Tampa Riverwalk Plans Public Boat Dock, Access To Downtown Tampa

Tampa's Riverwalk has many amenities: hotels, museums, restaurants and retail along a spectacular waterfront. What it doesn't have is a public dock.

The city of Tampa and Friends of the Riverwalk, are planning to remedy that soon, if funding comes through in November.

A grant application is on its way to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that, if accepted, will fund the construction of 100 feet of floating dock in Garrison Channel that will accommodate up to eight boats immediately west of the Beneficial Drive Bridge. This location will give boaters easy access to Channelside Entertainment Complex, the St. Pete Times Forum, the Tampa Bay History Center and other downtown amenities such as the Florida Aquarium.

According to Lee Hoffman, the Tampa Riverwalk's development manager, the goal of the project is to provide boaters the opportunity to avoid the traffic congestion and parking issues of downtown associated with driving a car, and allow them to take advantage of all the amenities offered downtown by boat.

"When I first took over the Riverwalk project in 2004, I did a lot of presentations and one of the constant things I heard were requests  from boaters who wanted places to go to on their boats," says Hoffman. "This is an opportunity to give them access to the south end of downtown, which services Channelside, the museums, Cotanchobee Park, and other entertainment venues."

The dock is part of an overall master plan to create and develop a promenade along approximately two miles of the downtown waterfront.

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Source: Lee Hoffman, City of Tampa