Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, A Destination with an Untold Story
By Mayor Pam Iorio, City of Tampa, Florida
Located on the bank of the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa, the new Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park will open to Tampa’s residents and visitors on Sunday, January 24, 2010. It will be a great day in our city and on that day, people will see an urban space transformed. They will see a great lawn that offers flexible space to accommodate all types of events, interesting architectural elements and an inspiring view of the minarets. They will see a vibrant civic space for the community that adds an additional 3.5 acres of green space to the downtown riverfront. They will see a new segment of the Tampa Riverwalk, a dog park, playground built for fun and signature fountains. But what they won’t see is the untold story of a park that was built on a fixed budget in one of the most challenging financial times in our nation’s history.
In 2003, our administration crafted strategic goals for our city that would help ensure progress for decades. One of those goals was to create a residential community downtown and we have worked hard to make that happen. With any neighborhood, green space and quality of life concerns are a top priority and they rose to the top of our list for downtown. We have worked to make our city center more pedestrian-friendly and we quickly saw the need to create a neighborhood park for residents – a central gathering place for the entire city – a destination now known as Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.
As we set forth to design a central park for Tampa’s residents, we reflected on the importance of our downtown waterfront. It has been our goal that the Tampa Riverwalk will open the river to the people, and we wanted to design a park that also placed appropriate value on the urban portion of our river. Designed by world-renowned landscape architect Thomas Balsley, who brought more than 30 years of experience in the design of quality urban spaces to the table, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park was strategically crafted. With community input and workshops followed by well thought-out design, a plan for a new park was created. A major part of that plan included the complimentary placement of two museums, the Tampa Museum of Art and the Glazer Children’s Museum, on the property in a manner that would blend all of the elements while maintaining the integrity of the green space for the future of our city. By incorporating the museums into the downtown park, we made additional progress toward transforming Tampa into a city of the arts – another one of our strategic focus areas.
With a plan in place and $1 million secured in private donations, construction of the $15.7 million Downtown-Tax-Increment-funded park could move forward. Skanska USA Building Inc., an internationally recognized construction firm, in association with Horus Construction, was selected to be the construction manager. They were tasked with the demolition of the parking structure as well as the construction of the park, construction of the Tampa Museum of Art, restoration of the seawall, and the $4.4 million renovation and repair of Kiley Garden and the garage below, located adjacent to the park. In January 2008, work began and with city staff they ensured that all of the complex and constantly changing elements of such a large-scale undertaking moved forward smoothly and efficiently. The projects have been completed on time and on budget with minority contractors participating – an important component of a successful contract for city government. The park was also the first completed expansion segment of Tampa’s reclaimed water system into downtown.
The Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park is a destination – a venue for everyone. It is an urban space that was designed to host intimate gatherings and large-scale events. A place that will be the focal point of a Riverwalk that connects many of our city’s greatest cultural assets.
One day history will tell the story of a city that invested in its future – a city that moved forward with a signature park for its community, a world-class Tampa Museum of Art, a new segment of the Tampa Riverwalk and a first-class Glazer Children’s Museum. A city that accomplished this progress in the midst of a deep recession. It will be the story of a city that invested in its people by creating meaningful places for future generations – it will be Tampa’s story.
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