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Park's Name To Honor Developer

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By ANGELA DELGADO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Although not opening until 2009, a park to be created adjacent to the future Town 'N Country Commons has a name.

This summer, several community members petitioned and got Hillsborough County commissioners to approve the name Shimberg Gardens for the 4-acre park. The idea came about after the June death of Town 'N Country developer Jim Shimberg Sr.

Jerry Custin, president and chief executive officer of the Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, began circulating e-mail to community leaders after Shimberg's death, asking whether there was some way they should honor him. Rob Gamester, who helped develop the Town 'N Country Community Plan, suggested Shimberg Gardens as the name for the park to be built at Paula Drive.

The park will have walking trails, benches, a gazebo and a small water feature, which will serve as a retention pond, said Kathy Stone of the Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. A small children's play yard and butterfly garden will be adjacent to the park.

Custin sent county commissioners a letter stating their wishes, and on July 5, the Town 'N Country Garden Circle and the Town 'N Country Optimist Club formally requested the name. On Aug. 24, the parks department voted unanimously in favor of the name, and on Sept. 19 county commissioners also unanimously approved the request.

This decision, though, surprised some key figures in the community.

At the Town 'N Country Community Plan Working Committee meeting Oct. 2, the new name was announced, and word spread quickly. Angry e-mail followed, inquiring how and why the name was chosen. The issue wasn't the name but how it was selected.

When the initial e-mails were sent in June, active community members Bill Browne, Carlton Lewis and Laura Vickers expressed displeasure with the name for several reasons, one of which was that there is already a Shimberg Park in Town 'N Country.

'Why does the park have to have a special name?' Browne said after he learned of the park's name. 'Why can't it be Common's Park? Naming it Shimberg is going to create confusion. And we're three years away from a park over there. We would've discussed it. If the majority said this is what we want, we would've gone along with it.'

Although some were told that Shimberg Gardens was a possible name, a public meeting wasn't held to inform others in the community or to vote on other possible names.

'We wouldn't have made a decision by e-mail,' Browne said. 'You have to have a meeting to discuss this; have a face to face conversation.'

Gamester said he followed the same process the Friends of the Library used to change the West Gate Regional Library name to Town 'N Country Regional Library. County policy for naming library facilities states that once a name request has been issued, the Library Board can solicit input from the community in various fashions: public meetings, written surveys or e-mail. The county commission has the final vote. The Garden Circle, the Optimist club and the chamber went through the Parks Advisory Board, Gamester said.

Pete Fowler, division manager for the parks department, said a public meeting was held to name the Town 'N Country Commons, but not the park. No surveys or e-mails were sent by the Library Board either, he said.

Gamester said he didn't send e-mail when the Parks Advisory Board voted, nor did he send any when the item was going before the commission. Still, he, Gerald Jacobs of the Optimist club, and Custin said they were confused why people were so agitated.

'At the time that it went on, it just seemed very ho-hum,' Jacobs said. 'Not much of an issue at all. I'm very surprised that it's turned into this big wart.'

Custin and Gamester said they read all the initial e-mail and did not sense strong opposition to the name.

'I have an e-mail from Bill Browne that indicated 'OK, it's not my first choice, but I won't go crazy over it,'' Custin said. 'I thought 'these guys seem to be OK,' and obviously now they're not.'

Regardless, the name will likely stick.

Commissioner Rose Ferlita recently has received several calls and e-mail regarding the naming of Shimberg Gardens. She said that although Gamester told her the community reached a consensus to go forward with the Shimberg name, the statement was 'absolutely misrepresented.' Still, Ferlita said she would not entertain a request to revisit the issue.

'As far as I'm concerned, the community should learn from this but not at the expense of something that would even remotely stand as an offense or insult to the Shimberg family,' she said. 'Regardless of how we got there, Mr. Shimberg's name needs to be honored. The fact that it was named Shimberg, to me, is a good thing. We'll just go forward and make sure people follow policy and inclusion a little better next time.'

Despite the animosity this issue created, Custin, Gamester and Browne said they are looking to the future.

'There are so many positive things going on in that community that I hate to see something like this lose some focus,' Custin said. 'There's no intent for anyone to gain anything by the naming process. There's no intent at all for anybody to violate a process or sensitivity. The only intent was to circulate a question: is this particular citizen that died worthy of some recognition in the future?'

'I feel badly,' he continued. 'They have so many positive things because citizens of Town 'N Country have worked so well. I just hope this isn't a major distraction to that.'

Reporter Angela Delgado can be reached at (813) 865-1501 or adelgado@tampatrib.com.

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