It’s now official. The next Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates will start at Bay to Bay Boulevard and proceed down Bayshore Boulevard, across the Platt Street Bridge and then head west along Ashley Drive and end at Cass Street. The downtown extension is new.
That’s an improvement, but likely no acceptable solution for those in South Tampa who will still see their neighborhoods invaded. Parade routes – and overburdened police and crowds in the hundreds of thousands – will never mix well with residential areas. Tampa is still unique in such parade shoehorning.
Among those who still don’t understand that concept: the congenitally disingenuous Darrell Stefany, whose only vested interest is being president of EventFest, which only organizes the event.
“Property owners like that the parade is coming down their street,” gushed Stefany. “It’s a neat thing because it’s a beautiful area.”
Hey, Darrell, try asking residents who practically shrink-wrap their property or feel extorted into hiring private security because the Ye Mystic Krude parade route is so neat.