The quarter-mile-long riverfront bend that runs from Franklin Street east to Channelside Drive has been known by many names through the years.
Ice Palace Drive. Sesame Street. And more recently, St. Pete Times Forum Drive. At one point, there was talk of naming it after former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco.
Now, as city officials prepare for the opening of the Tampa Bay History Center along Garrison Channel, some want to see the downtown road return to its original name.
If the city council approves the proposed changes, St. Pete Times Forum Drive will be renamed Old Water Street to highlight the Channel District's role in Tampa's history.
"For us, it's just another way of reconnecting with the past, and that's what we are all about," said C.J. Roberts, president and chief executive officer of the Tampa Bay History Center.
When the Tampa Bay Lightning's arena was built in 1992, the city renamed the road Ice Palace Drive. In 1997, the roadway was temporarily named Sesame Street to mark the arrival of the Broadway adaptation of the children's TV show "Sesame Street" at the arena. In 2004, the street's name was changed once again under a $30 million deal with the St. Petersburg Times to refurbish the hockey arena as the St. Pete Times Forum. Roberts said the Times did not object to returning the street to its original name.
The three-story, $52 million history center is set to open in January.
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