TAMPA, Fla. — The City of Tampa cut the ribbon on a new park that will serve as more than just a beautiful space for residents and neighbors, it will also help alleviate flooding.
Cindy Farias is no stranger to the neighborhood off Interbay Boulevard in Tampa where she took a stroll on Tuesday morning.
"I taught at Ballast Point for 35 years,” said Farias. “I lived over here on North Adams for, golly, 17 years."
Anyone around the area knows how prone it is to flooding.
“My dad lives in the area still, and my brother, and they didn't get any flooding this last go around. But a lot of people did, and I'm so excited about this park for a few reasons,” she said.
That new space, called MacDill 48 Park, is tucked away south of Gandy near MacDill Air Force Base.
Its purpose goes beyond just getting out into nature.
Tampa city leaders point out the park has an integrated stormwater component, which they say will help prevent flooding in surrounding neighborhoods while also improving water quality within Hillsborough Bay.
"During the last two storms that we saw in the span of 12 days, on the back of a drought in July, and then record rainfalls in September, and then these two storms, the project area that has been constructed within the MacDill 48 project footprint performed pretty well,” said City of Tampa Mobility Director Vik Bhide.
Bhide explained how it works.
“This project has actual gray infrastructure, so concrete pipes that go out into neighborhoods, connect to a large stormwater pond that creates storage, as well as water quality, so the percolation and all, and then you have an outfall, a huge outfall that goes out to Hillsborough Bay,” said Bhide. “So it collects water from the neighborhoods, treats it in the stormwater pond, and then puts it out to the bay as needed through storms."
City leaders recognize it isn't the full answer to the problem, but it can be part of the solution.
"We're in a low-lying peninsula that will continue to struggle with flooding events,” said Bhide. “It doesn't mean we don't do projects like these. It just means that we're much more deliberate about projects like these that can address resiliency but also quality of life issues."
