May 03, 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 | Opportunities | Studies and Reviews | Seeing is Believing | Special Services District | Creative Urban Core | Downtown Happenings | In and Around InTown
Partnership Matters
ATTENTION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS: The Tampa Downtown Partnership has teamed up with the International Economic Development Council to offer a class in downtown Tampa on Real Estate Development and Reuse. This class will be offered November 4th and 5th at Hyatt Regency Tampa. If you register now you can save! Use promotional code TAMPA10 and your fee is only $425.00 per person. To register and find out more, click here.
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Opportunities
The Henry B. Plant museum is holding a huge 50% off sale! This sale features home accessories, silver, fragrance, porcelain, jewelry, note cards, books, scarves, and much more! The museum gift store is spring cleaning and making room for new merchandise. Take advantage of these great savings for amazing Graduation and Mother's Day Gifts! The Museum store hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Sunday, Noon to 4:00 p.m. If you need more information, call (813) 258-7307 or log onto www.plantmuseum.com.
Tampa Bay is among the final 18 cities under consideration to serve as a potential host city for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup. Tampa Bay & Company is requesting the support of community members, partners, Tampa Bay fans, and everyone else to help bring the World Cup back to the United States and to Tampa Bay for the first time. With the start of the 2010 World Cup in just a few weeks, the USA Bid Committee has re-launched the petition campaign to help show the level of dedication our community has to hosting the World Cup, and there is still a goal of 50,000 signatures. Log on to www.GoUSABid.com/TampaBay and join the movement to bring this prestigious event to the destination. It only takes seconds to sign the petition and every signature counts! Then, help spread the word and share this message with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues and others. It has been indicated by the USA Bid Committee that an FIFA World Cup in the United States in 2018 or 2022 would expect to realize an economic impact of $100 million per game. The overall impact of $6.4 billion for the FIFA World Cup would be the most ever realized for a sporting event anywhere in the world.
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Studies and Reviews
Commercial real estate firm, Cushman & Wakefield, has released its first quarter 2010 commercial office market report for the Tampa Bay area. To view the report, click here.
Tampa Prep’s Rowing Team has won three state titles at the Florida’s Rowing Championship Regatta in Sarasota. Tampa Prep entered five boats: Men’s 2x, Women’s Varsity Four, Women’s JV Four, and a Men’s and Women’s Freshman Four. Previous to this season, Tampa Prep had never won a State title in the freshman events. This is a great accomplishment for a group of young rowers who have now set the standard for future freshman Terrapins. Coach Smith would like to congratulate his team on a successful season, and wishes the graduating seniors his best towards their future endeavors. Way to go!
Also from Tampa Prep, Congratulations are in order! Head of School Kevin M. Plummer was honored at the Tampa Police Department's 2010 Appreciation Awards on Wednesday, April 21. In recognition of Mr. Plummer's excellent work on the Gasparilla Education Initiative, Mayor Pam Iorio and Chief of Police Jane Castor presented him with a Partnership of the Year Award. We join the Police Department in thanking Mr. Plummer for his care and concern for Tampa Prep students and the safety of all children.
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Seeing is Believing
The newest home for a USF Health facility may be in the “HART” of downtown Tampa. USF President Judy Genshaft and Senior Vice President for USF Health Stephen Klasko sent a letter to Mayor Pam Iorio naming the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) parking lot, located just south of 107 N. Franklin St, as the only “viable” location to house a new training facility for professionals. The Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), a state-of-the-art training and research facility where surgeons from around the world can train, is projected to provide 56,000 square feet of housing for training simulators, according to a release. The newest home for a USF Health facility may be in the “HART” of downtown Tampa. Read the story published in the school’s newspaper, The Oracle, to find out more.
This is the Tampa UCAP Downtown Water Pipeline Replacement Project update for May 03. A map with the road/lane closures is available by clicking here.
- Twiggs Street (west of Meridian): The two lanes on the north side of Twiggs from Meridian to Pierce will be closed. Motorists should expect a new traffic pattern as the two lanes on the south side will be westbound only. Eastbound motorists will be detoured on Pierce to Jackson. Limited street parking will be available in this area.
- Twiggs Street (east of Meridian): Motorists should expect a new traffic pattern. Eastbound traffic will be maintained and traffic will shift to one lane westbound from Meridian to Channelside.
- Twiggs Street (at Tampa): No through traffic on Twiggs at Tampa.
- Nebraska Avenue (Kennedy to Cass): Two western lanes closed. One northbound lane and one southbound lane remain open. No left turn onto Twiggs from northbound lane.
- Doyle Carlton Drive (I-275 to Laurel): Southbound lane closed. Northbound lane remains open.
- Laurel Street Bridge (N. Boulevard to Doyle Carlton): Westbound lanes closed. Eastbound lane remains open.
- Cass Street (Ashley to Franklin): Southern parking and travel lane closed between Ashley and Franklin. Two lanes remain open for eastbound traffic.
- Cass Street (Morgan to Jefferson): Two lanes closed. One eastbound lane remains open.
- Polk Street (Ashley to Tampa): Northern westbound travel lane and parking lane closed to through traffic.
- Tampa Street (Tyler to Madison): Two travel lanes, parking lane and bike lane on the west side closed. Two lanes remain open for southbound traffic. No street parking available in this area.
- Jefferson Street (Twiggs to Zack): Northbound lanes closed. The southbound lanes remain open for local access only.
- Jackson Street (Franklin to Florida): Northernmost lane closed on Monday, May 3rd and Tuesday, May 4th. Access to parking lot at City Hall will be maintained.
Additional information about this project can be found on the Tampa UCAP website at www.tampa-ucap.com.
