TEMPLE TERRACE — Long-held visions of a walkable riverfront park with picnic lawns, waterfront walkways and downtown buzz met fiscal reality Jan. 8, as Temple Terrace officials confronted a price tag for Riverside Park that now exceeds what the city can afford all at once.
Faced with the gap, the City Council agreed to pursue a multi-phase construction approach, delaying some amenities while prioritizing other more popular features.
“I really like this concept, and I’d like to see this built,” said Mayor Andy Ross. “But I think out of financial necessity, we’re going to have to break this into more phases than two. I realize that that’s going to cause the overall price tag to go up, because building something next year is cheaper than building something in three years. So, it’s going to cause the ultimate price to go up, but it will come in smaller chunks each year.”
Joe Loretta, principal in charge at Halff, the consulting and design firm overseeing the project between Riverhills Drive and the Hillsborough River off 56th Street, told council members the plans are about 90% complete. Halff plans on bringing the final designs, incorporating changes discussed at the workshop, to the Feb. 3 council meeting for potential approval.
The Riverside Park represents the city’s latest efforts to energize the downtown area by linking nearby businesses with the quieter green space along the nearby Hillsborough River. While questions remain about how a park described as “passive” and neighborhood-focused, rather than event-driven, can stimulate downtown activity, city officials see it as a key piece of the broader revitalization strategy.
Despite the phased approach, Loretta said the final designs will still include most of what has already been presented to the public.
“The master plan really is not that much different than what we saw last April,” Loretta said.
One element, however, was non-negotiable: the riverfront boardwalk. The council unanimously agreed that whatever happens it had to part of the first phase of construction.
Under the revised approach, the first phase of Riverside Park would feature:
• A riverfront boardwalk, which was the most highly rated amenity by residents in a survey last year.
• A parking lot on the south side of Riverhills Drive. A second parking area north of Riverhills Drive was also discussed but eventually nixed.
• A new crosswalk over Riverhills Drive, connecting the southern riverfront area with Springdale pond to the north, giving the park two connecting crosswalks. Both will be enhanced with pedestrian-friendly features like flashing beacons.
• Upgraded bathrooms, but no additional bathrooms. Concerns remain over whether that will be enough and urged Halff to continue to explore other possibilities.
• A concrete pathway around Springdale pond.
Loretta recommended that the Springdale pond portion remain largely intact and said a small pedestrian bridge at the pond’s southern end might still be possible if costs allow.
He also advised scaling back playground additions focusing instead on landscaping and completing the walkway connection to the river.
One amenity that appears likely to be pushed to a later phase, much to the disappointment of Ross and several council members, is the observation tower.
They encouraged Loretta, who agrees that the tower was a possible signature feature, to try and make it work in the initial phase.
“This observation tower is going to be the thing that everybody’s going to go do at sunset,” Loretta said. “You’re going to go to dinner, you’re going to walk down here, and you’re going to go get a sunset view. You’re going to get more people in this facility at sunset than you will throughout the rest of the day.”
Also deferred to later phases are the fishing or observation pier, kayak launch, large gathering lawn, picnic and courtyard areas, fitness equipment and benches.
“There’s a lot of stuff in here that we don’t have to necessarily give up, but it doesn’t have to be built right away,” Ross said.
Loretta said some initial permitting with the Southwest Florida Water Management District the U.S. Army Corps of Engineering is already underway.
If final plans are approved, he expects permitting to be completed by mid-summer, with construction potentially beginning by the end of the year. Phase 1 could be completed in 2027.
Ross did express some concern about that timeline in light of a possible property tax reform measure appearing on the November ballot, which could significantly impact the city’s budget.
“I don’t want to be building a park if we’re, at the same time, forced to scale back services in other areas,” Ross said.
Other council members were less apprehensive, saying they preferred to move forward with the timeline.