"LUTZ LOCOMOTION” CELEBRATES RAILROAD LEGACY

By STEPHEN HAMMILL

On the morning of March 9, Hillsborough County welcomed the Board of County Commissioners and its Public Art Committee to Lutz Library at 101 W. Lutz Lake Fern Rd. for a special art dedication, the public unveiling of “Lutz Locomotion.”

Local artist Charles Sharrod Partin III designed the brick sculpture, and was on hand with family to witness the dedication and to thank the community-at-large for selecting him. In designing “Lutz Locomotion,” Partin used photos of an old timber train, its engineer and its coalman as inspiration, working in hand-carved brick to create the mural. Partin said he thought the image could serve as a reminder to the citizens of the town’s roots in the railroad.

“Our civilization began developing around our rivers, and then later developed around our rails,” he said.

Jim Norman, Chairman of the Board of Hillsborough County Commissioners, spoke about the impact of community involvement on “Beautiful Downtown Lutz,” the area containing the public library, post office/art gallery and the train-depot replica.

“There’s a family atmosphere here that you all have made,” he said.

Jan Platt of the Friends of the Library also spoke at the dedication. She served for over 20 years as a member of the Tampa City Council and as a Hillsborough County Commissioner.

“What’s interesting, with the whole debate about rail, the county had rail long before other parts of the state,” Platt said, referring to the Tampa Northern Railroad, a line which planted the seed for Lutz.

The Tampa Northern Railroad carried materials from Tampa to Brooksville during the early twentieth century. A small train depot named “Lutz Station” was eventually followed by an authorized a post office, at which point Lutz was born.

The “Lutz Junction” downtown was demolished in the late 1960s. In 2000, a replica of the depot was rebuilt in the same area, now the intersection of Lutz-Lake Fern Road and U.S. Highway 41. The Lutz public library is located behind the train depot replica.

The unveiling of “Lutz Locomotion” was part of a double dedication. Later in the day, the Friends of the Lutz Library dedicated the Helen Swisshelm Reading Room in honor of the founding Friends member and long-time library advocate.

The ceremony also included a performance by the Silver Bells choir of the United Methodist Church of Lutz.

For more information about the Lutz Library, visit http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/liblocales/lut.