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New Lake Needs A Name

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By KATHY STEELE

ksteele@tampatrib.com

Published: March 18, 2009

EAST TAMPA - Residents are considering potential names for a retention pond on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard that is being fashioned into a small lake.

Last year the city opened Fair Oaks Community Lake next to Fair Oaks playground on 34th Street. It was the first of three pond transformations funded with property taxes collected within the East Tampa redevelopment area bordered by Hillsborough Avenue, interstates 275 and 4 and Tampa's city limits.

Suggested names for the Martin Luther King project will be accepted through April 15. Among planned amenities at the re-tooled "lake" are benches, a bicycle rack, an exercise course and walking trail, and an aerator system.

In recent months members of the aesthetics and beautification subcommittee of the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership have worked with city officials to craft guidelines for naming or renaming landmark projects such as the community lake.

This project is the first test of those guidelines. Subcommittee Chairwoman Denese Meteye-James said the process probably will need fine-tuning.

Work on the $1.5 million project on Martin Luther King between 17th and 19th streets is expected to be completed by June. "We're hoping to have the name back by then," Meteye-James said.

An East Tampa connection is paramount but proposed names may simply identify the site's location.

Nominated names also may be people, living or dead, including current or former East Tampa residents, business owners or operators, or families. Any East Tampa person whose name is nominated must have been involved in the community at least 30 years, and their contribution must be significant and verified by resumes, references or other documentation.

Applications are available at the East Tampa Development Office, 3808 N. 22nd St. They must be returned to that office by April 15.

The aesthetics and beautification subcommittee will recommend finalists to the partnership's full board.

Meteye-James anticipates two or three names will make the list.

The city's Neighborhood and Community Relations Office will serve as liaison, sharing information with the mayor and city council members, who will make the final decision.

For information, call Denese Meteye-James at (813) 988-1962.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.

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