Tampa Riverwalk

27°56′41″N 82°27′32″W / 27.944696°N 82.458767°W / 27.944696; -82.458767

Tampa Riverwalk is a phased open space and pedestrian trail development along the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida. The downtown Tampa portion travels alongside the Tampa Arts District and includes Curtis Hixon Park, The Macdill Park, the Tampa Museum of Art, Glazer Children's Museum, Rivergate Tower and adjacent atrium containing the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts. The Riverwalk extends to the Channelside District and is slated to connect up with part of Tampa Heights at the Water Works Park via the Future Doyle Carlton Riverwalk Segment eventually. The project dates back to the 1970s. The long-term goal is to complete a continuous path of 2.4 miles.

Construction of two parks along the Riverwalk began in 2004. In 2006, a $20 million fundraising campaign was launched to pay for the construction of Riverwalk. Tampa mayor Pam Iorio was a driving force behind the project and mayor Bob Buckhorn has continued to advance the project since he took office. A $10 million federal grant request to help complete the project was denied in 2010. The City of Tampa is developing three new segments in 2011/2012 to create 1.8 miles of the pedestrian path for the 2012 Republican National Convention in August 2012.

Riverwalk

Riverwalk is a name often given to a foreshoreway or pedestrian zone adjacent to a river.

In the United States

Tampa, Florida

Tampa /ˈtæmpə/ is a city in and the county seat of Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is located on the west coast of Florida on Tampa Bay, near the Gulf of Mexico, and is part of the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Area. The city had a population of 346,037 in 2011.

The current location of Tampa was once inhabited by indigenous peoples of the Safety Harbor culture most notably the Tocobaga and the Pohoy, who lived along the shores of Tampa Bay. The area was explored by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, resulting in violent conflicts and the introduction of European diseases, which wiped out the original native cultures. Although Spain claimed Florida as part of New Spain, it did not found a colony in the Tampa area, and there were no permanent American or European settlements within today's city limits until after the United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1819.

In 1824, the United States Army established a frontier outpost called Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near the site of today's Tampa Convention Center. The first civilian residents were pioneers who settled near the fort for protection from the nearby Seminole population, and the small village was first incorporated as "Tampa" in 1849. The town grew slowly until the 1880s, when railroad links, the discovery of phosphate, and the arrival of the cigar industry jump-started its development, helping it to grow from a quiet village of less than 800 residents in 1880 to a bustling city of over 30,000 by the early 1900s.

Hillsborough River

There are at least two rivers named the Hillsborough River: