January 25, 2010

Monday Morning Memo is your weekly update on the latest news about downtown Tampa.  Here are the sections found in this issue.  Click on the sections below or scroll down to read the complete issue:

Partnership Matters | Studies and Reviews | Seeing is Believing | Special Services District |
Downtown Happenings | In and Around InTown


Partnership Matters

PROCRASTINATORS, BOOK NOW!  The Tampa Downtown Partnership will continue its Tampa Electric Company Downtown Debriefing Series on Wednesday (1/27) with “Below the Surface.”  The Florida Aquarium’s Michael Terrell and Casey Coy will share their efforts to conduct the first ever archeological survey of Tampa Bay and its tributaries.  This area includes the downtown area.  What are they looking for?  What have they already found?  Attend this event and you will find out.  To reserve for this event go to events.tampasdowntown.com.  This event will take place at The Florida Aquarium – 701 Channelside Drive – starting at 7:30 a.m. with registration. The presentation and breakfast will start at 8:00 a.m.


Studies and Reviews

Commercial real estate firms Colliers Arnold and Cushman & Wakefield have released their 4th Quarter 2009 Commercial Office Market Report for Tampa Bay.

• Colliers Arnold
• Cushman & Wakefield

It’s never too late to let your voice be heard in support of high speed rail!  The decision is now being made on where the federal funds for high speed rail will be spent.  A station in downtown Tampa with a fast train to and from Orlando will be a game-changer.  ConnectUs is asking you to act now, before February 1st.  You can help by letting The President of the United States know that Floridians want high speed rail and the jobs it will create.  The easiest way to learn more and to send this message to the President is to go to the ConnectUs website and Action Center.  Or you can text 24453 and enter "Jobs" to receive the White House phone number and you can contact the White House by calling 202-456-1111  or send an email to www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/.  Visit www.fastrailconnectus.com for complete contact information and a draft prepared message.

In the past two weeks, Tampa Bay & Company has received signed contracts from multiple organizations to bring meetings or conventions to Tampa Bay.  Combined, these meetings and conventions will produce more than 11,800 hotel room nights for a total estimated delegate spending of $3.6 Million.  Way to go!

Florida ranked 6th among entrepreneur-friendly states! The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has released its 14th annual ranking of states according to their public policy friendliness for small business and entrepreneurship in Small Business Survival Index 2009: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation. The "Small Business Survival Index" helps business owners and investors understand the public policy burdens placed on entrepreneurship and small business, with the states ranked accordingly.   The “Small Business Survival Index” is the most comprehensive measure of which states are truly friendly to small business, and which are not in terms of public policy decisions. The factors included in the Index – taxes, various regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, health care and energy costs, and much more – matter a great deal to the competitiveness of each state and to the well being of small business.

Seeing is Believing

With the new Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park opening this past Sunday, what did this new green space bring to downtown?  The park features a unique urban design, sustainable construction, and operational features including reclaimed water for irrigation and LED lighting. Park amenities include the Great Lawn with flexible perimeter seating to accommodate a wide range of programming and performances, a dog run, a kiosk with restrooms, and a Pavilion building with restrooms, park offices, and space for a future vendor. There are also two interactive fountains: the Louver fountain is located on the east side of the park along Ashley Drive and the Mist Fountain is located on the west side the park along the Riverwalk. The fountains were made possible through a donation from the F.E. Lykes Foundation. The park's new playground features an interactive NEOS 360 Ring, which combines video games with aerobic exercise and is the first of its kind in the South East United States. The NEOS 360 Ring was donated by the Friends of Tampa Recreation, Inc.  A key segment of the Riverwalk runs through the park now connects the David Straz Performing Arts Center to the Glazer Children's Museum and the Tampa Museum of Art.  The park design was created by Thomas Balsley and Associates of New York. The project construction cost was $15.7 million and funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF).  Other improvements were made in conjunction with the park project, including renovations to Nations Bank Park Plaza/Kiley Gardens and improvements to adjacent intersection of Gasparilla Plaza, Cass and Tyler Streets to provide easier pedestrian connections.  For more information, please contact the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department at (813) 274-8615 or visit www.tampagov.net/parksandrec.

