Tampa Is…?

Downtown Clearwater is still working on their effort to find an identity. Their five step process?

1. Take advantage of existing geography & history
2. Made more pedestrian-friendly
3. Recruiting retail
4. Residential construction
5. Calendar of Events

Some of the plans in the five step process could be used in other areas seeking to find themselves.

When journalists start working on their multi-media stuff, sometimes they expose the work to an adoring public before it is actually published.

Case in point - rhythmnation2004, a contributor at SkyScraper City, found this very interesting collage of the History of the Floridan building created by TBO online producer Kathy Moore.  Kathy had previously done the fancy looking Mission: Orange multimedia report earlier this year, too.

For those of you who have not kept up with it, a developer is refurbishing the old building and plans to re-open the place as a fancy hotel.

I would guess that a printed article in the newspaper about the history of the Floridan will be coming soon - perhaps this Sunday.  But for those of you who dig the history stuff (and like sneak peeks) check out the multimedia report on Kathy’s VUVOX website:  The cool collage of the history of the Floridan building.

By the way, for those of you who have video and image and want to create such a thing, VUVOX looks like a pretty cool tool.

In 1985, Deborah Christen, and her Swiss gourmet chef husband John Christen opened the first Shells restaurant in South Tampa.   The couple opened a second location in Tampa and a third in Sarasota, and in 1993, Shells Seafood Restaurants Inc. went public and expanded to the Midwest.  They eventually had 45 restaurants across the US.

On Wednesday, all but the original three and one more (in Melbourne) Shells closed for good.  Deborah plans to revamp the menu for those four sometime in November.

I used to like Shells, but like Hops Grill and Brewery before them (which also started in Tampa Bay, and shrunk to nearly nothing), the quality has been in decline in recent years.

Update 930am:  May as well include links to news of the recent closing of Bennigan’s and this week’s announcement from Arigato’s Japanese Steakhouse.  Arigato’s is trying to stave off bankruptcy.

On the afternoon of Aug. 18, Pinellas officials ordered mandatory evacuation of the county’s most flood-prone areas for 6am the next day.  Tropical Storm Fay was heading our way.

Over at the TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach, visitors checked out and took off.  They say they missed out on over $150,000 in canceled rooms and missed food and beverage sales.

The storm shifted and ended up making landfall south of Naples.  Pinellas canceled the evacuation order at around 5:30am.

So now, hotel managers are saying that Pinellas “overreacted.” 

“It was outrageous for the authorities to make the call prior to even being put on hurricane watch,” wrote Philippe Eversdijk, general manger of the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach. “The decision … shows lack of respect for our area’s bread & butter: tourism.”

It sure is easy to whine about everything a month later.  Pinellas County Commission Chairman Robert Stewart wants the hotels to man up and deal with it:

“This was an unavoidable development,” Stewart said. “We’re always going to err on the side of caution.”

Pinellas is Florida’s most dense county - they have more people per square mile than anywhere else in the state.  The land is surrounded by water on three sides.  Any storm is going to cause trouble, and a big storm will nearly flood the entire county.  With that big of a responsibility, officials must act early. 

If your business loses a couple of bucks to ensure that nobody gets hurt, then you gotta tough it out.  You have another 330 days of the year to be profitable.  Or, you can move your multi-million dollar resorts somewhere else, perhaps New Orleans.

I bet these guys piss & moan about the insurance bill, too.

OK, I admit it - I don’t get out much anymore.  Three kids under seven at home will do that to a couple.  But sometimes you just need to get out of the house.

I am a long time karaoke junkie. I’ve been haunting the best (and worst) karaoke bars in the Bay Area for 12 years. When I heard about Rock Star Fridays at Stump’s Supper Club at Channelside, I just had to check it out.

102.5 The Bone has been pushing this heavily the past few weeks and had folks from the Cowhead Show on hand as well.

The cover was very reasonable, only $5.  They offered $1 Bud drafts all night, plus well prices are reasonable. If you have never been to Stump’s, it’s very nice. We sat at the bar towards the back, which has an indoor portion and an outdoor area on the water. My wife smokes, so this is where we ended up. We still had a good view of the stage and could hear everything, despite being outside.

The Jimmy James Experience, led by Tommy Tutone bass guitarist Jimmy James, is the house band for Stump’s. They’ve been there seven years now. They are an awesome band, but for karaoke night they played without their normal sax player and female lead vocalist. But the sound was really tight.

I was nervous, I had never sung before such a large crowd. There were probably 100 people on the dance area in front of the stage and the place was filled to capacity with patrons. Add to that the excitement of being on stage with a real band, and I was in need of some liquid encouragement.

The only drawback is that they do not have lyrics on a monitor like a standard karaoke show. No “bouncing ball.” So I would recommend that you pick a song you know well. I chose one of my 80′ s standards, Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me.” I did alright, I know I was a bit tipsy and flubbed a little, but the crowd did not seem to notice, they really got into it.

OK, and now for the icing on the cake. They put your video on YouTube. From the looks of it they get to it midweek, so Tuesday or Wednesday the videos from the previous Friday are posted. Just add famousleo to your subscriptions and you’ll get the new ones as they are posted.

I highly recommend Rockstar Fridays. I will definitely be back for it.

