Next week City Council will take another look at the rowing graffiti that the city wants to pressure wash off of the seawall near Kiley Gardens in downtown just north of the Kennedy Boulevard bridge. The city wants the collegiate graffiti gone in preparation for a “Lights on Tampa” art installation. Others have objected–citing the colorful calling cards of northern universities’ rowing teams as part of our diverse history. You don’t pressure wash history.
This shouldn’t be seen as a zero-sum encounter.
The city’s makeover of the riverfront–via the Riverwalk and illuminated art–has been a source of civic pride and a magnet for energizing downtown. “Lights on Tampa” is decidedly cool–with motion detectors that will change the color of light as pedestrians pass along the Riverwalk. But it’s likely not complemented by ad hoc shout-outs to Colgate and Princeton. Plus, the vast majority of the seawalls, as Economic Opportunity Administrator Bob McDonaugh has pointed out, won’t be touched.
And they shouldn’t be.
We can have the best of both–hipster art and our unique identity–as long as city officials realize what we have in our rowing graffiti. It’s not just a part of our diverse history. It’s also a form of marketing and self-promotion, courtesy of the very demographic Mayor Bob Buckhorn wants to attract here.