One project is completed and another one is just getting going!  StageWorks Theatre is one of the area’s oldest and longest running community theater groups.  Soon they will have a home of their own as StageWorks Theatre breaks ground on their new theater being constructed at Grand Central at Kennedy.  The groundbreaking is taking place on Wednesday (1/27) starting at 4 p.m.  It’s sure to be a great time for all.  Find out more about StageWorks and their groundbreaking of their new space by going to www.stageworkstheatre.org.

This is the Tampa UCAP Downtown Water Pipeline Replacement Project update for January 25.  A map with the road/lane closures is available by clicking here. 

• Jackson Street: The northern parking and travel lane closed from Jefferson Street to Nebraska Ave.  The center and south lanes remain open to traffic.  There is no parking on the north side of the street.  The parking spaces on the south side are available.
• Brush Street: The northbound lane will be closed between Whiting and Washington beginning Jan 27th.  Northbound traffic will be detoured on Jefferson.  The southbound lane will remain open to thru traffic. Northbound lanes from Jackson to Kennedy will be closed beginning Jan. 27th.  Southbound lanes will be open for local access only.
• Whiting Street: Eastbound lanes between Jefferson Street and Brush Street are closed.  Traffic will be detoured on Jefferson Street to Jackson Street.  Westbound traffic will be maintained in the northernmost lane.     
• Morgan Street: Closed to through traffic from Tyler Street to Laurel Street.  Local access only will be maintained. For information regarding changes in bus stops in the immediate vicinity of the Marion St. Transit Center, please contact HART Customer Service at (813) 223-6831.

Additional information about this project can be found on the Tampa UCAP website at www.tampa-ucap.com.

Construction of the TECO Line Streetcar System's extension to Whiting Street continues this week.  Here is this week’s update through Friday (01/29):

• There will be no closures of any traffic lanes due to the Streetcar Extension construction.
• Sidewalks on the east side of Franklin Street between Channelside and Brorein will be closed.  Pedestrians will be detoured to the sidewalk on the west side of Franklin Street at the Channelside and Brorein intersections.
• Installation of sanitary sewer beneath the sidewalk on the east side of Franklin Street, north of Channelside Drive

More information will be posted to the project page on the system's website, www.tecolinestreetcar.org/extension, as construction progresses.

Explore and enjoy the beautiful new Tampa Museum of Art at the public grand opening on Saturday, February 6.

Special Services District

Does the Downtown area need additional shopping options? What suggestions do you have? We want to know!  Downtown Tampa and its surrounding areas have experienced substantial growth in the past few years in terms of residential, retail, entertainment and restaurant offerings. As a Downtown area employee, you are in the right place to experience all of the benefits! The Tampa Downtown Partnership and City of Tampa are working with the Tampa Research Group (Tampa RG) to gather feedback from you and your coworkers regarding improving Downtown’s grocery shopping options. Please take just five minutes to share your thoughts. To show our thanks, we will hold a drawing for various local business gift cards, vouchers and prizes. We hope you will take this opportunity to make your voice heard! www.TampaRG.com/employee

This week starts the U.S. Census.  This is a very important event that is directed by the United States Constitution.  Everyone in the U.S. must be counted.  Please become familiar with the U.S. Census and what you can expect so you do your part by clicking here.

Did you know that HART and PSTA offer 13 different express bus routes coming directly into downtown Tampa? And both participate in the Emergency Ride Home Program, offering a free taxi ride home in an emergency (such as working later than the last bus home). They also offer a joint farecard valid on both services. Getting to your office from the bus stop is easy with HART’s In-Town Trolley route. So do yourself a favor and see if there may be a convenient route for you. Either click on the links provided or talk to them in person at these locations:

How’s your GRRR?  Get ready for Gasparilla to invade downtown Tampa on Saturday (1/30).  For complete details about Gasparilla, click here or visit the City’s website. 

