Small Parks

Small Parks in Tampa Bay

Dateline: November 15, 1998

A civilized society seems to revere parks — refuges in our busy life where we can retreat from the busy world to reflect about our lives. New York City has Central Park; Boston has The Commons; Germany has the Black Forest region; other great cities have famous preserves. Not to be outdone by all of these, the Tampa Bay area has a few parks that may not be as notable, but are known to a few around these parts.

Snow Park The smallest park in the world (so it is thought in Tampa) is Snow Park, located just west of the downtown business district at the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard and Grand Central Avenue. Kennedy is the street with the cars. This triangular park, as the photo shows, is located in the midst of considerable traffic and offers one bench in its 40-foot by about 20-foot widest point. It is a curiosity at this equally curious intersection. The minarets in the background adorn the building that was once the luxurious Tampa Bay Hotel, erected by Henry B. Plant in the 1890's. It now houses the University of Tampa.

The reason that Kennedy comes in at an angle is because the city was laid out in the 1850's or so, along the river which runs a bit off the north-south compass line through the heart of the downtown area. All of those streets follow the path cut by the river. In order to have a logical north-south grid for the rest of the city, all roads leading into downtown have to curve about 30° at some point. Perhaps some enterprising public works official decided we should have a park here sixty or seventy years ago. Snow Park

Statue in Staub Park Straub Park, on the other side of the bay, is in downtown St. Petersburg. There's a very different look with this park, that features a number of interesting statues. These graeco-romanesque gods and goddesses are adornments along the waterfront which is graced by Straub Park.
Straub Park is the site of many festivals throughout the winter months when the weather is cool enough to enjoy the outdoors. The view is particularly nice, especially on those sunny blue-sky days of Autumn and Spring. The building in the background is the restored Vinoy Hotel, dating from 1925. The hotel features this distinctive tower which graces the waterfront, overlooking Vinoy Park and Vinoy Basin, where many luxury yachts are moored throughout the year.

Other interesting locations in the area will be found at Attractions, West Coast Wanderer, St. Petersburg Parks website, or go to Tampa's parks directory.

(JLB Note: Any links listed in this story are probably no longer live, after over ten years from the original posting.)

Bailey has considerable historical knowledge of Tampa and is available for walking tours, guided tours via automobile, etc. Please contact Bailey for more information .

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