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'Fountain Of Youth' Memories Bubble In Bay

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By CARLOS MONCADA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Not far from where the Tampa Bay Rays hope to build a new ballpark, something is bubbling to the surface.

It is water from beneath Tampa Bay, boiling up from an abandoned artesian well that once drew tourists to St. Petersburg's "fountain of youth."

Also bubbling up is concern among some community activists who question whether the stadium plan threatens a piece of St. Petersburg's history and the marine life it attracts with its warm, fresh flow.

The well has been forgotten, then remembered, then forgotten again in the 100 years since it probably was drilled. The well lies east of the sea wall near Al Lang Field, about 600 feet - or the length of two football fields - into the Bay.

Al Lang Field is the Rays' downtown spring training field and the place on which they hope to pin their future with a $450 million waterfront ballpark to replace Tropicana Field by 2012. The proposal calls for creating new land by dumping fill dirt into Tampa Bay and re-routing Bayshore Drive over it.

"I think for anyone who has any environmental leanings or concerns, dredge-and-fill sends shivers up your spine," said Lorraine Margeson, a St. Petersburg environmental activist who is mustering opposition to the stadium plan.

Rays officials said they only recently learned of the underwater well and its role as a gathering spot for marine life including manatees.

"I'm not sure that well is in the area we're planning on filling in," said Michael Kalt, senior vice president of development and business affairs for the Rays. "We haven't seen any manatees congregating in the area we're looking to fill, but we obviously need to conduct more studies."

Any potential environmental damage would be minimal and addressed "by whatever mitigation solutions are proposed, either by us or the regulatory agencies," Kalt said.

'A Conspicuous Boil'

The Rays' environmental consultant, HDR, is scheduled to meet with the Southwest Florida Water Management District on Thursday about its fill proposal, said Robyn Hanke, media relations manager for the Brooksville-based agency.

The water district investigated the artesian well in 2002. A report says divers located the source of "a conspicuous boil" on the water's surface in the south basin of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.

They determined the discharge came from an abandoned artesian well drilled at the end of a pier and still flowing, according to the report. They spotted a 4-inch diameter pipe protruding about three feet from the bottom, at a depth of about 13 feet.

The water flowing from the pipe originates in the Upper Floridan Aquifer, the region's primary drinking water source, about 150 feet to 250 feet below the surface.

Because the water flowing from the well is saltier than the aquifer's fresher groundwater, the water district has never pursued capping it, Hanke said.

"It's not impacting groundwater resources because it's brackish water," she said. "And it seems to serve a beneficial purpose for the manatees that congregate around the well."

Manatees likely are attracted to the well for its fresher water as well as its warmth. Its temperature is about 80 degrees, about 12 degrees warmer than the surrounding waters of the Bay.

Artesian wells are found throughout Florida. The water comes from an aquifer where it is under so much pressure it is pushed up and onto the surface.

Evoking 'Fountain Of Youth'

The well that was the source of St. Petersburg's fountain of youth was drilled by one of the city's founders, E.H. Tomlinson, at the turn of the century, according to the archives of the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

Tomlinson built a long pier with a fishing house at the end, drilling a well to provide fresh water. The pier later was sold and turned into a tourist attraction, which evoked Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon in marketing the well's sulphur water for its purported health benefits.

"That is what was originally referred to as the fountain of youth, which is long gone," Hanke said. "As far as it being protected because of some kind of historical status, that's not really the case."

The plan for filling in part of the Bay doesn't appear as if it would pose any detrimental effects on the thermal refuge the well provides for manatees in winter, Hanke said.

"It doesn't seem to be in the area where they're proposing to dredge and fill at all," she said.

The plan, though, likely would alter seagrass beds that Hanke said grow along the sea wall where the Bay would be filled. The Rays would have to replace any seagrass areas lost to the project because they serve as nurseries and food sources for marine life.

There is no designated manatee-protection zone in the area of the artesian well, said Scott Calleson, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Tallahassee.

The commission is expected to review the Rays' pending dredge-and-fill application for any potential effects on manatee habitat in the area, Calleson said.

"I haven't heard anything specifically about this project, but we would typically comment on it as it gets into permitting," said Calleson, adding the agency would look at potential effects on species listed with the state as endangered or threatened.

Two University of South Florida graduate students, Melanie Peters and Kelley Anderson, have dived at the well site twice since mid-December, collecting water samples and taking underwater photos and video footage.

The dives were arranged by Margeson, the environmental activist, who said she recalled mention of the well in the area while on a tour of Tampa Bay several years ago.

"We were pretty excited," Peters said. "It was definitely interesting. Just the warmth of the water right around there is probably the most shocking thing. But it's not too fantastic. It's just a really neat little well."

Reporter Carlos Moncada can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or cmoncada@tampatrib.com.

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