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Port Tampa

Grand ideas for 14 acres

When and if the city can gather the money, a swath on Manhattan Avenue could be a leisure lover's dream come true.

By SHERRI DAY
Published March 4, 2005

If city planners have their way, a vast green space in Port Tampa will one day bustle with bike paths, pedestrians and wildlife.

But first the city has to figure out how to pay for it.

Although the city's Parks and Recreation Department has grand ideas for improving the Keen Parcel, a 14-acre site on Manhattan Avenue south of Rembrandt Drive, it lacks the money to start construction.

But lean pockets don't preclude city officials from canvassing neighborhoods to find out what residents think about their plans.

At a meeting Tuesday night with residents at the Port Tampa Community Center, Mary Helen Duke, the city's greenways and trails coordinator, outlined a proposal that would ultimately help link the Keen site with the Friendship Trail and Bayshore Boulevard.

"This is a step in the right direction," Duke said. "This is a long-range plan to develop the South Tampa Greenway."

Plans for the site and surrounding neighborhoods include new pedestrian crossings, nature trails and lighted asphalt paths. The Parks and Recreation Department would also like to install a playground, skate park and picnic pavilion.

Any improvements to the Keen Parcel would protect its wetlands and vegetation, which include long leaf pines, live oaks, laurel oaks and cabbage palms, Duke said. The city also wants to re-establish some of the sites' canals and remove arsenic from contaminated areas.

Residents expressed support for the plans but questioned how long it would take to start the work.

"It makes the neighborhood more livable, and it attracts people," said Kim Allen, who lives in Sun Bay South and serves on the Friendship Trail Board. "But where are we going to get the money?"

City officials said they would apply for federal grants and other funding opportunities.

Jill Buford, past president of the Civic Association of Port Tampa, likes the city's plan but has a few ideas of her own.

"I want horses," she said. "I certainly think that there's enough property."

Sherri Day can be reached at 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 09:13:05]