It was cloudless and mid-day, Tampa hot. Seams in newly-laid sod were still apparent. Newly-planted palm trees afforded no shade. It was not your basic walk in the park.
Nor was it meant to be. Too much has happened here–and in America–for this to be a routine stroll.
This was renovated, rejuvenated Perry Harvey Sr. Park, just northeast of downtown Tampa–and several generations removed from its status as the Central Avenue zeitgeist of black business and cultural life. Where the arts and iconic music–from Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald to James Brown and Ray Charles–once thrived. It was the “Harlem of the South” to locals and a bustling haven from Jim Crow segregation.
In the 1800s it had been “the Scrub,” an emancipated-slave enclave. It embodied a spectrum of history.
Then that historic timeline was severed by urban renewal projects and race riots.
It’s all chronicled at the park that features timeline sidewalks, homage to civil rights pioneers and creative art installations that change as you walk past them. There is also ample green space, interactive fountains and–at the apex of the park–a prominent bronze statue of the union boss and civil rights leader who was Perry Harvey Sr. Plus basketball courts and at the far north end, the Bro Bowl skatepark.
These days ENCORE residences continue to rise nearby and downtown’s highly visible, protean skyline is a graphic reminder of a different, contemporary time. But it’s one that is complemented by a sense that this iteration of what once was belongs here–centered at Central Avenue and Scott Street. That you don’t leave your history behind as you move municipally forward.
It is, as Mayor Bob Buckhorn noted at the park’s recent dedication: “A living, breathing history lesson.”
It also says something about our 2016 priorities.
This $6.3 million project is not part of Jeff Vinik’s master plan. It has nothing to do with millennial hiring and mass transit aspirations. It’s not part of the Riverwalk, Straz-ambience, Rays stadium or PayPal conversations.
No, it won’t be associated with Tampa “getting its swagger back.”
But it does mean that Tampa has perspective. It doesn’t forget who it is and where it came from. By celebrating what was once a thriving black community, Perry Harvey Sr. Park assures the memory–and lessons–of history live on.
The legacy of Perry Harvey Sr. deserves no less.