Davis Islands Today

by Charner Reese, President of the Davis Islands Civic Association

Dear Fellow Islanders,

As we ease back into the fall season, with kids in school and summer vacations behind us, pleasant memories of the summer season remain.

One such pleasant experience for me was walking along our beautiful waterfront on the new Tampa General Hospital waterfront walkway, which was completed this year. It’s a thing of beauty that you will want to experience for yourself next time you’re visiting at the hospital, attending a meeting at the HCC campus, or playing tennis at the Sandra Freedman complex.

The views from the walkway are spectacular; and the amenities, such as benches, tables, shading, pedestrian scale lighting, hand railing and attractive landscaping, are lovely additions to the islands.

I can visualize the continuation of these design elements along Seddon Channel, from TGH to Barbados, to implement the waterfront linear park concept envisioned in the DI Community Plan, approved by 95% of residents who voted in June. The linear park from TGH to Seaplane Basin Park is taking shape!

Another part of that linear park vision - a multi-use paved trail from the intersection of Channel Drive and South Davis Boulevard to Peter O. Knight Airport running along South Davis - is scheduled to begin design later this year, funded by money TGH contributed to the DI Parks and Recreation Improvement Fund. Tampa Parks and Recreation Department staff told me recently that a public workshop in the community will be scheduled early in 2008 to seek input on design of the project. When they get closer to the workshop, the Civic Association will help advertise the meeting so residents with an interest in the project will be informed of the workshop date, time and place.

A different project, that also impacts residents in a positive way, is the on-going City Tree Planting program. The program’s goal is to replenish Tampa’s tree canopy by planting 1,000 trees annually on public property, including the right-of-way in front of your home. This is a great opportunity to enhance Davis Islands with more trees. Most trees will be planted in October and November, so now is the time to make your request.

Thirty-gallon shade and ornamental trees are available, with a maximum of two trees planted per address. DICA Parks and Green Space Chair, Rudy Fernandez, will submit a group application for Islands residents who would like to participate.

If you want to take part, please email Rudy before September 15th at rfernandez@rwbaird.com with your name, address, phone number, tree preference (Winged Elm, Live Oak, Dahoon Holly, Magnolia), where you want the tree(s) planted, and the cross street nearest you.

Sincerely,

Charner Reese, President

Davis Islands Civic Association

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 8:36 am and is filed under Davis Islands. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.