But, before the fun can start on Saturday, the Pirates will be downtown to capture the Mayor Tuesday (1/26) with guns and canons blazing.  Don’t be alarmed and inform your colleagues—or come out and watch!  They will arrive at Lykes Gaslight Square at 11:00 a.m. Here are the details.

When you do go to Gasparilla on Saturday (1/30), make sure you know where you can park and how HART can help you get to your destination stress free.  Click here for a list of services HART is offering on Saturday.

Tampa’s Downtown Guides will be on duty for Gasparilla (1/30) from10:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.  To reach a Downtown Guide call (813) 267-2220.  After all the fun, the Clean Team will be on duty on Sunday (2/1) from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to get downtown back to being one of the cleanest areas of Tampa. 

The Tampa Water Taxi Company is looking for community and corporate support to clean up our most valuable resource, Our Water Ways. As Tampa enjoys the Gasparilla event it pays a hard price on our harbor and its wildlife.  We need to protect and repair that damage by getting out there and making them clean again. On February 6th by land and sea people can help make a massive difference by removing the refuge in and around the water. The Tampa Water Taxi Company will load up their vessels with volunteers that will scoop up any materials that should not be in the environment. Items that are typically removed are water bottles, cans, plastic and all materials that don’t belong in the water.  Everyone is welcome to join in, by land to clean up and collect from the riverfront for proper disposal.  Cleanup sites will be Hillsborough River from the Howard Johnson’s Plaza Hotel to the convention center , along Bayshore by TGH , Setton Channel to Peter O’Knight Airport, Garrison Channel, from the Convention Center to Ybor Channel.  All the sites will be cleaned by land and the water.  If you would like to sponsor this event with supplies, that too is welcome.  For more details call Capt. Laurence (Larry) Salkin at the Tampa Water Taxi Company, LLC by dialing (888) 665-8687.

Through the Special Services District’s beautification program, downtown’s yellow potted plants received a plant change-out last week.  The plants are replaced each quarter by RainForest Interiors, with the Downtown Clean Team maintaining the pots on a daily basis.  Please contact Lynda at the Partnership office to report missing or damaged plants or pots.  

With the recent freezes, it’s worth noting that the Clean Team will not perform sidewalk pressure washing in temperatures below 35 degrees.  For the safety of the team and others, making ice tracts out of the sidewalks is not pedestrian friendly.  

Downtown Tampa has some of the best educators in the community.  Tampa Preparatory School is proud of all their teachers and instructors.  WTSP Channel 10 ran a feature on Tampa Prep's Varsity Girls Soccer Coach Cindy Schofield. Check out “Prep Coach Inspires Team” to learn her moving story.  Go Terrapins!


Downtown Happenings

The Do the Local Motion Program run by Healthy Together and the Partnership has just received the Florida Commuter Choice Summit’s 2009 Marketing Excellence Award. Come see what all the fuss is about by joining our next free noontime group walk on Friday, January 29 for a “pre-Gasparilla” warm up highlighting the new Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Dogs are encouraged as well! Call 221-3686 for more information.

The 2009-2010 season of Florida Conversations continues on Sunday (1/31) at 3:00 p.m. with the authors of Ditch of Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for Florida’s Future. For centuries, men dreamed of cutting a canal across the Florida peninsula. Intended to reduce shipping times, it was championed in the early twentieth century as a way to make the mostly rural state a center of national commerce and trade. Authors Steven Noll and David Tegeder trace the twists and turns of the project through the years, drawing on a wealth of archival and primary sources. Far from being a simplistic morality tale of good environmentalists versus evil canal developers, the story of the Cross Florida Barge Canal is a complex one of competing interests amid the changing political landscape of modern Florida. Florida Conversations is underwritten by the Tampa Bay History Center Endowment Fund at USF. The series is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and the Tampa Bay History Center. Florida. Florida Conversations is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay History Center at (813) 228-0097 or www.tampabayhistorycenter.org.

Looking to celebrate the Gasparilla season or a special occasion on the high seas?   Check out the many cruise specials being offered aboard the Yacht Starship, beginning now through February 14.  Click here to view all of the special event videos.   