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Special Services District
Only two Fridays remain in this season of the Tampa Downtown Market. The Market will end May 14th. The South Tampa News recently made a visit to the Market. Read what the newspaper reported by clicking here.
3 down and 1 to go...travelers now have a new two-way street open this morning. Zack Street's conversion from a one-way street heading east is now complete. Zack Street's opening means that now you can travel more easily east and west in downtown connecting to the main roadways in the core. Other streets to be converted recently were Madison and Twiggs Streets. This summer Polk Street will undergo the same conversion. This is the final street to change to two-way in the City's plan.
Both the Downtown CRA and the Channel District CRA will hold meetings this week. Here are the dates, times and locations with links included to the meeting agendas:
Historic Tampa Union Station is one of downtown’s gems. Come see it for yourself on National Train Day on May 8. National Train Day celebrates America‘s love for trains with events across the country. This year marks the third annual celebration with large-scale, free family-friendly events that provide opportunities to explore interactive, educational exhibits that bring to life the rich narrative of how trains have transformed America and will continue to do so in the future.
May is National Bike Month. Once again, the Partnership has teamed up with the Tampa BayCycle campaign to offer a variety of activities and events to celebrate. To kick off the month, please join us on May 4 for group bike to work rides into downtown. We will be giving away a bike at the Clearn Air Fair on May 6 and getting in free to theTampa Bay Storm game on May 7 when you arrive via bike. Click here for the full list or visit www.tampabaycycle.com.
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Creative Urban Core
Lights On Tampa, the biennial production of innovative artists' projects, new commissions, and exhibitions in public spaces, presents the first of its juried artists, Pablo Valbuena of Madrid, Spain, through a free lecture offered on Wednesday (5/5) from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Tampa Museum of Art Dickey Family Lecture room. The lecture will provide insight to Valbuena’s use of space and light within the context of architecture and the public realm. Pablo Valbuena was born in 1978, studied Architecture at Politécnica University in Madrid. In the past he has worked for several international videogame and film studios investigating spatial concepts applied to virtual environments and digital architecture as a concept designer. “I use video projection with perspective and anamorphosis techniques to build ‘perceptual extensions’ of the actual physical space, extending the limits of what is physically real to what is perceptually real.” By using geometric forms and light, Valbuena alters multiple dimensions of space-time, creating an astounding visual experience. www.pablovalbuena.com.
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Downtown Happenings
The Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission is hosting their annual Clean Air Fair at Poe Plaza on Thursday, May 6 from 11:30am – 1:30pm. Browse environmental and community exhibits while enjoying free refreshments and entertainment. During the event, the Tampa BayCycle campaign and CityBike Tampa are sponsoring free bike safety clinics at 12:30pm and 1:15pm.
The popular Do the Local Motion walking and wellness program will finish the season on Friday, May 7 with its annual “Walk on Water” celebration aboard the Tampa River Taxi. To reserve a seat for only $5, click here.
Metropolitan Ministries' Annual Bridge Builders Benefit will be held on May 8th beginning at 8:00 p.m. in the Carol Morsani Hall at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for Performing Arts. The event will include a live appearance by Leigh Anne and Collins Tuohy, the real-life adoptive mother and sister who inspired the Academy Award-nominated film, the Blind Side. The Tuohys will share their story of adopting Michael Oher, then a homeless team from a broken home, and guiding him to fulfill his potential as an NFL football star. Learn how they changed his life, and how he changed theirs. Proceeds will go toward funding Metropolitan Ministries’ Uplift U Self-Sufficiency Program for homeless families, teens and children. Tickets are on sale at www.strazcenter.org starting at $35.00. For information on exclusive benefits available for sponsorships and large groups, call Janet Pantaleo at (813) 209-1267.
Mother’s Day is this Sunday (5/9). To help you plan what your day with Mom can include, the Partnership has created a special Mother's Day promotional page on its Web site. The site offers information about special offers and ideas on activities Mom may enjoy. From apparel discounts to free admissions, downtown merchants and venues have something for everyone to enjoy on Mom’s special day.
The Tampa Bay History Center continues its preschoolers’ program, A Little History, on Saturday, May 15th from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. with Museum Mysteries. Solve the “Case of the Missing Artifact” while getting a special behind-the-scenes look at the History Center. Find out what a curator does, who takes care of the collections, and how exhibits are made. Learn how to handle artifacts and even start your own collection by creating a mini-museum! A Little History is open to children ages 3 to 5 with an adult companion. Programs are held one Saturday per month from 10-11:30 a.m. Each program is $10.00 per child and $6.00 per adult. Fees do not include admission into the History Center galleries. Members of the Tampa Bay History Center receive a $2.00 discount for both children and adults. One adult must accompany every two children. Space is limited, pre-registration is required. For more information on A Little History, click here.
You can find cool events on downtown’s own online events calendar! Click here to find out what’s taking place when and get out to have fun.
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In and Around InTown
Hillsborough County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed country-wide transit referendum on May 13 at 6 p.m. at the All Peoples Life Center at 6105 E. Sligh Avenue. The commissioners will hold the public hearing before they consider formally adopting the documents that will place the referendum on the November ballot. The referendum, when approved, will call for a one cent transit surtax to fund a comprehensive transportation plan that includes transit and non-transit projects such as light rail, bus service expansion, roadways, intersections and supporting projects. This is a pivotal step on the way to our region’s future. We are urging all voters to attend and tell the Commissioners to allow you to learn more about this issue and vote your choice in November.
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601 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1100, Tampa FL 33602
(813) 221-3686 phone; (813) 229-1328 fax: www.tampasdowntown.com
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