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At the Annual Meeting and Luncheon, the Tampa Downtown Partnership inducts new leadership and celebrates the organization’s accomplishments with our members, stakeholders, and the community-at-large. Join us on June 19 as we welcome keynote speaker, Tim Tompkins, President & CEO of the Times Square Alliance.
This event includes a plated lunch and Keynote presentation. Check-In begins at 11am, program will begin promptly at Noon.
Register today!
Thank you to our sponsors:
Platinum
Hillsborough River Realty Corporation / The Jeffries Companies Tampa Bay Times Tampa General Hopsital
Gold
Tim Tompkins has been the President of the Times Square Alliance since 2002. The Alliance is a business improvement district that works to improve and promote Times Square – cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century.
He is a board member of the NYC BID Association and the Immediate Past Chair of the International Downtown Association. Prior to joining the Alliance, he was the Founder and Director of Partnerships for Parks, which works to support New York City’s neighborhood parks and which won an Innovations in Government Award from the JFK School of Government at Harvard for its work to restore the Bronx River. He has also worked at New York City’s Economic Development Corporation, The New York City Charter Revision Commission, and was briefly the Nationals Editor at the Mexico City News, an English language newspaper in Mexico. He has an undergraduate degree from Yale and an M.B.A. from Wharton, and currently teaches “Transforming Cities” and “The Arts and Artist in Urban Revitalization” at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. When not in the most urban and unnatural place on the planet, he enjoys being in New York’s natural areas, ideally sailing or practicing yoga.
With the start of hurricane season fast approaching June 1, the Tampa Downtown Partnership is hosting a team of emergency experts for its Annual Hurricane Preparedness Meeting June 5 at TECO Hall.
If you’re wondering what a direct hurricane hit would be like in downtown Tampa, just ask Lynda Remund, President and CEO of the Partnership.
“If we had a direct hit, the first four floors of the office and residential towers would be under water. That’s pretty significant when you think about that,” says Remund, who has seen plenty of hurricane seasons in her 19 years with the downtown organization.
Fortunately, Tampa hasn’t had a direct hit since 1921, but after watching the devastation and increased intensity of hurricanes in the past decade, there’s a greater sense of urgency for both businesses and residents in downtown Tampa and across the area to be prepared.
The problem is, “people don’t start preparing until we have an impending storm,” Remund says. “It’s really important that we prepare now. It’s never too early to start preparing.”
The event will feature local emergency and rescue experts from the Tampa Police and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Departments, Hillsborough County Emergency Management, Hillsborough County Rescue and Tampa Electric Company. Brian LaMarre, Meteorologist-In-Charge at the Tampa Bay Area Weather Forecast Office of the National Weather Service, will be there to help paint a picture of how different scenarios could impact Tampa’s downtown.
New re-entry program
Panelists will discuss the biggest change for hurricane preparation, which involves the updated City of Tampa Re-Entry Program.
The program is designed to streamline the process for residents and key personnel returning to an area to assess damage after a catastrophic event.
To prevent gawkers and potential criminals from entering an area after evacuation orders have been lifted, public safety officials will screen vehicles returning to the impacted area. Those vehicles with hang tags displayed will be waved through, avoiding potentially long lines.
The city recently mailed vehicle hang tags to homeowners in areas most likely to be evacuated, as well as business members of the Tampa Downtown Partnership and Westshore Alliance. This includes those in zip code areas 33602, 33605, 33606, 33609, 33611, 33616, 33619, 33629, and MacDill Air Force Base. Hang tags have also been provided to apartment management offices. Residents and businesses can order additional hang tags for $5 through the City of Tampa.
With increased hurricane activity, Remund says she’s noticed business leaders are more engaged and aware. One indication is the preparedness event has sold out in recent years.
“The awareness is there for the business community. Over the years I’ve seen them step up to the plate and I’m seeing them have their emergency procedures in place now,” she says. The key is to “have their emergency preparedness statements in their manuals and relay this to their tenants: ‘Should this happen, this is what we’re going to do.’ The business has to be prepared and know if we shut down this is how we’re going to handle it.”
