There should be a giant crab in the center of this Tampa Heights traffic circle

There are over 30 roundabouts and traffic circles within the City of Tampa. The great news about them is that they're both safer and more efficient for cars and bicyclists. If they can make you smile, so much the better.

One in East Tampa has an obelisk in the center. Another near the aquarium is home to Channelside’s “Exploding Chicken” sculpture. And there’s one roundabout in Tampa Heights that needs a pinch of picante to live up to its full potential.

As you head north on N Boulevard, past Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park and the future womens soccer stadium at Blake High School, there’s a bridge. At its northern foot is a smallish traffic circle. To the right is Armature Works. Beneath it, the western terminus of the Tampa Riverwalk.

What’s no longer there is any hint of the intersection’s configuration and rich history.
The original fixed bridge at this location was built in 1909 and had a streetcar track which ran down the center, connecting lines to the Ybor City and West Tampa. Named Garcia Avenue Bridge, it was replaced in 1959 by a much higher, more modern expanse—the Eugene Holtsinger Bridge. Situated on land that makes the Hillsborough River bend beneath both bridges were neighborhoods that illustrated Tampa’s ethnic diversity.

Roberts City—a Black neighborhood which disappeared as part of urban renewal (or “urban removal”)—was to the south. To the north, white Tampa Heights. Hispanic enclaves thrived nearby in Ybor City and West Tampa.

Local families would fish in the river and come to the fish houses located here to buy fresh shrimp and crabs.

“Crabs have sustained generations of immigrants in Tampa,” Tampa historian Noel Smith told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “You would get a chicken neck and a string and go to a body of water in Tampa, stand on the seawall, and you catch crabs. Today, if you head south of Ybor City to Palmetto Beach, you can still see remnants of the crab shacks there."

Small stores—Matassini Seafood, Agliano & Sons Fish Co., Seabreeze, and Mirabella Fish Company—had outposts there, close to their fishing boats docked in the Hillsborough River.

In nearby Ybor City, cigar factory workers enjoyed deliveries of stuffed potato balls and deviled crab.

That’s where our traffic circle comes in. So many of the crustaceans responsible for the signature Tampa snack originated near there.
During the Depression, anyone could catch the plentiful blue crabs and after carefully picking out the crab meat, mix it with stale Cuban bread crumbs and make a devil crab for themselves. Hot sauce completed this Tampa classic snack, hence the name "devil" crab.

Wouldn't it be so delightful to have a giant sculpture of a crab in the center of the traffic circle, welcoming passersby with a wave of its giant claws? One claw could hold hot sauce and the other a loaf of Cuban bread. The crab's name should definitely be Garcia, in honor of the location's origin story.

Picture this: a playful, metal sculpture, painted bright blue with blue eyes, orange pinchers and a perky wave.

Surely, the City of Tampa's Public Art Committee would support such a cheery piece.

Robin Nigh—Arts and Cultural Affairs Director, Neighborhood & Comm Affairs—told CL that it’s a good time to propose such a joyful symbol, adding that the city is onboarding a new staff position to help it manage the need and requests for all the CRAs. “...high on the list are projects such as this one,” she added.

Christian Leon originated the idea for this sculpture as an homage to authentic Tampa.

"Geographically this intersection, North Boulevard and Palm Avenue, is the meeting point of the white, Black and Hispanic communities. Devil crab is a distinct cuisine of Tampa, speaks to the abundance of a healthy bay,” Leon, community advocate and lifelong Tampeño, told CL.

Tampa blue crab, our local Cuban bread, Italian tomato paste, perhaps Spanish olive oil. What an amazing way to celebrate our unique history, marking a significant meeting point of unique communities and highlighting a dish that's only found here in Tampa. The taste of Tampeno history.

If private funding is needed to realize that soon-to-be-favorite Tampa icon, there are many local folks to ask for help. Perhaps the Related Company, busily building hundreds of apartment units mere feet from the bridge would agree to delight their future tenants with this delightful image. The Columbia Restaurant makes great devil crab croquettes and a killer hot sauce, too;  its owner has a thing for public art—maybe he could pitch in. La Segunda Bakery, our Cuban bread heroes, might even have some ideas.

Robert W. Saunders—who in 1952 took over as Florida’s NAACP field director when his predecessor was killed in a Ku Klux Klan bombing—grew up in Roberts City and has written about how the neighborhood transcended segregation.

"My family had neighbors from various ethnic groups, including Cuban and Italian, as well as Black and Caucasian families. Local children played together, ate in each other's homes, fought, and protected each other,” he explained in his book “Bridging the Gap.”

In this world of factions and friction, nothing draws people together as effectively as food. Perhaps Garcia, our beloved crab-to-be, could be another tie that binds us more together.

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