Enjoy the rich history of Gasparilla - Tampa's oldest and most fun-loving community festival at the Museum. The Henry B. Plant Museum’s new exhibit Gasparilla: A Tampa Tradition explores Tampa's premier party, attended by a motley crew of the famous and infamous, the wanna-be's and used-to-be's, the beautiful people and bad dudes. Find out who they were as the museum highlights pirate's booty and things of beauty during the city's only exhibit of Krewe of Gasparilla memorabilia - coronation robes, ball invitations, programs, crowns and costumes as well as vintage photographs of the invasion, parade floats, pirates and royal courts.  For details, click here.

You probably know by now that the Tampa Museum of Art will open on February 6th.  The Tampa Theatre will welcome the newest member of downtown’s cultural collection by bringing its very popular Sunset Cinema to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park that evening with a showing of “Night at the Museum.”  So pack the blanket, the basket and the kids up and come to a wonderful evening in downtown Tampa.  The excitement starts at 4:30 p.m.  Get all the details by clicking here.

Mark you calendar to attend the 19th Annual Silverspoons and Sandcastles Gala on May 7, 2010, benefiting the Mayor’s Beautification Program.  This year’s event will be chaired by Brian Dolan.  For more information about this event visit www.mbptree.org.   

Mark Your Calendars - Imagination Gala is May 22nd. This spring, Imagination Gala guests will receive a sneak peak at the Glazer Children's Museum.  Co-chairs, Angela Ardolino and Kelly Feldman plan a Dr. Suess themed evening with delectable food and dancing on the third floor as museum staff provide guided tours of exhibits under construction.  For more information about Sponsorships or to reserve your tickets, call Courtney Loebel at (813) 443-5313 or email cloebel@glazermuseum.org.

Hey football fans…the Storm is back!  The Five-Time World Champion Tampa Bay Storm announced season ticket pricing for the 2010 season.  Fans can join in all the action for as little as $6.25 a game as the Storm return to the grid-iron.  Season ticket packages include all eight home Storm games at the St. Pete Times Forum, including the War on I-4 against the Orlando Predators on July 31.  Ticket plans start as low as $50 while Row A seating, which also includes complimentary food and beverage as well as access to the XO VIP Club, requires just an $800 investment for the year. Plaza level packages are just $200, or only $25 per game. Add-on packages that include food and beverage and access to the XO VIP Club are available for all ticket plans and all-you-can-eat seats in the luxurious Channelside Club are just $200  Parking passes are available for $64.  New this year, the Storm will enter the field from the XO VIP Club, making it the prime place to get up close and personal with the team before they hit the field.  Benefits for all ticket plan holders are advanced ticket ordering priority for most St. Pete Times Forum events, significant savings off the gate price, the ability to manage the account online, exclusive playoff priority and the opportunity to participate in the ticket exchange program. For ticket information or to lock in their seat, fans should call (813) 301.6600.  

In and Around InTown

Hillsborough County residents will have a unique opportunity to share their views and concerns with elected officials thanks to two prominent lawmakers in the Tampa Bay Area. Seeking input on how state government can more efficiently meet citizens’ needs, State Senator Victor Crist (R-Tampa) and Representative Ed Homan (R-Tampa) will join residents across the county in a town hall meeting on Tuesday, January 26th at Temple Terrace City Hall. Prepared to address hot-button topics such as economic development, public safety, health care and transportation, Crist and Homan announced the meeting as the first in a series of informal gatherings that Senator Crist is organizing throughout Hillsborough and Pasco Counties to give residents the chance to discuss issues and share ideas, open-forum style. The meeting, free and open to the public, will convene at 6:30pm at Temple Terrace City Hall, located at 11250 North 56th Street, in the City Council chambers. For planning purposes, those planning to attend are encouraged—but not required—to contact Jennifer Wilson by email at Wilson.jennifer.S12@flsenate.gov, or by telephone at (813) 975-6658.

601 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1100, Tampa FL 33602
(813) 221-3686 phone; (813) 229-1328 fax: www.tampasdowntown.com
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