Hurricane event details
REGISTER
Confirmed Speakers:
Holley Wade – Special Operations Manager, Hillsborough County Rescue Capt. Bill Wade – President, Tampa Firefighters Museum (prev. Tampa Fire Rescue) Lee Collins – Manager, ED Emergency Management, Tampa Electric Assistant Chief Elias Vazquez – Tampa Police Department Deputy Chief Lee Bercaw – Tampa Police Department Sheriff Chronister – Hillsborough County Sherriff’s Office Chief Deputy Donna Lusczynski – Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Brian LaMarre – Meteorologist-In-Charge, National Weather Center – Tampa Bay Area
“How Should Downtown Tampa Prepare for Hurricane Season?” – 83 Degrees
Tampa Downtown Partnership is looking to fill the position of Operations Manager.
Position Overview
The operations manager ensures the delivery of high-quality service through development and implementation of efficient operational systems and quality assurance mechanisms and through effective leadership in managing staff and financial resources related to beautification, maintenance, litter abatement, and ambassador services in Downtown Tampa. The position supervises facilitation of landscaping and public space maintenance services, as well as supporting the execution of special projects related to public programming. The operations manager reports directly to the Senior Director of Public Programming & Operations.
Responsibilities
Required Skills and Competencies
Preferred Skills and Experience
Required Education and Experience
To apply for the position, please email a cover letter and resume to Shaun Drinkard. Please, no phone calls.
Returning this summer, starting May 31st, select recreation centers around the City of Tampa will hold extended hours. These extended hours will provide teens with free Rec Cards, which allows access to these recreation centers, different programs to participate in, and a variety of educational events. Since the inception of our Stay & Play Program, over 250,000 teens have visited our various centers and pools. Stay & Play aims to provide teens a place to be active, safe, and healthy. Food will be provided for free as well as transportation home when available from the Parks and Recreation Department. Thank you to our contributors, Friends of Recreation, Chick-Fil-A and Westshore Pizza.
Our Stay and Play program provides a broad range of programs dedicated to helping young adults uncover real-life skills needed to achieve great success, and enjoying classes and activities such as: Computer coding classes, Teen intermural sports, Athletic training/ leagues, Fun Fridays, Music production classes, Anger management classes, and many more. Our valued community partners are Friends of Tampa Recreation, Safe and Sound of Hillsborough County, Computer Mentors, Derrick Brooks Charities, East Tampa initiate, Professional Mentor and Mentees, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Men of Tomorrow, and a host of other agencies committed to empowering our youth of tomorrow.
The locations participating in Stay & Play this summer that will remain open until midnight, 7 days a week are:
Other events that will be held during Stay & Play are:
We encourage others to join us in participating in what is sure to be another successful year of Stay & Play. If interested in volunteering please contact the Parks and Recreational Department or visit one of the participating Stay & Play sites for further information.
Tampa area citizens are invited to participate in a regional transit development project. The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA) has launched “Envision 2030, The Future of Transit in Tampa Bay.” The project includes the opportunity for people to take a Transit Needs Survey and send comments on transit use and preferences. Those comments and survey results will lay the foundation for decisions TBARTA will make in developing a Regional Transit Development Plan covering 2021-2030 for Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties, which will be delivered to the Florida Department of Transportation next year.
Information on Envision 2030, including a link to the Transit Needs Survey in both English and Spanish, can be found online at www.TBARTA-Envision2030.com.
Water Street Tampa is the world’s first-ever neighborhood to receive a certification for meeting wellness standards outlined by the WELL Community Standard.
Strategic Property Partners, the developer of Water Street, announced the milestone Tuesday. Water Street is the $3 billion-plus, mixed-use district under construction between the central business district and Channel district in downtown Tampa.
