The largest public engagement effort in Tampa Parks and Recreation history brings new life to a long underutilized park
Created in 1977, the park along the Hillsborough River was constantly underutilized. The City of Tampa set out to remedy this and engaged us as part of the team to help reimagine this park.
The process began with the largest public engagement effort in the history of Tampa Parks and Recreation to determine what the community envisioned for the space. Their input played a crucial role in shaping the resulting design that emphasizes safety and accessibility, family-friendly spaces, and public access to the river.
River Center, the park’s key feature, provides a large community space—with dramatic views of downtown—above a public boathouse. An event lawn can accommodate 10,000 people for performances and festivals. The park also features recreation courts and fields, picnic areas with pavilions and grills, a shaded playground and splash pad, and a dog park. A waterfront edge allows people to get close to the river and includes a learning lagoon for novice paddlers.
Our team provided landscape architecture, civil engineering, environmental, and traffic engineering services. This included redesigning surrounding roads, intersections, and a crossing to increase safety. We also created a new stormwater collection and treatment system to provide sustainable, continuous water filtration.
Today, the community-driven, destination park now fully activates the western edge of the Hillsborough River and provides a vibrant, welcoming space for residents and visitors alike.
At a Glance
- Offices
- Client
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- City of Tampa
- Partners
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- Civitas, Inc.
- W Architecture & Landscape
- Architecture LLC
- Award
- Urban Land Institute, Urban Open Space Awards Finalist 2020
- Award
- Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Future of the Region Award 2019
- Award
- ENR Southeast, Best Project - Landscape/Urban Development 2019
Hamid Sahebkar, Principal
Finding the right solutions to the engineering issues is only part of what I do. A big part of my job—and what really drives me—is mentoring young talent and seeing them succeed.
Mark Foster, Senior Project Manager
I’m focused on provided clients the best, most cost-effective solutions based on their development needs.
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