building new bridges downtown?
TBHC permalink | categories: city, names, neighborhood, otd, tampa, transportationby TBHC @ 12:08 pm
95 years ago…
June 26, 1911 – Tampa Mayor Donald B. McKay calls for a special meeting to discuss an alternate route across the Hillsborough River while a new bridge at Lafayette Street is under construction. The “old” bridges at Lafayette Street and Fortune Street were the only two in existence at this time. Several prominent citizens offered suggestions for either temporary or permanent bridges to be built, with a few recommending locations at Platt and Cass Streets. Permanent, matching bridges were constructed for those streets in 1925. The current bridge at Kennedy Boulevard (formerly Lafayette Street) was constructed in 1914 and completely renovated in 1994.
Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.
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June 26th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
say, Tommy, who was the first person to cross the renovated Kennedy Blvd bridge in 1994? i was at your gig friday night at 42nd street, some of your band-mates were making quite a fuss about this…
June 27th, 2006 at 10:02 am
Old Fortune St. bridge was sumnpin’ else..
Bridge Tender would come out with a long 8′ to 10′ crank to open the bridge.. In the center were the gears for crank.. After placing crank in gears he would walk around in a 10′ circle, like a mule at a sugar cane grind until the bridge opened, most of the boat traffic were the shell barges and some what larger cabin boats going up the Hillsborough River… You really didn’t want to be in car traffic when bridge was opening..
June 27th, 2006 at 11:29 am
Johnny G Lyon proudly claims to be the first person to cross the Kennedy St. bridge after it was refurbished in 1994.
March 5th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
when the kennedy bridge downtown of tampa fl
start the renovation, was in 1992?