January 30, 2012
Monday Morning Memo is your weekly update on downtown Tampa development, transportation updates, news and events. Click on the sections below or scroll down to read the complete issue:
In this Issue...
| Downtown Happenings |
Urban News |
| Big East 3rd Place holders USF Bulls Come to DT |
December Ridership Up Ten Percent! |
| Do the Local Motion Free Guided Walking Tour |
New Guided Cell Phone Tours on Riverwalk |
| Rock the Park Tampa |
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| Mayor's Food Truck Fiesta! |
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| Studio-f - Robert Zakanitch at the Scarfone |
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| Patel Conservatory Workshop |
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| A Night to Remember with Celtic Woman |
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| Tampa Bay Lightning's 2012 Glitz & Sticks |
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| Victorian Valentines at the Henry B. Plant Museum |
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| Choral Evensong Sung by the Countertop Ensemble |
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| Nights on Broadway at the Tampa Preparatory School |
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| Tommy Emmanuel at the Straz Center |
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| Kahwa Coffee Special |
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| City Development & Transportation |
Around Town Collaboration |
| Construction on Cap Trust Riverwalk Segment |
Redevelopment of Historic Building |
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Call for Entries: Future of the Region Awards |
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2nd Annual Calendar for A Cause Cocktail Party |
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Chamber Music Ybor, Tampa's Premiere Series |
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Tampa Prep's Girl Soccor Team Wins District |
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Downtown Happenings
Big East 3rd Place holders USF Bulls Come to Downtown, and to Breakfast!
The Tampa Downtown Partnership’s next Downtown Debriefing Series event shares great news for Downtown Bulls fans! With the Sun Dome under renovation, the USF Men's Basketball Team has taken up residence in downtown this winter at the newly renovated Tampa Bay Times Forum. The team will finish out their season at the Forum with seven home games remaining in their season schedule. Don't miss your chance to meet Coach Stan Heath and enjoy a behind the scenes "chalk talk"! Join Coach Heath and Senior Associate Athletic Director Bill McGillis for a look at the Bull's season, the long-term vision for USF Athletics, and what's to come at the Sun Dome. See more about upcoming games later in this edition. The event will take place at the Hyatt Regency Tampa on Wednesday, February 1 from 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. If you're an alumni, a fan, or even if you're not yet, come support the Bulls in Downtown! Click here for more information. Online event registration closes at noon on Tuesday, January 31.
Also, save the date for the March 7 Downtown Debriefing Series event featuring Kelly Miller, the new CEO of Tampa Bay & Company and Rick Hamilton, the new Director of the Tampa Convention Center. Click here for more information.
Do the Local Motion Free Guided Walking Tour
The Tampa Downtown Partnership's popular Do the Local Motion program offers twice monthly free guided walking tours of Tampa's Downtown. Held in conjunction with the Downtown Market, the walks are from 12:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m. and depart from Franklin @ Madison in the Do the Local Motion Village. February 3 is a Black Heritage Tour in honor of Black History Month. We’re thrilled to have James Tokley, the City’s first official Poet Laureate, as one our guest tour guides taking us to the Jackson House. Please join us.
Rock the Park Tampa
Tampa’s best monthly live music event on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. by welcoming “The Semis, Urbane Cowboys and Jinx” to Curtis Hixon Park. Click here for more information.
Mayor’s Food Truck Fiesta!
Join the Mayor’s Food Truck Fiesta on Wednesday, February 01, 2012. The event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Lykes Gaslight Square Park on Franklin Street between Madison Street and Kennedy Boulevard. The Mayor encourages everyone to come to downtown next Wednesday, and sample some of what the food trucks have to offer." List of food truck participants:
STUDIO-f - Robert Zakanitch at the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery at UT
Robert Zakanitch's mural size paintings and new mono-prints will be on exhibit in the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery located in the University of Tampa. Zakanitch will be on campus February 13 -24 working in STUDIO-f creating monoprints. This event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will run from Monday, January 30 to Thursday, March 8, 2012. Click here for more information.
