Harbour Island (Tampa)

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Harbour Island
Neighborhood
Harbour Island is located in Florida
Harbour Island
Harbour Island
Location within the state of Florida
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country United States
State Florida
County Hillsborough
City Tampa
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 33602
Area code(s) 813

Harbour Island is an island neighborhood within the city limits of Tampa, Florida and the sub-district within Downtown Tampa. The ZIP Code serving the area is 33602.[1]

Geography

Harbour Island is situated adjacent to Downtown across the Garrison Channel. Other nearby areas include Davis Islands and Channelside. The Tampa Convention Center is located directly across the Harbour Island Bridge and Channelside is just across Beneficial Drive, both walking distance.

History

Harbour Island was originally known as Seddon Island, which was named after W. L. Seddon, chief engineer for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. In 1906, a public hearing was held to plan a new port for the city. Seddon's plans were adopted and soon his company dredged a channel and established a port facility on what was then called Grassy Island. The Seaboard Coast Line later sold the 177 acres (72 ha) island to the Beneficial Land Corporation in 1979 for residential, office and retail development purposes. The first phase of development did not begin until 1985. Up to that point, the island still housed a phosphate terminal and had freight rail access.[1] Beneficial's chief executive, Finn M. W. Caspersen (1941-2009) envisioned transforming the island into a bustling waterfront with offices, shops and restaurants, much like Baltimore's Inner Harbor.[citation needed] Between 1985 and January 1999, Harbour Island was linked to Downtown Tampa by the Harbour Island People Mover, an automated rubber tired tram manufactured by Otis Transportation Systems that ran on an elevated concrete guideway connecting the Knights Point shopping center on Harbour Island, to the Ft Brooke Parking Garage half of a mile to the north, adjacent to the downtown core on the mainland.[2]

Today

File:Harbor Island 1.jpg
Harbour Island

Today, the island consists of mostly private residential areas, including high-rise condos, apartments, row houses, single-family homes and large houses, as well as a yacht club. The island has a Westin hotel, Jackson's Bistro Bar & Sushi restaurant spanning 20,000 square feet boasting special event space, Sunday Brunch, waterfront dining, and a Friday and Saturday nightclub; as well as a Pizza and Sushi Shop that delivers. Located in the center of the island there are small shops; a Coffee Shop that specializes in fresh ingredients for breakfast & lunch, and local hotspot Cafe Dufrain focusing on seasonal cuisine & seafood with waterfront dining.[3][4][5] The TECO Streetcar "In-Town" trolley connects the island to Downtown and Channelside.[6] NEVs also connect the island to other core neighborhoods such as Hyde Park.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Neighborhoods in Tampa Bay, Florida
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. "Electra, McCarthy, Kardashian hosting Super Bowl party at Jackson's", St Petersburg Times, October 10, 2008
  4. "Cafe Dufrain"[dead link], Bay News 9, March 15, 2008
  5. "A new era for island?", St Petersburg Times, August 1, 2003
  6. [1][dead link]
  7. "Hop Tampa ready to give folks a ride downtown", St Petersburg Times, April 18, 2008