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Cascades Park


Florida

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BRING BACK CENTENNIAL FIELD!!!!

The Centennial Field was constructed for the celebration of Tallahassee's one hundredth birthday. It quickly became one of the social centers of the community. The park was the home of little league baseball and football, a minor league baseball franchise and some Florida State University ball games in the course of its fifty year history. The State of Florida, which acquired the land in 1963, allowed the city Recreation and Parks Department to use the facilities through the end of the football season in 1974 and began to dismantle the old stadium in early 1975. Although its destruction was opposed by some, the plan to replace the stadium and other buildings in the Cascades Park area with a passive, green park area was largely lauded in the local press.

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East of Monroe Street, the project to create the Cascades Park involved the removal of the old buildings that occupied the area. Because of budgetary problems, the plan to remove these structures did not reach fruition until 1977 when the first bids for this phase of the project were let. Funds were released at that time for the removal of the old driveway ways, the city motor pool buildings and other smaller structures. Major excavation of the site did not take place until April of 1977 when new fill and top soil were ordered. The project was divided into three phases, with those to east of Monroe finished first, before the final alteration of the old centennial field site. By 1979, the final rerouting of the Branch was completed and the clean fill added and graded in the area of the plant and field sites. The "final" park was administered through the District II office of the Division of Recreation and Parks, Florida Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This lasted only four years before the DNR transferred the entire area to the Division of General Services (now Division of Management Services) in 1984. Since the property was acquired by the DMS, little has been done to the area except routing maintenance.

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I would rather have the art area instead of the baseball field. I really don't see the point of the baseball field. FSU just spend over $12 Million on theres which would be nearby. FAMU also has one. You aren't going to get kids from Killearn to come downtown to play. I just see it as extremely limited in use, unless you get a minor league team and I don't see that either.

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There are kids in Tallahassee besides those in Killearn. And currently the kids playing baseball in our community through the Tallahassee Parks and Recreation Department, and other minor leagues travel south of town to the Jake Gaither area, Tom Brown Park, Tharpe Street, and Messer Park areas to play their sports. It would be great to see a sports complex in the heart of the city for these leagues to hold their championships games and what not. Even local middle and high schools could use this field as the Baseball version of Gene Cox Stadium.

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  • 2 weeks later...

That building has been there forever and a day. Not exactly money pouring into that area. I still have my doubts the city can do anything more with Gaines Street than what they did with Tenn St...which is destroy it while spending a ton of taxpayer money.

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You are so right about Tennessee Street. I think it is the ideal Urban eyesoar. Further down on Mahan things improve, the Parkway is nice, Thomasville Road is nice, most of the Circle is nice, most of Monroe is nice, John Knox is nice, but Tennessee west of Downtown is embarrasing.

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I like that! A themed restaurant. This is the old city waterworks building. It was recently aquired from the state and is located in the Capital Cascades Park area. It is near historic Centennial Field, an old city power plant - which is also subject to refurbishment, and the beautiful Bloxham building downtown.

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^It looks very familar, I just didn't know what it once was. Nevertheless, a themed restaurant could make great use of something like that. One of my clients, just opened a new Oyster bar and seafood restaurant, specializing in Wild Georgia Shrimp, in what was once an old rusted metal building next to the shrimp docks, in Darien, GA. I must say, the place turned out pretty impressive and its pretty popular because of its unique setting and atmosphere.

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  • 3 months later...

Tonight Blue Print 2000 officials are holding a meeting and on the Agenda is Cascades Park. Mr Davis, Director of Blueprint 2000 was just here in the office and I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about the cascades trail. He will be presenting a plan tonight at 6:30 he says, the meeting will actually begin at 5.

I'd like to be there in the meeting to give some insight, its being held right outside my office here, literally, however I need to go home and start preparing for some big tests.

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The Tallahassee Democrat should be providing some coverage for this meeting so you'll likely see an article in the paper tomorrow. I'm a little disappointed they eliminated the sports facility from the rebuilding plan, however, we could always do our own verson of a "Millenium Park" like the one in Chicago.