Patel Conservatory Offers Workshop with Improvised Shakespeare Company
Using improvisation and comedy, the Improvised Shakespeare Company workshop is designed to help participants feel comfortable with William Shakespeare’s work and language. The company has developed a unique, interactive approach that deepens understanding of Shakespearean text. The Improvised Shakespeare Company workshop will be on Saturday, February 18, 2012 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Straz Center. Click here for more information.
A Night to Remember with Celtic Woman – “BELIEVE” North American Tour
Savor the musical enchantment from the singing sensation “Celtic Woman” with a dazzling array of visual and musical effects at the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts – in the Carol Morsani Hall on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Celtic Woman’s breathtaking new show, BELIEVE, features the all-female singing sensation performing classic Irish tunes, such as “The Water Is Wide,” “Green Grow the Rushes,” “A Woman’s Heart” and “The Parting Glass,” along with timeless pop anthems such as “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Sailing”, and inspirational songs including “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Ave Maria” with their signature Celtic Woman twist. All under the distinct musical direction of Emmy-nominated music producer, David Downes. Celtic Woman’s awe-inspiring vocalists and mesmerizing violinist will be backed by a dazzling six-piece band, the Aontas Choir and renowned championship Irish dancers.
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Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2012 Glitz & Sticks
The Tampa Bay Lightning will hold their annual Glitz & Sticks: A Celebrity Casino Evening, benefitting Tampa General Hospital Children’s Medical Center and the Lightning Foundation, on Sunday, February 19 from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. This year’s event will feature a number of new interactive experiences that will allow fans to get even more up close and personal with Lightning players, coaches and personalities. Enjoy an evening of dancing, entertainment, distinct auctions gourmet dining and more.
Victorian Valentines at the Henry B. Plant Museum - Create and Visit the Exhibit
Create your own Victorian-era love tokens for those sweet someone’s. Refreshments and all supplies are provided for this hands-on workshop for adults and children accompanied by an adult. You don't have to be an artist to have fun making valentines. However, you may bring items to personalize your Valentines...perhaps a treasured photograph or a scrape of old lace…the list is endless. The workshop will be conducted by Heather Trubee Brown, Curator of Education, in the Music Room of Plant Hall, located at The University of Tampa, on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The cost is $15 for museum members, $20 for not-yet-members. Space is limited. For reservations, email Heather at htrubee@ut.edu or call 813.258.7304.
And if you want to see the originals, the museum is featuring a collection of antique valentines from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Samples of this treasured paper ephemera will be on display, just in time for Valentine’s Day. In addition to the Museum’s collection, Sean Donnelly with The University of Tampa has lent 35 valentines from his collection. Themes often include pictures of children and cherubs, cupids and arrows, hearts, forget-me-nots, lush cabbage roses, bits of lace, feathers, seashells and dried flowers – all intertwined with sentimental messages. Click here for more information.
Choral Evensong sung by The Countertop Ensemble at St. Andrew’s
The Art at St. Andrews Department invite you to their concert series for a lovely evening of Choral Evensong by the “Countertop Ensemble” on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. The ensemble was formed in 2005, beginning as a Quartet, to perform music for upper voices, primarily with two sopranos and two countertenors. They later expanded the group into an ensemble with 8 singers, while also maintaining its original core. Concerts with Countertop now allow listeners to not only hear the full ensemble, but the smaller aspects of the group too, with the quartet of sopranos and countertenors, and the consort, involving the countertenors, tenors and basses. Click here for more information. The concert is free and open to the public.
Nights on Broadway at the Tampa Preparatory School: “Hits and Near Misses!”
It promises to be an exciting show that captures the energy of what has now become a musical tradition. The Smith Black Box Theater will transform into a cabaret show room featuring a new stage that puts the performers closer to the audience. We welcome back Caroline Daly (Annie, Evita), who has graced the stage with her powerful performances for every Nights on Broadway event. Making his Nights on Broadway debut is Broadway actor/singer Curtis Holbrook, direct from New York City. Add to that 50+ student and faculty voices and you have the formula that has made Nights on Broadway an annual highlight for cast and audiences alike. Nights on Broadway: Hits and Near Misses will be performed on Friday, February 3 and Saturday, February 4, 2012. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Friday’s performance welcomes open donations. The Saturday performance is a special Patrons Evening, with snacks and drinks provided and served to your table by our student performers for $75.00 pp. Please contact Melanie Rodriguez at mrodriguez@tampaprep.org or 813-251-8481 to make your reservations.
