TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ships, Trains Featured At New Tampa Bay History Center

ADVERTISEMENT

By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 7, 2009

TAMPA - Visitors to the new Tampa Bay History Center will be able to manipulate models of ships and trains to learn about the city's seaport and transportation system, the facility's president said this morning.

"Water is at the heart of nearly every story being told in the new history center," said C.J. Roberts, who's also chief executive officer. "It was natural that we gave the story of our ports a prominent place within the new museum."

Roberts provided details about the center's exhibits to more than 30 local business people at the Port of Tampa's headquarters on Channelside Drive, not far from the 60,000-square-foot museum along the Garrison Channel.

The museum is scheduled to open Jan. 17.

The centerpiece of the seaport exhibit will be a cargo container – about 20 feet long and 8 1/2 feet wide – that has been converted into a theater where a film titled "Now Loading" will be shown.

"The entire port exhibit is really cool in terms of the city's history," said Arthur Savage, president and chief executive of A.R. Savage & Son's shipping company in Tampa, which donated the cargo container. "There is nothing else like it."

Savage's maternal great-great-grandfather pioneered commercial shipping on Florida's west coast and his father's side of the family has played prominent roles in the shipping business.

The seaport's exhibits will occupy about 1,500 square feet of the museum's 17,000 square feet of gallery space. It is supported by a $250,000 grant from The Mosaic Co., a Minnesota-based phosphate company that has large operations in West Central Florida and ships from the Port of Tampa.

Other areas of the museum are dedicated to exhibits on Seminole Indian history, Spanish exploration, the Bay area's wartime role, the cigar industry, social change, and how the recreation, citrus and cattle industries shaped the lifestyle and economy.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT