Hillsborough River's rebirth will continue outside Straz Center

TAMPA, Fla. - For a city that seemed to turn its back on the river for so long, new interest in the downtown Tampa riverfront is flowing in a big way. 

"This is going in the right direction," offered environment scientist Tom Reis. "There's a lot more people here,"  

Reis, the president of Ecosphere Restoration Institute,  made a discovery nearly 10 years ago that bubbled from the ground and helped change the landscape along the river. 

"The water is 75 degrees year-round," Reis told us then.

The water he showed us was from a system of springs in Tampa Heights. The springs were the original water supply for Tampa. 

Reis located the springs on old maps. They had been buried for decades with an unmarked iron pipe carrying their forgotten fresh water to the river. 

Using grant money, Reis restored the springs and their natural flow to the Hillsborough River. He also constructed a natural shoreline on what was once a flat concrete seawall. 

The resurrected Ulele Springs

"A seawall is a flat vertical wall. It might have a narrow band of barnacles, but it has no other ecological benefits," he explained. "Put a living seawall in, you have places for fish and plants in there." 

His work around Ulele Springs is now part of the booming Tampa Heights riverfront that includes Armature Works, Ulele, and Waterworks Park. 

"I've always wanted to do more sections of the river, but you have to get to the right people." 

The Riverwalk along the Straz Center, as it looks now.

Reis says he recently found the right people at the Straz Center. The performing arts venue has 800 feet of shoreline on the river. 

"We only have 60 or 70 feet over at Ulele," Reis said. "This is 10 times that amount." 

Renderings show a lush, green shoreline at the Straz where a flat seawall stands now. Reis says it will cost around $250,000 to be paid for with state and federal environmental grants and the Straz Center. 

How the Straz could look after the project is complete.

"We're going to put signage up to show people there are other alternatives than just a sterile seawall," he added.

He expects to complete the project in 2021.