Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

So what’s it like to come home from deployment?

For one thing, your favorite restaurant sometimes closes while you are gone. I was over at Ciccio & Tony’s on South Howard for lunch today and it looked as though their sushi restaurant, Water, has left us. This is dreadful, awful news, because no matter what you think of Samurai Blue—and it is good—Water had the best sushi in Tampa.

Then, of course, there is always tension with family and friends: you and your family have changed, and you don’t know how yet. It takes time to get that straightened out, and some couples struggle with it a great deal, especially after longer deployments. Imagine coming home after 18 months in the war zone: you may think you’ve changed because of what you’ve seen, but your spouse has survived suddenly being single again for over a year and has changed just as profoundly and permanently. Now you’re supposed to just jump right back in to a relationship? It’s amazing military marriages last as well as they do; military spouses (and girlfriends!) deserve your credit and support as much as the troops themselves.

But there are little things, too, less serious things. I for one am fascinated by the notion of drinking the water that comes out of my tap. In most deployed locations you even have to use bottled water to brush your teeth. And I do a little tap dance in the shower every morning because I don’t have to turn the water off to lather up.

Unfortunately, I’m also having to get used to doing dishes again; four months of letting KBR contractors cook and clean up for you will wreck all your good habits in the kitchen. Last night I tried to cook rice and ended up with something the texture of pebbles.

And then there’s traffic. In Djibouti you drive on the right side of the road, or the middle, or the sidewalk, or the left if you need to. Or anywhere else. Road signs are suggestions not actually backed up by law enforcement. And there are ten times as many pedestrians as there are cars. Back in Tampa… well, let’s just say if anybody’s seen a white Subaru drifting idly across the lanes on 275 or Bayshore this week, I’m very sorry about that and I promise I’ll get better soon.

It’s good to be home anyway.

No, it hasn’t gone anywhere.

Also known as Park Tower, this building was built in 1973, the second major skyscraper built in Tampa in the 1970s-1980s building boom and the tallest in town until 1981. Very few people really like it. The interior is a bit outmoded. The building is not full.

But it’s part of my view, or has been since I moved in. After the Lightning won the Stanley Cup, the building tenants made a lightning bolt every night by leaving some lights on and others off. I thought it was pretty cool.

I’ve always enjoyed watching the sun move across the building. Over the course of about two hours in the midmorning, the sun slowly brings the white ribs on the building into view, marching in a slow procession up the side until all six ribs are fully visible. It isn’t the sort of thing you stare at, just the sort of thing you notice occasionally and smile. I like things like that.

I’ve seen the last of the Lykes Building. Skypoint, a shiny new condominium, has gone up three blocks north of Lykes, and although Skypoint is not as tall as Lykes, the relative proximity of it to my porch means it blocks my view of the older building. I recently saw new pictures from my porch, and indeed the only visible bit of Lykes is concrete cap on top.

Well. Views change. I just wanted to say goodbye.

In an effort to “protect young people,” Tampa city attorney David Smith has asked Attorney General Charlie Crist to comment on whether the city has the legal ability to regulate drink specials at local bars. The problem, says Mayor Iorio, is “some bars in the Ybor City who were encouraging all-you-can-drink specials, resulting in people getting drunk and creating numerous problems in the entertainment district.”

The AG will decide whether the city can move forward legally or not. The question is, should they? The Tribune article references Ybor City a number of times and not any other neighborhood, which is interesting because Tampa-if I remember right, and I know I’ve been gone about two months now-has a lot of bars outside of Ybor. Would it be right for the city to target Ybor establishments exclusively in an effort to create a “family-friendly” atmosphere? If not, should the city apply restrictions against 3-for-1 specials and ladies’ nights citywide? How far should the rights of restaurant and bar owners go to protect their ability to draw a crowd?

I don’t imagine bars make a dime on 3-for-1 specials, and certainly they don’t make money from the women who go to ladies’ night; it’s about bringing in a larger crowd. And when you bring in a larger crowd, more of them drink, more of them get drunk, and not necessarily the people drinking 3-for-1s or free cosmopolitans. Is it the government’s job to keep people from getting drunk? If so, is this a good way to go about it?

So it looks like the first big storm of the season is Florida bound, taking a path almost eerily similar to 1999’s hurricane Irene, which is featured in my book, Lauderdale (I’ve begun editing!). Hurricanes are bad things generally, and this one will no doubt wreak its share of havoc across the southern part of the state.

I invite you to please consider, however, how much worse the damage would be were the Florida Straits dotted with oil derricks. Consider how fragile the coral reef south of the Keys, and the entire Keys/Florida Bay ecosystem, is, and how much damage a single accident at a rig in the Straits could do to that ecosystem. The oil companies, some energy lobbies, and at least half of Congress wants to put oil rigs there. Think about how much worse the next Ernesto or Irene could be if they succeed.

Then, please, consider what might happen were the Straits dotted not with American oil rigs, but with those operated by a Chinese-Cuban consortium. How good do you think the safety records at American-run oil platforms are? How good, in comparison, do you think a Cuban-Chinese one would likely be? Do you know what the Chinese have done to their environment? How much less care would they be likely to take with someone else’s environment?

American policy toward Cuba makes a Cuba-China connection in the Straits quite likely; they are already sinking test wells.

Floridians: is the Cuba policy you have supported for almost fifty years worth this? Is it?