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Millenium Park, Chicago Illinois

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During last nights Blueprint 2000 intergovernmental meeting the item on the Capital Cascades Trail got ugly when Grippa, as he usually does started to bark about no competition in bidding the projects and Proctor turned things into a Black and White issue.

I'm sorry people... why are they commissioners! Is Proctor a civil rights leader or a county commissioner? Is Grippa a contract police? It seems every project that comes before these two has to face some sort of unnecessary critism, and suffer delay.

Agency leaders say commissioners are trying to micromanage, I agree. I thought some of this work would be completed closer to the year 2000, but it looks like it will take 2000 years before it even begins.

"I'd rather lose 9 months of progress if it means putting a few dollars in some black hands" Words of Commissioner Proctor. I'm a minority commissioner, and I'm not impressed. People want to see progress, not politics.

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"I'd rather lose 9 months of progress if it means putting a few dollars in some black hands" Words of Commissioner Proctor.

What a racist statement. If you replaced the word "black" with "white", Proctor would of been thrown out of office and the national press would be here. Unbelievable that an elected official would say something so devisive

sorry Taurean, but if there is no bidding on this project, where there is no emergency, etc, that means it is crooked in my book. Simply the govt paying someone off. Complete and total BS. I am thrilled a commissioner took issue with this. The fact that some have no issue is unethical.

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TaureanJ,

"I'd rather lose 9 months of progress if it means putting a few dollars in some black hands" Words of Commissioner Proctor."

If a white commissioner said this about white company on a no bid contract....you wouldn't find that racist?

This is WRONG for a political leader to act this way. Period. I can't believe you are not 'inclined' to believe this is racist.

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^ I never said I didn't think it was racist. Clearly those statements were out of line, and in my opinion unnecessary.

"If a white commissioner said this about white company on a no bid contract....you wouldn't find that racist?"

Racist against his own kind. If it were a black company, yeah I'd say that. I can see where you're coming from and I agree with you, which is why I stated we don't need a civil rights leader on the county commission. He's not C.K. Steele.

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tough talkers make mental mistakes. . . I can appreciate the philosophy, however it is in bad character. As a white boy from Rickards, yeah money could be distributed a little better, and governemnt should do more to disburse work equally. I do want however, for them to keep money locally, instead of contractors from other areas. That is a start. Money in local's hands is money spent locally. Then the impact is greater for everyone regardless.

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!Good News!

The City Commission will be voting Wednesday to award a contract for the cleaning up of Cascades Park. Finally after all these years!!

The cleanup will cost $8 Million, half of which may be absorbed by the state, who has recently turned over control of the part to the city.

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Blueprint 2000 Press Meeting

Cascades Park

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^Now that would be awesome! I still want my Tallahassee Thunder. Next big deal thing will be the performing arts center I think. I think the colleges will continue to dominate local sports, especially if FSU finishes this season the way they started it. FAMU has tons of promise too. I'd like to see HS sports emphasized more around here... and I also think companies like Feldman have big plans for our Shopping centers.

I'm looking for Tallahassee to truly start to attract a crowd within the next 10 years. Especailly if growth continues in our costal counties. People will find business opportunity in the state capital and a romantic get away just 30 miles away.

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agree with everything you said. My excitement really increased after the reminder of the performing arts center. They are suppose to release the site they choose really soon. About HS football in Tallahassee it is becoming really big all of sudden. They now televise the games on tv. But staying on topic though is there any conceptual plans, renderings or what have you? And speaking about parks what about Northwest Park.

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I'm indeed very excited abou the development of the performing arts center. I think the placement of it will have a tremendous impact on the area it joins also. Its very fun to grow up in a city that is finding itself. Its like we're pioneers only we aren't.

Im going to try my hardest to find a concept to Cascades park. There was one on WCOT worth posting, but I can't find it. I'll look around for one though.

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