downtown fun ride - october 25, 2014

Sustainable Tallahassee’s Alternative Transportation Committee teamed up with StarMetro on Saturday, October 25th for a “Downtown Fun Ride”.  Over 30 people participated, starting at three different bus stops and all meeting up at C.K. Steele Plaza.  Charles Main of StarMetro provided free bus passes, and Peggy Sanford, ST board member, coordinated a downtown walk through some of Tallahassee’s historical sites that are not generally well known.  Stew Parsons guided the tour with stories and historical details at each stop. 

What was the Purpose? 

•  To show our citizens the positives of a bus ride and the discovery of special places right here in our community,
•  To demonstrate that riding the bus can be a good alternative to driving a car, and
•  To make people comfortable with the bus riding experience. 

Our walking tour began at the LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts on Gadsden Street where we saw the new Dean Mitchell exhibit, then to the Knott House on Park Avenue (we loved Luella Knott’s poems of her furnishings). 

Next was the Tallahassee-Leon County Civil Rights Heritage Walk along Jefferson Street between Monroe Street and Adams Street, which is a sidewalk memorial panel designed and made by artisans at Florida State University’s Master Craftsman Studio.  It was dedicated just a month ago.

                  [Photo: Taylor Parsons, Kyle Parsons, Stew Parsons, Charles Main]

Around the corner along Adams Street we saw the newly installed bicycle rack that holds many bicycles.  Bike riders can easily hitch their bikes to city buses, lock them at the Adams Street bike rack, and enjoy their time at downtown venues.

The last historical stop on our tour was the First Presbyterian Church, which had a role in the local civil rights movement.  The building was completed in 1838 and is the oldest public building in Tallahassee in continuous use.  It is significant that this historically important church has taken environmentally progressive steps by installing solar photo-voltaic panels on the Education building roof.  
[Photo: Peggy Sanford with First Presbyterian guide]

Our tour concluded across the street from the church at the Downtown Market.  From there it was only a short walk back to Steele Plaza where everyone was able to ride the bus back on their own schedule. 

               
                  First Presbyterian Church                                                                            Downtown Market

[back to top]