Mayor Rob Marlowe
My lovely bride took me to Rose’s Bistro for a Valentine’s Day lunch. Linen tablecloth and napkins and a very elegant four course meal for under $20 a person.
Afterwards, we walked over to Sims Park to just walk around. In addition to a lot of activity at the playground, there were families all over the place. We saw folks playing kickball with each other, people picnicing under the new shade structures, a young lady playing her guitar while sitting on the grass, a couple of folks fishing, and one fellow sitting down and swinging in his hammock. There were also some very courteous young men on skateboards, families on bicycles, folks just walking around.
The Gloria Swanson parking lot was full again, just like it had been on Saturday.
This has been a long time coming. I remember talking to Craig Carmichael back in 2011 about things we could do to attract people to the park and things that could be done to fix up the Hacienda Hotel. The idea was that fixing up the park and the Hacienda could be the spark needed to revitalized a downtown that had seen better days. He wanted us to get beyond a focus on occasional special events and concentrate on things that would attract families to the park and run off the druggies and criminals that infested the park back then.
I wish Craig were here to see how right he was. The city council resisted calls to put a small playground either where the old one was or stuff it out of the way in the northwest corner of the park. A majority of us insisted on ripping out sections of Grand Blvd and Circle Blvd and plunking a big playground smack in the middle of a newly combined Sims Park / Orange Lake Park. I’d like to think that Craig is looking down on us and smiling.
Years of working with Community Development Partners to expand the Hacienda and build a modern room wing finally fell apart in 2012. The original Sims Grant prevented building a room addition to the west or north of the original structure. The only plan that “sort of” worked was one to build the addition where the Gloria Swanson parking lot is located. CDP was depending on financing the project. Financing simply wasn’t there.
Late in 2012, two things happened: Bill Phillips and I wrangled a tour of the Hacienda so that we could take a look at exactly what we were facing if the city were to consider trying to fix the Hacienda up on our own. It also became clear that the Old Post Office building on the east side of the Gloria Swanson lot was not necessarily going to have to be demolished to make way for more parking.
I vividly remember taking that tour. Because of Florida’s Government in the Sunshine laws, we couldn’t compare notes until the next council meeting. It turns out that both of us were thinking the same thing: The Hacienda isn’t in that bad a shape!
We organized a pair of work days in early 2013 to fix up the Hacienda. Hundreds of volunteers flooded the site both days. It was clear that the community wanted to save the Hacienda and get it opened up.
Likewise, a couple of months later, we did a work day at the Old Post Office. Ideas started percolating as to what we could do with the building. As luck would have it, the Pasco Economic Development Council wanted to replicate their successful business incubator somewhere on the west side of the county. New Port Richey had the obvious place to put it. The incubator opened in June of 2014.
The things are coming together for New Port Richey. We hired an economic development director and then a filled the city manager position as well. Both hires have turned out to be excellent. A “can do” spirit can be seen from the city council, through the city manager and department heads, and all the way to the rank and file city employees. That spirit is contagious. Businesses have been flocking to New Port Richey. From Applicant Insight to the Dulcet, Jimmy’s Studio Theatre, Johnny Grits, and Cornerstone Pizza, we’ve seen folks start believing in New Port Richey.
Getting the incubator open was the first “win”. Getting the Hacienda cleaned up, scoring a million dollar grant to start the historic preservation, and signing up a new developer to step in and finish the Hacienda once the historic preservation work is done was a second win. Getting past the nay-sayers and getting Sims Park upgraded was yet another win.
Success breeds success and I fully expect to see our newest businesses (The White Heron, Ottaway’s, and Main & Bank Coffee) all do well. Likewise, there is more private investment coming to New Port Richey. This week’s example is the demolition of Spoonbills to make room for a new Beef O Brady’s.
As you can probably tell, I’m very upbeat. We still have our challenges, but by working together, we’re going to continue to make things better.
Rob Marlowe, Mayor
I agree that providing more opportunities for families and kids to enjoy our lovely city is far wiser than some of these events that seemingly trash the place and leave. And often our downtown business do not benefit from such events.
