“How many of you walked in here this morning and looked in awe at what this building could be?” So rhetorically asked Mayor Bob Buckhorn last week at the long vacant S. H. Kress & Co. Building downtown. Mayor Bob was there because the historically artsy, erstwhile “five and dime” that closed in 1981 was the cherry-picked venue for his second State of the City presentation. It was a cool, savvy move by Tampa’s Salesman-in-Chief.
The mayor told the audience that packed the ground floor of the 84-year-old, downtown icon that Tampa’s charge was to “dream big” and “think big”–including being recognized as the “Gateway to the Americas.” And such outsized aspirations would necessarily mean upping the ante on all those attributes that first class, modern cities must have to “grow companies and attract the jobs of the future” as well as to keep and attract the “energetic young people who can reshape an economy through technological innovation.”
And, yes, that plan will require a “first class transportation system.” And, yes, that “darn sure means rail.” And, yes, he will work with–or around–whomever can help, from Hillsborough County to Tallahassee. And, yes, that was a less-than-subtle jab at Gov. Rick Scott who was a one-man, high-speed derailment two years ago.
Buckhorn was all about Tampa’s future–which includes its past. Its National Registry of Historic Places past.
Thus, the seemingly surprise choice of the Kress Building for his upbeat address that barely acknowledged the blip of a projected $20 million 2014 deficit. It’s still apparent that when Samuel H. Kress built his store, he considered it tantamount to commissioning public art. That’s how a department store gets bedecked with Renaissance Revival terra-cotta facades and warrants high ceilings. It’s still special–and worthy of much more than a VIP party for 2012 convening Republicans.
But back to Buckhorn priorities. The mayor envisions–make that really, really wants–more critical-component in-fill and upgrades for downtown. Of course, he does. His continuous sales-pitch loop to would-be developers is that those intriguingly vacant properties–from the now restored Floridan and the reincarnating federal court house to the potential-oozing Kress Building and adjacent Woolworth’s and J.J. Newberry–are open for business. The pragmatic, history-savoring, redevelopment business.
Downtown Tampa is more than high-rise rentals, new museums, newer restaurants, a nearly-finished Riverwalk, and futuristic scenarios for all those surface parking lots. It’s a Florida city uniquely blessed with key remnants of history that have managed to avoid the wrecking ball of urban “renewal.” Such that, “re-purposing” is now part of the downtown mantra.
The past increasingly factors into Tampa’s future, and Mayor Bob wanted that amply on display in his State of the City update. It was.