Bradenton seeking to light up Rossi Park entrance into Riverwalk

BRADENTON -- Bradenton officials on Wednesday gave a tentative nod of approval for city staff to pursue replacing the old Anthony T. Rossi Park sign on Ninth Street West with a modern-day LED electronic sign.

Currently the signs reads, "Anthony T. Rossi Park," but to accommodate the goal of signaling the park as an entrance to Riverwalk, officials propose a change on the park sign to "Bradenton Riverwalk at Rossi Park" to better describe the park's actual location to Riverwalk, which is the park's northern boundary.

Built in the 1980s, Rossi Park was named after Anthony T. Rossi, an Italian immigrant who founded Tropicana and is a mem

ber of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame.

The existing sign has been there almost as long as the park and has become hard to see with surrounding tree cover and is small in nature. The city is proposing to upgrade the sign to a larger LED sign that can be used to promote downtown and Riverwalk events, as well as being used to announce emergencies. Since the is considered to be a city gateway, making the area more appealing accomplishes another goal.

The city initiated interest in upgrading the sign about a year ago, but it went no further until March 27, when the city contacted Advantaged LED Signs based in Houston, which provided the city with some preliminary costs and mock-ups. The budget range provided was between $35,000 and $55,000 depending on the nature of the sign. Public Works Director Claude Tankersley said the price range was "fairly standard for these kinds of signs," which comes with a warranty and software support.

Although much of the park is encompassed by Riverwalk, Tankersley said the city doesn't want to give up Rossi Park as a standalone city amenity. The city considers the park to be its "crown jewel of the city of Bradenton's park system," according to the city's website. However, its parks descriptions on the website has not been updated in years.

City Clerk Carl Callahan said since the sign is part of the park, funding would qualify as parks improvement and be paid for through impact fees. Callahan said the next step was to have staff move forward with a more specific plan for a new sign and to ensure the proper steps are taken in selecting a vendor.

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter @urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bradenton seeking to light up Rossi Park entrance into Riverwalk ."