Key word being SOME, of course

Museum, Fountain, Exhibits To Begin Rising Along River
Skip directly to the full story.
By DONNA KOEHN The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 26, 2007



TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990

TAMPA - Something as rare as a string of green lights on Kennedy Boulevard will soon be commonplace in the heart of downtown:

Kids.

First question: Where are the parents of these kids going to park or will this just serve as another YAWN destination for Hillsborough County school children on a field-trip??? They go to Cracker Country from grades three thru five now. Seriously, the kids don't even want away from school bad enough to go there, it seems. AGAIN
The Children's Museum of Tampa will begin rising this year on one of the sweetest spots along the Hillsborough River, offering a daytime destination for some of the area's smallest residents.

Ooopsie, there goes that river access ...... AND there's that 'some' I wanted to address. This place sounds pricey as hell. Parking? No mention. Downtown parking? Well, it's f'd up at best. Pricey if available ... unless you have one of those self-parking lexus' which is the only reason I've seen for buying a new car lately. Which SOME is this referring to? Not a lot of families I have seen but it does explain those iorio benches .... and also something else I am finding a great deal of humor in lately. LOL. Just thinking about it makes me laugh, seriously. (Rachel and Kate, maybe this is my persecution complex manifesting as .... what? See if you can get me another Cat 5 diagnosis) No really, you'll see, it's a stitch when I get time to write about it.


Designs were finalized about a month ago for the 50,000-square-foot facility, which will outshine Kid City, its aging predecessor near Lowry Park Zoo.(she fails to mention the river, the FREEEEE PARKING the unpaved river, funland, cinderellaland and jungleland and all the other VERY COOL very FREE and awesome amenities at kid city and it's newly remodeled lowry park and zoo school in the same venue/area) Opened in 1965 as Safety Village, Kid City evolved into a number of child-sized play-buildings, including a Publix supermarket, a McDonald's fast food restaurant and a bank sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. It's so cool You really HAVE to see it.


OKAY this just out and out yanked my chain. Kid City is SO COOL. It's a lil village with stoplights and stuff. Then there is also a ball-field and all of Lowry Park and the zoo. An all-in-one and FRESH AIR DESTINATION for an entire family and visitors. As well, it's extremely centrally located. This city makes NO DAMN SENSE. Moving all this crap downtown for the new people and shattering the neighborhoods. I just read something hysterical about mine but I haven't got time to blog anything real so I'm just pickin the paper apart .....
Kind of cute, but not exactly a prime destination for tourists or local families.

"Kid City is really just one exhibit," says Heidi Shimberg, chairwoman of the museum's board of directors. "The new one will have 12 more."

(see above!!) Kid City has TONS OF COOL STUFF inside plus an entire outside city. They even have little cars the kids can drive around. Seriously, it's the coolest place and if you haven't been there --- go. I'm sure like everything else they are doing their part (the new people) to drive it downhill but some things are just cool. This lady ... maybe she's an indoors-type gal or maybe her interests are different from a child's but KIDS LOVE KID CITY, man.

The museum, designed for children from birth through elementary school, will be adorned with a fountain and plush landscaping (kids are ALL ABOUT some plush landscaping) along the riverfront, Ashley Drive and Gasparilla Plaza. A children's garden will separate it from the Tampa Museum of Art, which is to be demolished and then rebuilt in time to open in spring 2009. (I can't even mess with this one; this sentence stands on it's own in terms of HILARITY ----- only in Tampa ... built by developers for the mob for developers for the mob, run by a smiley face) (and, yeah, I KNOW it's NOT only in Tampa) FDBD=Tampa's FUBU For developers by developers. The children's museum is slated to open in the fall of that year.

According to Shimberg, its most striking feature will be a 30-foot-high children's climbing structure tracing the path of a raindrop from clouds to aquifer.

Other exhibits will include:

Planes, Trains, Autos and More! Demonstrates Florida history with models of Spanish galleons, a Seminole dugout canoe, trains and a futuristic hybrid car.

Art Smart. A place for trying out various types of art.

Get Going. Offers a variety of games and sports, some of them a little quirky.

En La Playa (On the Beach). Children can play in sand and build castles.

KidsPort. Offers water play, allowing children to run a mock shipping center, wade into the water to float boats, use tongs as cranes to move shipping containers and build a causeway for toy cars.

Safety Village NOW. Similar to Kid City, it encourages children to explore a make-believe town and select healthy foods, get medical treatment for dolls or adopt a pet at the veterinarian's office.
ummmm WTF? Does this mean we won't need kid city for the 'other' kids in tampa who aren't included in the 'some' above??

Tampa Tots. Provides an area where children younger than 3 can play while their parents watch.

Tampa Live! Children can make and perform on videos.

Plan it, Build it. Exposes children to a variety of building experiences.

The exhibits will be "kids' scale" - meaning constructed at the height of young children - and also will include classrooms, an auditorium-theater and a hall for traveling displays.