Be Prepared to Stop...and WAIT

Let their names be the last: Tampa Police Memorial

The silhouette of the uniformed police officer stands atop the memorial to the 29 Tampa Police Officers killed in the line of duty since 1895. Each officer made the ultimate sacrifice for the citizens of Tampa. Their names are inscribed in the Roll Call of Honor. The first officer to die in the line of duty was Officer John McCormick, who was killed September 25, 1895, right near this spot on Franklin Street where the memorial and the Tampa Police headquarters are located. And the last was Corporal Michael Roberts who died on August 19, 2009. Two names of officers who were killed in towns that were annexed after the city was incorporated were added in the front; Town Marshall Joseph Walker, of Port Tampa City, who died in 1915; and Officer Juan Nales, City of West Tampa, who died in 1920. This is a very powerful and moving tribute to these fine officers. It stands right in front of the entrance to the Tampa Police building. Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the sculptural elements just above the badge with black band.

This is a poem that is inscribed on the Tampa Police Memorial:

I never dreamed it would be me

my name for all eternity, recorded

here at the hallowed place, alas,

my name, no more my face.

"In the line of duty" I hear them say,

my family now the price to pay,

my folded flag stained with their tears,

we only had those few short years.

The badge no longer on my chest,

I sleep now in eternal rest, my sword

I pass to those behind, and pray they,

keep this thought in mind.

I never dreamed it would be me

and with heave heart and bended knee,

I ask for all here from the past;

Dear God, let my name be the last.

(Written by George Hahn, Los Angeles Police Department, Retired)

Parking at the Courthouse: A Ceramic Tile Mural in the Tampa Public Art Collection

This is the right side of a mural that stretches 145-feet along the south-facing wall of the Tampa Police Department Parking Garage. (It is on Kennedy Boulevard between Florida Avenue and Franklin Street.) Although the location is in the heart of downtown, and right across from the Tampa City Hall, it is not easily seen (or photographed.) The wall is back off the street and hidden in shadow most of the day. Benches stand in rows along its entire length. That said, the mural,named Parking at the Courthouse by the artist Mike Mandel, is well worth finding. The best part of his creation, which is part of the Tampa Public Art Collection, is that it was made entirely of ceramic tiles. From one end to the other it rises from 9 1/2’ to 15’ and is comprised of a mosaic of historic photographs created with thousands of small colored tiles. Because this was the site of the grand, domed Hillsborough County Courthouse that was built in 1892 - and designed by J. A. Wood, the architect of Henry B. Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel – the main scene is of the courthouse (which sadly was demolished years ago). Other photographs that are represented in tile include uniformed Tampa Police officers standing beside their 1959-60 police squad car, a courtroom scene from 1927, and a 1920s photo of the Eli Witt Cigar Company with the brand slogans Won’t You Hav-A-Tampa Cigar and Tampa Nuggets emblazoned on a delivery truck and wall. The artist used the intricate Victorian arches that you can see to frame and divide the scenes. His reference for the design of the arches came from the original Tampa Bay Hotel (which I have posted photographs of several times HERE and is today home to the University of Tampa and the Henry B. Plant Museum.) If you ever find yourself with business at City Hall or you’re on your way to lunch at a restaurant nearby on Franklin Street, be sure and find Parking at the Courthouse, Mike Mandel’s artwork of ceramic tiles and enjoy a truly unique installation celebrating the history of Tampa.