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Williams Park Pier Is Ready For Fishing

Tribune photo by YVETTE C. HAMMETT

Islander Construction foreman Bryce Applegate puts the finishing touches on a new fish-cleaning station on the pier at Williams Park on the Alafia River.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: February 4, 2009

RIVERVIEW - Robert Kirkland couldn't fish on his favorite pier for nearly two months.

But like all good fishermen, he's patient.

Kirkland, who has fished regularly from the Williams Park pier since 1979, watched recently as an Islander Construction crew put the finishing touches on a $275,000 facelift to the park's pier.

The new wheelchair-accessible pier was expected to open ahead of schedule. "We redecked the whole thing and beefed it up to stabilize it," said foreman Bryce Applegate.

"I don't mind seeing them spend my tax money on something like this," Kirkland said as Applegate wrapped up work on a fish-cleaning station on the pier. "This sure beats sitting in zero-temperature weather in Indiana."

Money from the state's Boating Improvement Fund, provided through boat registration fees, paid for the upgrades, which include new dock bumpers at the boat ramps and new water fountains for the park.

The park also will get a new paved parking area, sidewalks to picnic areas and new partitions in the restrooms.

Williams Park is one of the most heavily used parks in the county, with people fishing from the pier and launching boats for trips to the Alafia River and Tampa Bay, said John Brill, spokesman for the Hillsborough County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.

"I'm just glad we didn't have to close the park to do this," Brill said.

A pounding from the 2004 hurricane season and heavy use took its toll on the park's facilities, Brill said. These are the first major improvements in five years there, he said.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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