Arts entities may make Sulphur Springs' Mann-Wagnon Memorial Park their home

SULPHUR SPRINGS — It has been a long time since neighborhood residents had much reason to visit Mann-Wagnon Memorial Park.

For almost 20 years, the park was home to the offices of Hillsborough County's Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. With the nondescript buildings on the park falling into disrepair, the county moved out late last year, leaving the property essentially vacant.

Now the park, which runs along the Hillsborough River, could soon become a hub for arts and culture, as well as a catalyst for neighborhood renewal.

Legal and administrative matters still need to be worked out, but three nonprofit groups — Community Stepping Stones, Moses House and a museum — plan to make their homes in the park at 1101 E River Cove Drive.

"Later this month, or certainly by early October, you should see some action," said Art Keeble, executive director of the Arts Council of Hillsborough County, which has been coordinating efforts to find a new mission for the park. He said he expects all three groups to be actively operating in the park before year's end.

The groups learned Tuesday that they had cleared their biggest obstacle. The property houses six buildings and a shed, and an engineer's report showed that, despite some deterioration, the structures were repairable.

"There's damage to the floors, the roofs leak, there's some termite damage, but nothing major," Keeble said.

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The Sulphur Springs Museum is essentially a brand-new venture, at least as far as the public is concerned. The people involved have been collecting artifacts, oral histories and information about Sulphur Springs for many years. Little of the museum's collection has been available for public view, however.

"It's in our garage, and in the garages of a few other people," said Norma Robinson, the museum's vice president.

Sulphur Springs was a major tourist destination in the early 20th century, Robinson said. The waters of the springs were reputed to have healing powers, and the museum collection includes accounts of miracle cures.

The area has a rich geography as well, Robinson said, including underwater caves and the springs themselves, which flow underground for many miles until they surface just a few blocks downriver from the park.

Mann-Wagnon Memorial Park itself has significant history. It was once home to a county natural history museum that evolved into what is now the Museum of Science and Industry, Keeble said.

Sharing the park with the museum will be Community Stepping Stones, an arts organization that holds classes for children and adults and organizes events to help foster a sense of community in Sulphur Springs, an area with a low-income and highly transient population.

Community Stepping Stones currently operates out of a converted home on Mulberry Drive and a rented commercial building on Bird Street. It also maintains River Cove Park, near the house on Mulberry, and uses that park for public art projects.

But "we've pretty much outgrown our current spaces," said Ed Ross, the group's founder. "At Mann-Wagnon we'll have studio space, offices and space where people can teach classes or hold events."

The park land, which spans nearly 2 acres, will also be useful for the organization's Seeds in the Springs project, which involves planting vegetable or flower gardens in the neighborhood for free to teach kids about gardening and to beautify the area.

Moses House, the third group to move into the park, offers art experiences for children but hasn't had a building of its own for several years.

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Before any of the groups could move into the park, some details must be worked out, such as who will be responsible for maintaining the landscaping.

The groups won't have to pay rent but will be responsible for utilities in their respective buildings and other expenses.

Also, their plans must be in accordance with the will of Cecile Wagnon, the former owner of the property who died in 1962 and who wanted the park to be used for cultural purposes. The city and the county now own the park land, and Wagnon left money in her will to pay for repairs, Keeble said. That money can probably be used to repair the buildings, he said.

Ross and Robinson say they hope the three groups' presence in the park will help neighborhood revitalization efforts.

"What's really exciting about this to me is that it's people from the community doing things for the community, based on what the community needs," Ross said.

Many artists live in Sulphur Springs and some people think the new uses of the park could spur a transformation of the immediate area, which includes the adjacent Harbour Club, the Springs Theatre (a recording studio and rehearsal space a block away) and the springs themselves.

"There are those among us who have a grand vision for that area," Keeble said. "We'd like to see everything in there, from the park and the Harbour Club, down to the springs and over to Springs Theatre, used for the arts, and then have some of the houses on River Cove used as houses for artists, and create an arts district in Sulphur Springs."