Investing to Change
a Challenged Neighborhood

Civitas and W Architecture and Landscape Architecture are co-designers for the redevelopment of this 25 acre park which has fallen into deep disrepair. While once a center of community activities including basketball tournaments, tennis and community events, park visitors have decreased in the last fifteen years. The community is coming together around the new InVision Tampa plan to regenerate the west Tampa Riverfront and historic African-American and Latino neighborhoods.

The Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park redevelopment is the first project to be implemented as part of the InVision plan. Civitas and W are leading community outreach including over 40 individual stakeholder meetings and a series of public meetings that are attracting 200+ people each. Through this series of meetings, the community shared their desires and needs for greater safety and accessibility, public access to the Hillsborough River, fitness trails, picnic sites, a great lawn for events and activities, and references to community history. Based upon this feedback, the new design creates a public space where the community can come together. The park will include programming and activities for people of all ages to enjoy, including large areas for family picnicking along the river, Community Building to include senior programming, a history walk, community performance pavilion, new events lawn, splash pad and playground, structured recreation courts and fields, and additional parking. The design will also maintain many existing mature trees while engaging the Hillsborough River by providing a waterfront promenade, a calm water harbor for people to practice boating, and a new boating center for paddle-powered crew boats, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, canoes and dragon boats.