| Hillsborough County and Tampa began paying tribute to war hero's at Fort
Brooke. What once was "Memorial Highway" went from Howard and Grand Central (now
Kennedy) to Oldsmar. This highway once was a special road with moments of
each end, but growth and other issues changed these moment locations.
The Howard Avenue part of the monument was moved to the American Legion
Cemetery at 3910 W. Kennedy Blvd in Tampa.
The monument at the Oldsmar end was relocated to the Kennedy Blvd and
Memorial Hwy intersection in the West Shore area. by the way, this
monument has names of 106 World War I local veterans killed in action.
These monuments were exclusively the work of the Tampa Rotary Club.
Another really unique memorial called the "Eternal Flame" was donated
by the American Legion and it was placed years ago in the median of
Ashley Street north of Kennedy. The flame and a bronze plaque were
"extinguished" during the first energy crisis. Later the Parks and
Recreation and Conservation Department requested it be removed and
placed in storage. It remains in storage to this day.
The most unique "Memorial" of all which contains the names of about
700 Hillsborough County WWII casualties once stood on the grounds in
front of the old Court House. When the downtown courthouse was
razed in 1953, this small clapboard "Memorial Hut" was moved to Lutz,
Florida where it remains today next to the Bicentennial War Memorial
along U.S. 41. If it wasn't for the Hillsborough County BOCC and a
group of Lutz residents, it might still be sitting next to the dumpster
behind the Library in Lutz. In 1996, the BOCC offered financial
help to relocate the "Hut" to a more prominent location. The "Hut"
is open to the public four times a year because the park is sits in is
maintained by volunteers and they can't provide access on a routine
basis.
Over a decade ago, a site was established and funds allocated for
development of a Veterans Park. The original site selected
was located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Eisenhower
and Courtney Campbell Causeway. Before the plans could be
completed, this site was identified for some type of future "Toll Road"
(now the Veterans Expressway) so the Veterans Park site was moved to
Tesawee Park, north of the Cross Channel Canal, west of U.S. 301.
The name was eventually changed to the Veterans Memorial Park and Museum
and the building was constructed to serve as a museum to deiplay
military artifacts and to act as a meeting place for small groups.
The park is now the location of a beautiful monument called the "Freedom
Memorial" which was erected to honor all members of the military, both
living and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
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