Garden Center Revamp Set To Start

Renovation of the city-owned Seminole Heights Garden Center should begin within the next few weeks.

Two weeks ago the Tampa City Council approved a $926,000 contract with Alspach Construction & Electric Co. Last week it approved a $10,000 contract with St. Petersburg-based sculptor Leslie Fry for public art at the center, 5800 Central Ave.

Her sculpture, called Woman Nesting, will be installed on the front lawn about a month before construction is completed. The precise placement of the art has not been decided.

"She's done some great work," said Greg Barnhill, who served on an artist selection committee, and also as neighborhood liaison working with the city's parks and recreation department on the center's design. "It's going to include some pieces of salvaged material."

The overall project aims to restore the 1939 building's original look. The building has been altered through the years by remodeling projects and a fire in the 1970s.

Aluminum windows, a boarded-up front entrance, paneled walls, an outdated ramp for disabled people and linoleum floors are among the center's blemishes.

Because the structure is in a historical district, the city's Architectural Review Commission last year reviewed and approved the project.

The restored look will open the center to light by replicating the original window pattern.

"It will essentially have a fish bowl feel and be completely wide open all around," Barnhill said.

Burgert Brothers photographs from former Mayor William Poe's wedding reception in the mid-1950s helped guide the design plan.

The wedding pictures showed the original interior trim work, Barnhill said.

Inside, wood will replace linoleum and a fireplace will be re-opened. Audio-visual equipment will be installed and bathrooms upgraded to federal standards. Modern fire codes require that a set of double French doors be reduced to single doors with sidelight panels.

Outside, an air-conditioning unit and trash bin will be concealed behind a basket-weave, red-brick wall matching the building, Barnhill said. The front entrance will be restored and more landscaping planted. On the south side of the building an outdoor patio area will installed, though currently there is no money to complete it.

In 2007, a geological survey revealed the possible outlines of a sunken rock garden buried behind the center near the parking area. The city plans to add paving but will not disturb the sunken garden site.

There is no money or plan to dig up the garden now. But, Barnhill said, "They did allow for that opportunity if it ever presents itself."