Tommy Emmanuel at the Straz Center in Ferguson Hall
Two-time Grammy nominee Tommy Emmanuel, one of Australia’s most respected musicians, will be in concert at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. The legendary guitarist has a professional career that spans five decades and continues to intersect with some of the finest musicians throughout the world. A household name in his native Australia, Tommy has garnered hundreds of thousands of loyal fans worldwide. Tommy’s unique style – he calls it simply “finger style” – is akin to playing guitar the way a pianist plays piano, using all ten fingers. Rather than using a whole band for melody, rhythm, bass, and drum parts, Tommy plays all that – and more – on one guitar. Click here for more information.
Kahwa Coffee Special
On Wednesday, February 1 the Kahwa Café at Rivergate Tower (400 N. Ashley Drive) invites you over for a FREE CUP OF COFFEE – any kind, and all day long! Rivergate welcomed the Kahwa Café earlier this year,y and coffee and tea drinkers, as well as lunch diners, have been enjoying their presence ever since! Check them out on Facebook!
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City Development & Transportation
Construction on CapTrust Riverwalk Segment has Started!
Mayor Bob Buckhorn unveiled the sign and announced the beginning of construction of the next link of the Tampa Riverwalk – the CapTrust Segment. The groundbreaking event took place on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at MacDill Park located at 100 North Ashley Drive. Tampa’s mayor is committed to seeing the Riverwalk completed, from Channelside to the Tampa Heights area. The construction project will extend the waterfront pedestrian walkway from the Brownstone segment, now under construction, another 220 feet to the north, via an overwater pathway around the CapTrust Building to connect to MacDill Park. Click here to read more of the story from the City of Tampa.
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HART’s December Ridership report that came out January 24, show’s public transportation use is up by 10%. Rounded out, 2011 Ridership was at 14 million, the highest ever in HART history! December reports exemplifies the year long trend: 1,162,472 people used HART in December of 2011, a 10% increase, compared to December of 2010. Additionally, and not included in bus ridership, Teco Line Streetcar use for December 2011 was 30,382, up 2.9% compared with last December. Check out the full report at goHART.org. To learn more about the new HARTFlex service call HART Customer Service at 813-254-4278.
Mayor Buckhorn announced today that the Columbia Restaurant Group and Metro Bay Real Estate, LLC have been chosen to redevelop the historic Water Works building in the Tampa Heights neighborhood. The Columbia Restaurant Group and Metro Bay Real Estate, LLC anticipate opening by the end of 2012. “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,” said Mayor Bob Buckhorn. "It will be transformed into a space for everyone to enjoy, with a new park, a restored spring, and of course, a restaurant with views of the Hillsborough River.” Click here to read more of the story from the City of Tampa.
Award winners will be recognized for their outstanding achievement and contributions that exemplify regionalism and benefit the regional community on March 23, 2012 as the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council celebrates its 50th Anniversary and the 20th Annual Future of the Region Awards at the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg. The awards are presented by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
What do YOU want to be when you grow up? Children dream of being all sorts of things. . . but never of having to battle cancer! The beautiful and heartfelt Calendar For A Cause 2012-2013 features thirteen children of Tampa Bay’s Children’s Cancer Center and reveals their dreams for when they grow up. The 2nd Annual Cocktail Launch Party will be held at Tampa’s prestigious Yacht & Country Club on Wednesday, February 1 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and all are invited to attend. This special evening is a celebration of these children and their incomparable strength and courage. Tickets are just $60 per person / $100 per couple. Click here for more information.
Chamber Music Ybor, the chamber music series of the Hillsborough Community College Ybor City School of Visual and Performing Arts, in association with the Student Activities Visual and Performing Arts Series, is pleased to present the St. Petersburg Opera Chamber Ensemble in concert Sunday, February 5 at 3:00 p.m. at the Mainstage Theatre of the Ybor City Campus Performing Arts Building. Chamber Music Ybor is an affordable art series, with popularly priced tickets for all. General admission is $10.00 per person / $5.00 for seniors and $5.00 student tickets for those showing a valid public school or college ID.