The recent news about the city and county’s decision not to stand in the way of the proposed Central Park redevelopment is certainly a positive for the downtown neighborhood, and should be positive for the people who live in Central Park now. There’s just not as much information about the development as I’d like to see.

What we do know is that the city and county are to begin moving residents out of Central Park in early August.  Everyone should be moved out by next summer, when the wrecking ball will demolish the old apartments and new construction will begin. We know it’s to be a mixed-use and mixed-income development, but what will it actually look like?

This artist’s rendering is one of just a few to have been published locally.  There were more drawings like this, and further information on the Central Park Tampa website, but those have been removed.  If the end result is anything like this it will be a major change to the northeast downtown area.

Recent reporting indicates that current plans for the redevelopment area include at least five midrise buildings with mixed low and middle income units, and perhaps as many as seven other buildings built by private developers, which would sell at market rate.  Whether any of the buildings reach the heights apparent in this rendering (22-26 floors) remains to be seen.  But here, for those who are curious (like me), is the best we have to go on right now.

The property at the southern corner of Bayshore and Bay To Bay is currently a shaded parking lot.  Many Tampa residents who walk, run, bike, or blade along Bayshore in the afternoons park there.  On Fridays the Bayshore Patriots use the lot and surrounding area to show off the American flag and wave at military folks making their way home from MacDill.  MacDillers like myself appreciate that, we really do.  It’s one of the little things that makes Tampa such a nice place for military folks to live.

But Citivest Construction, a locally owned development company, recently purchased the property.  They initially proposed a 195 foot condominium tower for the site, to include a public park (with restrooms and public art!) and 35 public parking spaces in the garage.  City Council said no–195 feet was too tall.  In late April the council was asked to reconsider and presented with the alternative–a 120 foot tower that would have no public park, and no public parking.  The developer will have to devote the entire lot to residents-only space in order to make money with a shorter tower.  Faced with losing the park and the public parking, the city council… still said no.  195 feet just felt too tall, I suppose.

I’m no fan of over-tall buildings casting shadows in areas where they ought not, but to say 195 feet is too tall for the neighborhood is a mite silly when nearby buildings stretch considerably higher.  And at the cost of losing a park, and public parking for Bayshore runners and the Patriots’ Corner?  Citivest may be playing hardball, but that’s no reason for the city council to play stupidball.  The loss of a park, and the public parking for Bayshore, in no way compensates for the slight reduction in height in a neighborhood of taller buildings (taller buildings nearby include the Stoval, Alagon, Monte Carlo, Regency, and Atrium towers, all over 200 feet).  The city certainly has better reasons that “it’s too tall” for denying the project; let’s hear them, they might sound more intelligent.  The argument that Bayshore should not be a wall of condos is certainly valid–but a 120 foot condo still contributes to the wall, and in fact would be much the worse for eliminating the park.

Citivest, still feeling the heat (and still in court) from last year’s condominium proposal at Bayshore and DeSoto and thus desperate not to be known as the developer that destroyed Patriot’s Corner, has made one more attempt to meet the city halfway.  They’ve requested that the city council waive its rule requiring a year’s delay between rezoning requests on the same property.  This time around Citivest will propose a tower of 148 feet that would still include a public park.

The city council has repeatedly argued that they don’t want to play “Let’s Make A Deal” with developers.  But every approval for development is a deal of some sort, and playing the game is probably the best way to go.  Citivest has shown a willingness to litigate in the past when they disagreed with the city council’s sentiments, and it seems to me that making a decent deal now is better than spending tax money on a court case that the city could very well lose–a court case that could result in a tower nobody but the developer will be happy with.  I imagine the city will say no to the rezoning request–and then what will we be left with?  Will we proudly proclaim that we sacrificed a park for our principles? 

Will anyone else miss the Patriots’ Corner?

The Tribune confirmed Tommy’s news that Joe Redner may run for county commission.  But regardless of how this ends up, it appears he may be about to get some new neighbors. 

The city has received a rezoning request for 8 acres on North Dale Mabry, currently occupied by Bennigan’s and the Days Inn.  The property is about a tenth of a mile north of Redner’s notorious Mons Venus.  The neighborhood is also home to Odyssey 2001 and Shangri-La, so residents at the new condos will have their choice of adult entertainment within easy walking distance. 

The developer on the project—slated to consist of five 15-story towers and some retail—is Pradip Patel, who has tried to develop a handful of sites in downtown, but always sold out before the first shovel was turned.  The question now is whether this new location will prove the charm, or whether the new neighbors will frighten the developer away from yet another project.

Restaurateur Malio Iavarone is bringing his signature style back to Tampa, this time with a new restaurant in a new location.  The new restaurant will be smaller than the original, but feature similar classy surroundings, as well as a lounge and outdoor dining.

While the return of Malio’s to the Tampa dining scene is a pleasant surprise for many, the real surprise is the new location: Rivergate Tower.  That’s right, the Beer Can, the Cheese Grater, the Heat Pump, that big round building next to those funny square buildings that will someday house a museum (or so we’re told)–Malio’s Prime Steakhouse will be the new ground floor tenant.

This is welcome news not just for downtown and people who enjoy good food, but for the 40% empty Rivergate Tower as well.  If Malio’s attracts new tenants to downtown’s most notorious building, it will be a real coup for the city.  The restaurant is expected to open in October.