The WELL Community Standard puts specifications on wellness for real estate developments — similar to the sustainability requirements outlined by LEED certification. SPP and Water Street announced in 2017 that they would partner with International WELL Building Institute to develop the community standard.
The vast majority of Water Street — which will total 9 million square feet at completion — is under construction or yet to break ground. But the neighborhood will be built to WELL Community Standards, which include the following items:
Curfew hours for public realm lighting will be dimmed where applicable, reducing:
The wellness standards also include things like “increased digital connectivity with free public Wi-Fi” and “a demonstration kitchen that will be programmed with regular chef-led classes that will provide education on healthy cooking options.”
“We’ve been working on this for four years,” SPP CEO James Nozar told the Tampa Bay Business Journal, adding that there are only a handful of places in the world working toward the designation.
“A lot of the criteria was on a community-level basis with having gathering public spaces and an overall pedestrian friendly community,” Nozar said. “We’re focusing on the human experience and sustainable building in tandem,” he said regarding the WELL and LEED designations.
SPP’s relationship with the IWBI went public in September 2015, when SPP announced Water Street’s $20 million wellness focus and its partnership with New York-based Delos, the original creator of the wellness standards.
“Our communities represent our culture, connect us with each other and help keep us safe,” IWBI Chairman and CEO Rick Fedrizzi said in a statement. “With this leading achievement, Water Street Tampa is at the cutting edge of this critical movement for communities by enhancing health and quality of life at scale.”
“Water Street Tampa lands world’s first ever WELL certification for an entire neighborhood” – Tampa Bay Business Journal (subscription required)
The Florida Department of Transportation released new videos showing the possible fixes to Tampa’s downtown interchange. One of the options includes making 24 lanes of traffic.
The videos posted to YouTube channel shows four options: Option A, Option B, Option C, Option D.
Design option a shows the two dozen lanes of traffic that include express lanes and general lanes for traffic at the I-4/275 interchange.
The project, titled Tampa Bay Next , has an entire website dedicated to talking about the future of what most people know as Malfunction Junction.
A spokesperson for FDOT said the information is not new, but the video animations were just unveiled.
The videos show moving animation with different GPS coordinates of the major roads that would be impacted.
Different neighborhood associations are already speaking out against the renderings because of the potential impacts through the urban corridors of Tampa.
Written or emailed comments must be postmarked or emailed by June 6, 2019 to be included in the official meeting record.
Written comments can be mailed to:
Kirk Bogen, P.E., Environmental Management Engineer, Florida Department of Transportation, District 7, 11201 N. McKinley Drive MS 7-500, Tampa, FL, 33612, or emailed to Alice Price, AICP, PD&E Project Manager at: Alice.Price@dot.state.fl.us
Plan Hillsborough will also hold public comment on these ideas at their June 11 meeting.
For more information on the public hearing notice, click here.
Visit the Tampa Bay Next website for more information on the project.
“FDOT considers several fixes to Malfunction Junction, one includes creating 24 lanes of traffic” – ABC Action News
A historic home in downtown Tampa is getting the community’s support.
The Jackson Boarding House hosted African-American artists during segregation but now it’s falling down.
Now supporters raising money to save it are getting new support from Tampa leaders.
“I think one of the first things that the walls would say, is the famous people who came through here,” said Carolyn Collins.
Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and James Brown all spent time under this roof and inside the walls of the Jackson House.
“And then when they called the names off, they would talk about the songs like ‘A Tisket a Tasket. I lost my yellow basket,’ that was written inside that house,” said Collins who’s Board Chair of The Jackson House Foundation.
Famous, talented but still separate during racial segregation.
The Jackson House welcomed and anchored a thriving downtown center for African-American artists.
But over the weekend, the family who ran it for decades lost their biggest supporter.
Former owner Willie Robinson died.
“Willie loved the Jackson House and I think that the love that I can share for him is to make sure that what we said we are going to do, that it’s done,” said Collins.
Now the foundation, a non-profit fundraising for years, is renewing its effort to make him proud and turn it into an African-American history museum.
