Franklin Street has historically served as the commercial corridor connecting Tampa’s Downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods. There were many local firsts celebrated along Franklin Street: the first paved street, the first brick building, the first theater, and the first multi-story department store. As Downtown continues to evolve, the Partnership believes Franklin Street must evolve with it, to better serve, connect, inspire, and reflect the community. With extensive stakeholder input, the Tampa Downtown Partnership has commissioned several studies to help breathe new life (while celebrating its history) into this important “Main Street.”
Since these studies, the Partnership has continued to engage in community outreach, public realm improvements, data collection, historic preservation, and advocacy efforts to further its commitment to Franklin Street.
Commissioned in 2020, in Partnership with Stantec, the Vision Plan analyzed current conditions along the Franklin Street Corridor and researched the past roles and uses of the street throughout the history of Tampa. The Tampa Downtown Partnership led extensive community outreach, soliciting over 550+ responses from Downtown employees, residents, and visitors, including 120+ interactive mapping comments for respondents. Through Stantec’s analysis and community engagement, the vision plan marries historical context, current conditions, and public wants and needs to outline what Franklin Street should be. The Historic Preservation Plan and Action Plan are direct results of the initial planning conducted in this vision plan.
This plan was produced in 2023 in Partnership with Inspire Placemaking Collective, Inc., using the community input acquired during the Vision Plan. The Historic Preservation Plan spells out three main goals: 1 – Protect Historic Resources, 2 – Promote/Celebrate Franklin Street’s History, and 3 -Incentivize Protection, Rehabilitation, and Adaptive Reuse. It highlights the historic resources still present along the corridor, preservation tools and programs available to property owners, and specific strategies to achieve the three main goals.
The Partnership is working on several items laid out in the Historic Preservation Plan, from hosting public-facing events to highlighting Downtown’s rich history, laying out tax incentives to property owners to tactical visuals along the corridor to highlight its past, and surveying and updating the Florida Master Site Files for all significant structures built before 1974. In 2024:
The Partnership has continued to make progress in several areas. Including public realm improvements, mobility enhancements, and data collection:
Public Realm improvements include new planters, intersection murals, micro-mobility corrals, and traffic signal removal. More programming is taking place, including monthly and quarterly events at Lykes Gaslight Square Park. The Partnership continues to collect and analyze data to improve coordination between partners.
Tampa City Council members on Thursday unanimously approved the Tampa Downtown Partnership’s Franklin Street Vision project. The $6 million investment supported by Council members serving on the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will improve the historic street that runs through several downtown neighborhoods.
The project aims to combine historic charm and modern enhancements such as streetscape and infrastructure upgrades and mobility enhancements.
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