Bat Tower to Rise in Riverhills Park

The Temple Terrace Bat Tower, which was built in 1924 and was burned down by arsonists in 1979, will be reconstructed in a new location.

The City Council has given its approval for the new tower to be built at Riverhills Park in the grassy area on the bank of the Hillsborough River, just west of the boat ramp.

“The construction process will begin as soon as we have the signed funding agreement.” wrote Tim Lancaster, president of the Temple Terrace Preservation Society and member of the Bat Tower Committee, in an email.

The Preservation Society has raised about $20,000 of the $40,000 needed to construct the tower, Lancaster said. It’s also getting money from Hillsborough County’s Preservation Challenge Grant program.

In December, Hillsborough County Commissioners decided to award funding totaling $1,278,350 to historic building and site projects proposed in fiscal year 2012. On April 17, commissioners finalized an award of $22,500 through the grant program to the Preservation Society to match the money the society has raised toward the project.

“We were also awarded $3,150 in grant funds toward the cost of creating interpretive signage to be placed near the tower,” which will explain the history of the tower and ecological benefits of the bats, Lancaster said.

The goal of the tower is to serve as a visitor attraction in an accessible location and restore a heritage resource for the City of Temple Terrace.

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History of the Bat Tower

Temple Terrace’s original bat tower was built in 1924 along the banks of the Hillsborough River behind what is now 933 Riverhills Drive. Temple Terrace developers cleared the land for the structure. Arsonists burned it down in 1979.

It is unclear if bats ever lived in the original tower or any of the 14 towers constructed in the world using the same specifications.

Dr. Charles Campbell, an early pioneer of bat studies, designed these towers. Only three Campbell towers still exist. One is in the Florida Keys, and two are in Texas.

It was hoped the towers would serve as roosts for bats that would eat the mosquitos that caused malaria and reduce the pesticide load.

The committee first chose Riverfront Preserve as the reconstruction site, but when experts George and Cynthia Marks of the Florida Bat Conservancy visited the area, they said the preserve was too heavily wooded.

Bat houses should be located at least 10 feet above the ground and should be exposed to sunlight much of the day, they said.

Bats tend to roost near bodies of water where their food is often found, according to the Florida Bat Conservancy. They like snug, warm places to sleep during the day.

So, committee members, representatives from the Temple Terrace Parks and Recreation Department, and the Markses, toured alternate tower sites. A promising site was a piece of property owned by Southwest Florida Management District located on Harney Road across from the Temple Terrace dog park. It offered the needed visibility and access for bats.

But as the city’s marketing efforts took shape, the city and civic groups began thinking about developing a historic/eco boat tour on the Hillsborough River.

“The bat tower would make an ideal feature for a tour of that sort, so it was decided we should build the tower somewhere on or near the river within (the Temple Terrace) city limits on city property,” Lancaster told Patch in November. “The remains of the original tower would also be a focal point of the boat tour.”

The committee looked into an island site near Riverhills Park. It liked the site, and the Markses thought it would be an ideal location for a bat tower, Lancaster explained.

But there were problems. The committee had to figure out who owned the site, which was easier said than done, even after talking with several government agencies. Then, the committee realized the price tag associated with building a tower on the island.

“The island site was cost prohibitive, upwards to $200,000 due to the engineering aspects of building it in the river versus the bank,” Lancaster wrote in an email. “… Turned out to be extremely expensive, making the site unworkable.”

Preservation Society member Grant Rimbey, a project manager for an architectural firm, drew up plans for the tower when talks of reconstruction began. Measurements were taken from the remains of the original tower and from a tower on Sugarloaf Key in Monroe County.

The new tower’s exterior will be identical to the original: 10 feet wide at the base and 40 feet from the ground to the top of the roof ridge.

The interior will be changed, based on input from the Markses. The new roost plywood slats will be a snug three-quarters-of-an-inch apart. The original lathe slats were twice that far apart.

There will also be a 6-foot, metal picket-style fence around the tower.

“The construction process will start with the architectural drawings, which will take 5-6 months to complete, then on to site surveys, permitting, etc.,” Lancaster wrote. “We won’t be ‘turning dirt’ for a while. The completion date target is October 30, 2014.”

For more information, visit the Temple Terrace Bat Tower online or on Facebook.

Read the minutes of the April 2 City Council meeting here.

See also:

• Project Aims To Reconstruct Temple Terrace Bat Tower
• Bat Talk Will Update Community on Tower Reconstruction Project
• Supporters Attend Bat Tower Talk
• Committee Finds Bats at Swiftmud Site
• Council Supports Building Bat Tower in Riverhills Park Area