We all know that Mayor Bob Buckhorn is hardly sound-bite challenged. It comes with being Tampa’s CEO-Salesman-Cheerleader, and it comes with having the outspokenness gene. In recently referring to downtown’s Lights on Tampa display, he said it was “showcasing everything we’ve been working to do. … It’s what makes us cool. There is more happening in downtown Tampa than has happened in two decades.”
Mayor Bob may actually have trafficked in understatement. It’s well within memory when the words “cool” and downtown Tampa were oxymoronic. The London Victory Club didn’t last, but The Hub became iconic. That kind of downtown.
Where there was once wharfage and parking lots, however, there is now a waterfront-celebrating, nearly completed Riverwalk dotted with museums, parks, restaurants, eclectic activities, a vibe–and plans for a lot more. Move over, San Antonio. Where once half of downtown’s 600 residents resided in the Morgan Street jail, now that area’s becoming a beacon for thousands of millennials and empty-nesters. Vacant eyesores repurpose. Surface parking lots beckon next. Obviously Jeff Vinik, Bill Gates, Judy Genshaft and Mayor Bob are not the only ones who get it.
The other night my wife and I did an early evening drive–not to attend a function or see a Lightning game–but to take in the optics of Lights On Tampa. The colors–from those that lit up Rivergate Tower to those that routinely underlight downtown bridges–were vibrant. Musicians and shadow-dancers entertained. The words of local poet Silvia Curbelo–“Can You Stand Perfectly Still And Hold this Moment Open?”–were on display and pitch perfect.
Yes, Mayor Bob, it was “cool.”