PARRISH — A community garden, welcome signs and other community enhancement projects will be built with $558,100 from the Parrish Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Fund.
The expenditure, approved by Manatee County commissioners, will be dedicated to improvements within the Parrish TIF District.
A Parrish Community Garden will provide garden plots to rent at Parrish Community Park, 7550 Fort Hamer Road, at a cost of $175,000, said Jennifer Hamey, president of the Parrish Civic Association.
A veteran’s banner project to honor fallen heroes, veterans and active military will be displayed on Erie Road and U.S. Highway 301, she said, adding that between 10 and 12 banners are planned to be unveiled at the community Veteran’s Day Parade in November. The PCA is inviting people to apply who would like to have a banner at no charge at https://parrishcivicassociation.com/
The $80,000 set aside for the banner project also includes traffic signal box wraps with historic renderings of Parrish, she said.
Three historical signs will welcome visitors to Parrish, Hamey said; $200,000 is allocated for the project. Landscape improvements at the Fort Hamer Road roundabout will get $75,000 in funding, and $28,100 is set aside for placemaking and architectural services through Fawley Bryant Architecture. An additional $6,500 will support wayfinding improvements.
“The Parrish Civic Association is incredibly thankful to county staff, the county administrator and the BOCC for helping make it a reality,” Hamey said. “The community garden will provide an opportunity to bring neighbors together, while the banners, historical signs, roundabout beautification and welcome signs will allow residents to travel through the heart of Parrish and share in its history, celebrate our veterans and help make Parrish feel even more like home.”
“This is exactly what TIF dollars are intended to do — reinvest funds generated within a community back into that community in a way residents can see and experience,” County Commissioner George Kruse said. “From celebrating our veterans and Parrish’s history to creating a community garden and improving some of our most visible corridors, these projects give us an opportunity to invest in the character of the community at the same time.”
Cindy Lane is a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Beacons. She can be reached at clane@tbnweekly.com.