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A day at the park hits the streets in downtown Tampa

Staff photo by JAY CONNER

Member of the Mayor's Beautification Program went literal with their Park(ing) Day site complete with sod, fountain and a park bench.

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By SARAH HOYE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2009

Updated: 09/18/2009 02:23 pm

TAMPA - Folks were parking more than just cars downtown Friday.

Tampa is one of several cities across the nation participating in Park(ing) Day 2009. The event is a one-day global event where metered parking spaces are transformed into public parks.

"Its fun activism," said participant Ken Cowart, an architect for ASD Interiors Architecture Graphics in Ybor City. "We want to make downtown more lively and activate the street."

Cowart was seated at his site, "Basement in the Park," in front Paninoteca Mediterranean Café at Franklin and Twiggs streets. He and co-workers recreated a basement rec room complete with used recliners and a Wii hooked up to a television.

Twelve temporary "park" sites were installed along Franklin Street between Interstate 275 and Madison Street. More than a dozen artists, designers, architects and businesses participated to
encourage people to think green and to support local downtown businesses.

"My favorite part is how artists interpret what a park space should be," said Karen Kress, Park(ing) Day co-organizer and director of transportation and planning for the Tampa Downtown Partnership. "[The event] shows how far a little bit of green space can go."

Organizers used 10 parking meter spaces and a few loading zones, said Kress who was seated at her site, "Scrabble Mania," that featured a community Scrabble game in front of City Bike Tampa, 212 Cass St.

It cost the Downtown Tampa Partnership about $200 to provide metered spaces for participants to work with for the day, Kress said. This is the third year Tampa has participated in the event. In 2008, there were only two sites.

Getting people downtown was the end goal, said co-organizer Sarah Howard. Howard, a member of the artist collective SuperTest, was up at dawn erecting her park space site, "Uber Tuber Plant Park."
The "park" was made from recycled tubing from recycled billboards and flooring constructed from discarded liquor bottles boxes. They also were giving away plants to passers-by.

"It's about putting something into a space you wouldn't see," Howard said. "Everybody is doing something different so you can have this experience."

Park(ing) Day began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art collective, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in an area of San Francisco that is underserved by public open space.

Participants set up picnic tables, laid sod and squeezed fresh orange juice for downtowners on foot in the spaces usually reserved for those who dare to parallel park.

For information to go www.parkingday.org.

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