in it. We will continue to monitor the specific implementation of Master Plan elements as they relate to the Foundation’s Mission.
- THE NEW PIER—The Foundation has been involved throughout the design process to offer suggestions as to how the Pier and Upland might best meet the City’s needs and still maintain the character of the parks envisioned by the Founders. Final plans are currently being developed by the design teams, yet there are still design issues to be resolved. From the beginning we have objected to the building of restaurants on the Upland Park property but, as of this writing, one is still being proposed. (If you object to a restaurant being built on parkland, contact your Councilperson and Mayor Kriseman and let them know that this is NOT what you want.) A small, transparent concession area has also been proposed, which may be acceptable as an alternative to a full-scale restaurant. In other matters the City and design teams have been receptive to our requests for modifications to the design. We will continue to monitor the project’s progress.
- THE FIRST AIRLINE MONUMENT—A dedicated group of citizens has been engaged in an effort to commemorate the First Commercial Airline Flight (the Benoist) made from the Pier approach in 1914. This will be an interactive public art feature being funded by private donations. While the Foundation does not favor monuments in the Waterfront Parks, we feel this historic, international event warrants a place at the site where it occurred. Final plans are being developed and will be shared when complete.
- PARK SIGNAGE—Regulatory, wayfinding and identification signs within in the waterfront p
 arks are being reviewed for uniformity, appearance and message. The WPF and the Parks Department want to reinforce the “branding” of the Waterfront Parks as a “park system” that conveys a unified, up‐to-date and welcoming character. (WPF currently is in discussions with the Parks Department regarding this branding.) We thank HONNA (Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association) for their financial assistance with the first regulatory sign shown in the photo, which will be incorporated into the new signage program. .
- BENCHES—The Parks Department has refurbished the finishes on many of the benches within the parks. The results have been good, but not as permanent as initially hoped. The City is reviewing options for future bench purchases.
- UTILITIES—The Foundation has long brought attention to the utility blight in our parks. We have had some success in our efforts to remedy this problem. With the cooperation of Teco Gas, a major gas utility station has been removed, and a large irrigation control station has been relocated by the Parks Department to another location. Both of these utilities were located right on Beach Drive, across from Parkshore Grill, creating an aesthetic blight and a major distraction to views of the park and waterfront.
The gas utility was removed and the irrigation utility (both visible in the upper photo) was moved from Beach Drive to a less visible location.
- We are pleased to report the City has directed the New Pier design teams to underground all utilities including backflow preventers (huge, blue above-ground pipes) on the new pier site. Power transformers installed by Duke Energy are an exception to this as above grade access is necessary for these structures. We have been told that they will be located in unobtrusive areas and/or properly screened. We will be working to extend this philosophy throughout the park system to limit these functional but unattractive facilities from view.
WPF's goal is reduce utility blight and get as many backflow preventers (huge blue above-ground pipes) as possible moved underground and out of sight.
- COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT—The Foundation will continue to participate in variety of community events, bringing information to the public on our Mission for the preservation and betterment of our amazing waterfront park system. We are also continuing to meet with community organizations to explain the purpose and benefits of our organization. If you know of an organization with which you would like us to meet, please contact us.
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