They came for the manatees.

Alan Wright was a 34-year-old staffer for the Planning Commission when he purchased his home on Hilton Place in the northeast section of Old Seminole Heights. He'd already earned the moniker "Mr. River" due to the enthusiasm with which he fulfilled his duties as a Planning Commission staffer, and his new home was across from a small, neglected city park along the Hillsborough that most passersby confused for a vacant lot.

To Mr. River, though, that park represented an opportunity.

Alan Wright had many passions, most of them related to our local waterway—but protecting manatees was what brought him to public attention so many times. Seacows made their way up the Hillsborough River to birth their calves at an eddy called Hanna's Swirl, and it was Alan who alerted boaters, advocated for no-wake zones, and pushed for tighter regulations on the use of construction netting along the river.

And it was from that small, neglected park by his home that he would regularly make kayaking trips—ones that eventually led to the establishment of a Hillsborough River Blueway that now bears his name.

Alan Wright founded the annual River Cleanup event in 1987, and it continues strong today ( this year's is on September 20th ). If not for Alan Wright, we wouldn't have a River Tower Park (and may not have a Sulphur Springs water tower, period). When Alan Wright died of cancer in 2007, then-City Council member Linda Saul-Sena declared he had been "the voice and soul of the Hillsborough River."

They came for the manatees.

Last night, the mayor's office announced plans to destroy every piece of street art in the city of Tampa—and at 8 o'clock this morning, city employees were in front of Alan Wright Park sandblasting away a mural designed by Angela Forero Moreno, paid for by Northeast Seminole Heights Watch Grid 45 and a county neighborhood grant, & painted on April 27th, 2019 by OSHNA residents and their children.

That mural celebrated Alan Wright Park, including the former Lowry Park bridge and Hanna's Swirl.

Next on the city's list of destruction was the mural painted a few weeks after the one at Alan Wright Park, one at the corner of Broad and Hilton that commemorated Hillsborough River wildlife . By the time you read this, a smiling manatee's face has likely been erased by a blast of high-powered sand.

This didn't have to happen.

We mourn what is lost: pure, joyful representations of our neighborhood pride and the many hours and many people it took to make these works of art a reality.

But consider how many more people it took to destroy them.

It took Governor DeSantis, who when asked today why the state was forcing the destruction of our art blamed it on a "new law" and a "new standard" in a bill that he himself signed and which does not, in fact, establish any new standards. (The new law merely allows the state to withhold FDOT Trust Fund money from cities that do not properly regulate "traffic control devices" as defined by the USDOT; the USDOT's definition of a "traffic control device" specifically excludes things like street murals that serve no informative purpose.)

It took our state senator-turned-Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins , who was informed of our predicament but instead became a cheerleader for the destruction of street art in Tampa despite the fact that decades of studies have shown they have a traffic calming effect that makes streets safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike .

It took the Florida Legislature to allow our state administration to run riot on our cities all in the interest of further persecuting and marginalizing people who are different.

It took the Florida Department of Transportation , the entity responsible for a larger share of OSHNA's grief over the past 40 years than any other.

It took our city administration to once again hand our lunch money over to the school bully rather than stick up for us; to ignore that even if the law were legitimate, it doesn't cover our street murals; to spend our tax dollars on sandblasting instead of a "good enough for government work" coat of black paint we could possibly scrape off after establishing the "legality" of our murals.

This isn't over. Together, we as neighbors can work to hold accountable those people and entities that have let us down. We can work together to make Alan Wright Park an even more inviting destination no matter what the street looks like in front of it. We can do that for all fifteen parks within the Old Seminole Heights borders . There's a lot we can do together, and you can start by becoming an OSHNA member or renewing your membership for just $10 a year.

You can also help us by volunteering for committees dedicated to making our neighborhood safer or more beautiful; fire us on the board of trustees an email at board@oldseminoleheights.org to inquire as to what role you can play (we have many, many roles!!)

I appreciate everyone who has ever worked to improve our neighborhood, and I appreciate you for reading. Share it with anyone you know who might appreciate reading it, too.

Tim Burke

President, Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association

As always, check our events calendar on Facebook or OldSeminoleHeights.org .