I’m also sorry that Craig couldn’t see Sims Park now. You and the council stood strong when (yes) some of us wondered why the park needed another make over. But what a delight! Between this lovely park, our revitalizing downtown and the rec center…NPR is the place to visit and make it a day!
I’ll be the first to admit that many of the occurrences around town have surprised me and that there are areas where I have clearly been incorrect in how I thought it would play out. Things appear to be doing very well. I believe in the positive momentum and I commend all of the city council members and city staff members for their achievements in the last year. As I’ve expressed in the past I’m not a huge fan of the park changes, mostly because I think they were too expensive. I’d rather the money be spent in our neighborhoods.
I have wanted reuse water at my own home for years now, and there’s a reuse main less than 300 feet from me… But instead we put excess reuse water into our retention ponds because we can’t get rid of enough. Just one area I’d like to see that money better spent.
But hey, we can disagree, right? I think the Park looks better, and I’m thrilled that people are enjoying it and it’s supporting the opening of new businesses nearby and supporting the mission of business already existing. If we can continue to drop the vacancy rates downtown it will be a bonus for everyone!
I was miffed to hear about the parking harassment at Dulcet at Tuesday’s meeting. I was planning to tweet them to ask what the deal was with that.
I do have a couple of other suggestions. I disagree with you on the parking garage, Mr. Mayor. I’d rather see an expansion of the downtown area toward the Marine District. Dunedin doesn’t have a parking garage. They have minor issues with parking, but they avoided a $6-12 million expense. I think we could do the same with some smart planning. If the multi-use paths are installed (and installed well, I’m not a huge fan of slightly-wider concrete sidewalks being called a “multi-use path”) then people will use that to get around town to various parking areas. People will walk a little.
Also, the business incubator currently has these businesses in it: http://pascoedc.com/incubator/smartstart-incubator-members/smartstart-members-new-port-richey/
Really? A law firm and a “life coach”? The only technology firm there is PointLeader, which is Human Resources software. You need to INSIST that the Pasco Economic Development Council recruit technology businesses and not hair salons. We need to support the creation of additional industry, not more service industry businesses.
Things are changing with the Incubator. Stay tuned.
As easy as it would be for you or me to walk a bit further, there are some businesses that depend on older customers that have mobility issues. The proposed garage would keep them closer to the downtown and would help us avoid having to pave over paradise in the hunt for more parking.
And that is exactly why you can increase the number of handicapped spaces as you see fit. You can also enhance public transportation and have options for trams, golf carts, and bike paths that will allow people to enhance their mobility.
I just see so many other ways to spend those millions of dollars. $13 million buys you the best internet access for businesses in the state. Or $6 million buys you a parking garage for 100 cars. Adding a garage is going to be asking for crime and vandalism and will be an eyesore that will hinder the momentum of developing a downtown to be jealous of.
You could (for free) restrict businesses from towing each others’ customers (lookin’ at you the building formerly known as Cocktails!). Ask Frank Starkey about “road diets” and add parking around Orange Circle (parallel on both sides). Add diagonal parking on Central west of Madison where it’s super wide on both sides. Better yet, attract bicyclists and pedestrians who want to walk to businesses so you don’t need parking at all.
All that said, I still argue that it’s much better to incentivize people to buy and renovate homes in the City so that you have a workforce worthy of luring business.
We don’t have the chicken or the egg as far as economic development is concerned, just yet.
First reading of a Golf Cart Ordinance is on the list for the March 8th council meeting.
We may not have a big colony yet, but we’ve been concentrating on fixing up a very nice nesting area and the birds are starting to arrive, eggs following shortly.
I love this blog aoubt Sims Park and commented on it already.
Then yesterday evening I remembered that I wanted to see if the library had a new book I hoped to read. The library is so easy to get to and very accessible to both drivers and walkers. Walking in (they stay open til 8 pm M-R) first thing I noticed is some great bluegrass music wafting down from the second floor…this was a music concert night (always well attended) and I was able to enjoy that while searching for my book. When I couldn’t easily find it, a helpful librarian was immediately at hand.
Then I saw the reading area with books on sale…hardcovers for $1, soft for $.50! What a deal. I also ck’d out the music CDs and movie DVDs. To me the library is a treasure chest of surprises and bounty! What a great little city with its parks, aquatic park and rec center…and library!