We received another question for Ask-a-Tampan:

Does anyone know where I can buy cuban sugar cookies (from a bakery on Armenia Ave or La Terisita etc) and have them shipped to me in Tucson AZ?

YUMMMmmmmm…  Cuban Sugar Cookies…   Torticas de Morón…

Of course, when you are looking for authentic Cuban bakeries, Tampa is the place to go.  Unfortunately, niether La Teresita nor La Segunda has a website that I could find.  Alessi Bakeries has a website, but you cannot order anything online. You can reach Alessi at 813.879.4544, and La Teresita at 813.879.9704.

But did you know that you can make ‘em yourself?  Here is a recipe for Torticas de Morón.

Anyone have experience with shipping cuban sugar cookies across the US?  Who do you contact?

Channelside Bay Plaza (formerly known as the “Shoppes at Channelside,” which was formerly known as “Channelside at Garrison Seaport”) is seven years old. The St. Pete Times says Channelside businesses are struggling, mainly because locals don’t frequent the place.

Nope - locals don’t go. But that is not the only thing - Channelside Bay Plaza has all sorts of problems.

First of all, Channelside businesses don’t really get along.

Remember, Hooters paid for a trolley to get downtown workers over to Channelside during weekday lunchtime. But after four years, and with trolley visitors spending money at several Channelside stores, none of the other businesses wanted to help with the cost, and so the trolley no longer runs.

Guy Revelle has an ownership stake in Stump’s, Howl at the Moon, Splitsville, and Tinatapas - four places that serve alcohol. When other drinking-only establishments attempted to open, Revelle, who never misses an opportunity to be quoted, whined about Channelside becoming a mini Ybor City.

Next on the list is Channelside’s terrible marketing. I only hear about Channelside around major events, and they seem to want to capture only downtown visitors (not locals). In fact, we don’t hear much of anything since Channelside marketing director Susan Martin over two years ago (found in a July 2006 tbt* column spelling out Channelside’s marketing problems).

But even worse than just limited advertising, are the individual businesses failure to provide any consistency. Unless there is something big going on nearby, many of the businesses don’t bother keeping their places open. Back to the Times article:

Business people walk over from their hotels only to find the complex half-closed.

“We get a lot of tourists who are in their hotels looking for something to do. They come down here during the day and say, ‘This is it?’” - Tinatapas bartender Jason Lewis

Area residents have all been there at least once. But not many are going back. Besides the fact that parking is expensive AND a pain in the ass, Channelside Bay Plaza is so visitor-oriented that it comes off as some lame-ass tourist trap:

“There’s nothing down there to draw you. It’s over-rated.” - Channel District resident Denise Becknell

“I really don’t go over there.” “It’s so young. It’s all clubs.” “I don’t think it’s high quality.” “It’s kind of cheesy.” - 36 year old Victory Lofts resdident Jill Lifsey

“It’s pretty plastic.” - Channel District dance studio owner Luisa Meshekoff

Yeah - Channelside residential buildings are full of empty space.  But if the shopping center wants to thrive, they are still going to need local support.  Tampa Bay residents need a good reason to go though the hassles of parking, and Channelside simply doesn’t offer much to fight that perception.

She had earned a full scholarship to attend the University of Florida, and celebrated her 18th birthday on April 22.  Two nights later, the East Bay High School senior swung by the Bloomingdale Regional Library to drop off books at the night drop.  She was on her cell phone with a friend when someone brutally attacked her:

She told the friend there was a weird-looking man sitting on the bench near the depository. Then she screamed, there was a bell-like sound, and the phone went dead.

Friends and family rushed over, someone called 911, and the young lady was found unconscious and badly injured.  Detectives found blood everywhere - on the driveway, on a sidewalk, on a signpost, and on the west wall of the library.  She had been raped and beaten.  She suffered multiple strokes during the attack, and lost her sight.

She was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, and remained in critical condition for weeks.  By June, she had not had the ability to speak, and although doctors still did not know the extent of her injuries, social workers were attempting to push her out of the hospital, to a nursing home.

As of late July, the young girl was undergoing physical therapy at a rehab center, while friends and family prayed.  She cannot see, she cannot talk, and she cannot swallow, but her friends helped to celebrate her graduation from high school this week.

Meanwhile, her family is nearly bankrupt.  All of their insurance has been used up, went to Medicaid, and were told recently that Medicaid would no longer pay for her care, because she is not making sufficient progress.  The family is happy with the care at the rehab center, but just staying there costs about $30,000 a month.

Clark recently told you that SunTrust Bank has established a “Bloomingdale Library Assault Victim Fund” to help with expenses, and lots of people have given a bit of money to help out.  But it’s just not enough.

That’s why you will hear about various fundraisers around the community from your friends at the newspapers and television stations, including an effort by the guys in my band.  Yesterday, I spoke with Sarina Fazan from ABC Action News.  She has been covering the various fundraisers for the young girl, and on yesterday’s 6pm newscast, she talked about what the JGLB has planned.

This Saturday night, my band - JGLB - is playing a fundraiser at the L.A. Hangout.  For a small donation, we will take requests for all sorts of songs, and 100% all the tip money we collect will go to the Bloomingdale Library Assault Victim Fund.

If you don’t have the chance to make it to a SunTrust Bank to leave a donation, please come by the LA Hangout on Saturday night, listen to some great local music, and help a neighbor that truly needs it.

Thanks for your consideration.