MEDIA RELEASES

Footballs wobbled in the wind, toddlers swarmed the play area, and a misting fountain created stubby rainbows in the sun as several hundred people came to sample the city's newest park.

Saturday's unveiling of Curtis Hixon Riverfront Park drew the type of crowd the city and local merchants want to see downtown on weekends.

The new riverfront park adds another segment to Tampa's Riverwalk, and that's what downtown resident Ron Carpenter wants to see.

"So the dream is slowly becoming a reality. They need to fill in the gaps," said Carpenter, 36.

The 8-acre park, which runs along the Hillsborough River on Ashley Drive, will serve as a gateway to the new Tampa Museum of Art, scheduled to open in February, and the Glazer Children's Museum, set to open in October.

City officials see the park as a key part of efforts to turn that part of the riverfront into an arts district and to link elements of the city's 2.2-mile long riverfront pedestrian corridor that begins at the Channel District.

The park reopened after $43 million worth of improvements and will include a riverfront stage, dog run, playground, fountains, restrooms, elevated seating and art displays.

On its first day, though, the park drew mixed reactions.

The dog park seems a little small to Carpenter.

"But then, I have a big dog," he said of his Wiemaraner Tebow.

Pamela Jones hopes the park will draw more people downtown after business hours, so more restaurants and retailers will open on the weekends.

"This is very cool," she said. "We live on Harbour Island, and we've been waiting for the Riverwalk to extend farther."

The park adds another element in short supply along much of the riverfront – public boat docking.

Erin and Brad Jackson boated over from Davis Islands along with their two children. Erin Jackson said it was great to have a place to dock.

The park can hold more than 10,000 people, and city officials hope to stage concerts and events there.

The park will be back in the spotlight Saturday as the terminus for the Gasparilla parade, and the riverfront stage will serve as the backdrop for a Collective Soul concert.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has called the renovated park a keystone in turning the riverfront area into an arts district and the "front yard" of the art and children's museums.

Thomas Balsely, the New York-based architect who designed Curtis Hixon, said Tampa can be proud of the park.

"It will be the pride of Tampa and envy of other cities with similar aspirations," he said during the opening ceremony.



Iorio acknowledged the struggle to turn the land into a park during bleak financial times but said it would benefit the entire region.

"I don't believe in bad times you just curl up and fold," she said. "You have to build for the future. I don't think I've ever been happier as mayor."