WHY ARE WE WASTING THESE TREASURES ?

As an outdoors fan and as someone that attends many community events, a trend is becoming evident across the city. Our City Parks are being neglected.

Gadsden Park at the south end of MacDill looks like a sandspur farm with picnic shelters there are virtually unusable.

Bern Laxer Park on south Howard Avenue is now a year behind schedule from the plans the city expressed to me over a year ago. Over $200,000 has been budgeted by the city and could be in jeopardy if not allocated by the start of the next year's budget. Hopefully a planned meeting in early June will get this project back on track.

Kiley Park in downtown is another victim of neglect. Hard to imagine a riverfront property in our highly touted downtown that has been ignored for years.

There are quite a few other problem parks, and we want to hear about them. Please add your comments or email them to me.

Improvements are happening at some, but it is the overall state of maintenance that is the problem.

Let's be honest, with around 150 parks and recreation sites, the city does have their hands full.

With the value of real estate where it is, TAMPAGOLD.COM believes we should protect these valuable resources before it is too late. The city will see dramatic increases in its income due to these rising property values. We must remind the City to put more money in to these treasures to better enhance the life of all Tampa residents.

Watch for us to get more answers to why our City is letting this happen.

Please send your comments and suggestions to: bill@tampagold.com

You can visit the City of Tampa's Parks and Recreation website here.