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Clearwater News Briefs
By LESTER R. DAILEY
Article published on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 |
What’s in a name?
CLEARWATER – St. Louis has its Gateway Arch, and now Clearwater has its own arch. The jagged-edged aluminum sculpture stands in the Cleveland Street median as part of an effort to beautify the downtown core.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so some people think the sculpture is beautiful, while others think it’s downright ugly. But what concerned the City Council recently is that they have heard complaints that the art work, which is on a one-year loan from its creator, 74-year-old Florida artist Bruce White, is vaguely satanic and anti-Christian because of its name, Sorcerer’s Gate.
White denies that there is anything sinister about the name, adding that he is a fan of J.K. Rowling’s book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. And Mayor Frank Hibbard, a member of Calvary Baptist Church, doesn’t feel that his faith is threatened by the sculpture, which was recently displayed in Sarasota.
“It’s not about my religion,” Hibbard said at the July 14 City Council work session. “My God is bigger than some purple arch.”
What bothers Hibbard and Councilman Paul Gibson is that the first three artworks of the program, including Sorcerer’s Gate, were selected by a board composed of members of the Downtown Development Board, the Clearwater Downtown Partnership and the Clearwater Historical Society, with advice from Ken Rollins of the Tampa Museum of Art. Hibbard and Gibson said that, in the future, the City Council should be warned, and given some say in the selection process, when potentially controversial art works are being considered for the city’s public arts program.
Contractor hired to build Bayfront Promenade
CLEARWATER – At its July 17 meeting, the City Council approved a $1.48 million contract for Tampa-based Misener Marine Construction to build the new Clearwater Downtown Promenade on the existing pilings at the eastern end of the old Memorial Causeway Bridge. The 200-foot by 32-foot concrete deck will give pedestrians a panoramic view of Clearwater Harbor and the new municipal marina that soon will be built behind the Harborview Center. It also will bring electric, water and sewer utilities to the new marina.
Construction of the promenade is expected to start almost immediately and take approximately 180 days. Construction of the marina will begin when the promenade is finished.
City settles three lawsuits
CLEARWATER – The City Council recently approved the settlement of three lawsuits against the city. In the first, Brenda Zega received $35,000 for injuries she received in a collision between her vehicle and a city truck.
Wendy Cason, the city’s first female fire lieutenant, was paid $74,999 in settlement of her gender discrimination suit. While not admitting any guilt, city officials felt that the amount of the settlement would be less than the cost of defending the lawsuit.
Christina McNeil Tracey and Anchor Mini-Mart Inc. will receive $400,000 for damages they allegedly suffered when construction on Coronado Drive allegedly blocked access to their businesses’ parking areas and caused flooding on their properties. The city also will spend another $100,000 on improvements to remediate the situation.
Citizens Police Academy enrolling
CLEARWATER – Residents of Clearwater are invited to the Clearwater Citizen Police Academy. The academy is free for the public and will be Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 6 through Oct. 22. It will teach citizens about the police department and the criminal justice system. To reserve a seat, call 562-4167.
Note: Phone number corrected.
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Article published on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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