February CAPT Meeting

The Civic Association of Port Tampa (CAPT) meets at 7:00PM on the fourth Tuesday. Here's a recap of last night's meeting.

The bylaws are just about ready for review by the membership, they will be in computer editable format by the next meeting.

Renovation of the Spanish American War Memorial Park is going forward. Dedication of the new park entrances, complete with brick columns and wrought iron fencing, should happen this fall. The Rough Rider Society has stepped forward to refurbish the historical marker and will provide a color guard and other pageantry for any dedication ceremony. Ultimately the park will include new sidewalk trails with brick trim designed to emulate railroad tracks. (Historically appropriate as Port Tampa was a port of debarkation where soldiers arrived by train then transfered to ships for the trip to Cuba.) When the renovations are complete the much used park will be an impressive western gateway to Port Tampa. The Port Tampa Woman's Club has taken the lead in fundraising for these improvements. Their next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 AM, Saturday, March 11 at the PTC Library.

The park, however, is not at the boundary of Port Tampa City. The actual boundaries are: North-Everett St. (The now vacated street forms the southern border of Casa Bella) South-MacDill AFB, East-Manhattan, West-Old Tampa Bay. The Casa Bella developer is to replace the missing neighborhood sign on Westshore. The other sign is on Interbay just west of the Interbay and Manhattan intersection.

In other Casa Bella news, the developer has assured CAPT President Jill Buford that the proposed boardwalk over Tappan Nature Preserve, to the water, will be for public use, and asked for CAPT support. CAPT supports the private financing of this park improvement if, and only if, it is fully accessable to the public, not just Casa Bella residents. CAPT membership has asked Jill to get clarification on how Casa Bella is going to comply with the Tampa Greenway plans as it appears the southern border of the development may not allow enough room for the agreed upon path.

The American Cancer Society is looking for a site SOG for it's Relay for Life fundraiser. With 13 sites in Tampa this is a very popular event. However, interest would seem to support a site closer to Port Tampa than the current U of Tampa location. The city has already nixed the idea of Picnic Island Park over reluctance to host an overnight event. CAPT members support helping the Society find a SOG location and Jill recommended taking the request for help to the Interbay Peninsula Partnership (IPP)

The IPP will be meeting for review of the goals set out in its formation MOU (memorandum of understanding). One goal, "Continually develop strategies to enhance and attract quality housig South of Gandy Blvd," seems to have been met. Perhaps the next MOU will include a goal of retaining and attracting affordable housing (but I editorialize).

Warecraft, a fabricator and installer of vinyl fencing, has approached CAPT with a fundraising opportunity. For every project of 100' or more Warecraft will donate $100 to CAPT. While CAPT does not specifically endorse Warecraft, if you're going to put up a fence check out Warecraft and let them know you found out about the company through CAPT.

PortTampa, the blogger, was unaware that the the old Port Tampa City Jail is still standing, and in use. One third is used by the Fire Department as a weight room for the station next door and the remainder is used by CAPT for storage. Well it's time to get some of those stored items out so May. 6th will see the "Sale at the Jail." There will be some interior doors for sale that came out of the jail when it was renovated, as well as other antique and restoration items. More on this as the date nears.

The meeting was adjourned after a brief exchange of development rumors. More on those in a separate post. Don't miss the next Friends of the Library Meeting Wednesday, March 29, 2006 7:00 PM at the library.