“African Americans would arrive at the train and they couldn’t stay in white hotels so they would walk across the street and ask to stay here,” said Tampa City Council member Bill Carlson, pointing to Tampa Union Station just a few blocks away.
Back in 2014, the house was barely spared from demolition and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn criticized for not doing more to save it.
What may make a difference now is the ourpour of the city’s support, including Carlson.
“We need a plan and then we need to encourage the community to raise money and I feel very confident that we can do that,” he said.
So is the Jackson House Foundation’s board director who tells me these walls deserve preservation for Tampa’s future generations.
“How did we get here? And what can we do as the Nat King Cole’s of the world, the Pearl Bailey’s of the world, or Dr. Martin Luther Kings to make sure that Tampa and all cities in every state in our country can do a better job to make sure that we never have to go back and have this kind of environment again,” said Collins.
“Community, city leaders raising funds to save iconic ‘Jackson House’ in downtown Tampa” – ABC Action News
Your Downtown Calendar
The following is just a sample of upcoming events in Downtown Tampa. Visit the Downtown Tampa Events Calendar for a more comprehensive list.
Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria
Through Sunday, June 16 Stageworks Theatre Four young Latino men have a chance meeting at Burrito World in Omaha and discover they share the same name! Even though their ancestral roots are different, not only do they share a common name, they share a common dream: to stage a show of Latin standards that puts forth a positive image to counteract Latino stereotypes. Enter Maria, a beautiful woman who provides a romantic interest as the gentlemen vie for her attentions. Performed in Spanish and English, this show features some of the most evocative Latin music ever written, sung in four and five-part harmony. For more information, go to Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria.
Annual Hurricane Preparedness Meeting
Wednesday, June 5, begins 8am TECO Hall After last year’s active and deadly hurricane season, be sure your business and employees are prepared by joining our Annual Hurricane Preparedness Meeting featuring local experts from the Tampa Police Department, NOAA, Hillsborough County Emergency Management, and much more, as they discuss best practices to implement for an incoming storm. Be prepared with tools and tips to keep you, your family, and your business safe. This event includes a buffet breakfast and a panel discussion. For more info, go to Annual Hurricane Preparedness Meeting.
Mayor’s Food Truck Fiesta
Wednesday, June 5, 11am to 2pm Lykes Gaslight Square Looking for a larger selection of lunch options? Step outside for a meal in the park! Choose from a wide variety of local food trucks serving up all sorts of delicious culinary creations. You’ll have your pick of dishes from plenty of delectable kitchens on wheels! For more information, go to Mayor’s Food Truck Fiesta.
Rock the Park
Thursday, June 6, 6:30pm to 9pm Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park Listen to some great musical talent in a beautiful, relaxing setting. This month’s show features Kristopher James (full band), Garden Club, and Claire Vandiver. With food and drinks on the premises and an always exciting vibe, this free concert is guaranteed not to disappoint. For more information, go to Rock the Park.
Taking the Stage at the Straz Center
Jeremy Douglass: Broadway Pre-Show – Tuesday, June 4, begins 5pm Come From Away – Tuesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 9 mad Theatre presents Man of La Mancha – Thursday, June 6 to Sunday, June 23 The City of Tampa and Cando Inc. Dance & Gym Recital: There’s No Place Like Home – Friday, June 7 to Sunday, June 9 Live & Local – Jarrod Barefoot – Friday, June 7, 6pm to 9pm Live & Local – Eden Shireen – Saturday, June 8, 6pm to 9pm
On the Marquee at Tampa Theatre
The Biggest Little Farm (2019) – Through Tuesday, June 4 Platon – Thursday, June 6, begins 7:30pm Some Like It Hot (1959) – Sunday, June 9, 3pm to 5pm
Monday Morning Memo –Monday Morning Memo is a weekly update of “insider downtown information” regarding developments, transportation, special opportunities and other useful information to help you make the most of downtown. Subscribe to receive this weekly newsletter.
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