Swings Tampa Bay Re-Imagines a Pastime

ST. PETERSBURG – The simplest ideas often convey the strongest message.

That certainly seems to be the case with Swings Tampa Bay, a disarmingly simple idea to hang handmade children's swings in unexpected public spaces – a pedestrian overpass, under a billboard and at a St. Petersburg theater.

"We are pretty close to 50 hanging," said Swings co-founder Reuben Pressman, a USF St. Petersburg student. "And we have lots in spots that are permanent."

Pressman and Hunter Payne discovered their business by accident. The two were working on an environmental design project with some classmates at USF St. Pete.

When the group decided to hang a handmade wood swing at a site on campus, it drew immediate attention and activity.

People could not help but to stop, sit down and start pump their legs, just like they probably did as kids.

The two noticed immediately how the presence of swings in public places prompted strangers to stop and talk to each, almost like they were back on a schoolyard playground.

Payne remembers the progression of Swings like it was yesterday. "After seeing how quickly people that would have never talked to each other stopped to congregate and share a common experience, we hung another swing in North Straub Park," he said.

Again, they watched as strangers gathered around the swing to talk and play. It was this response that prompted the guys to pursue swings on a larger scale.

Pressman submitted the idea to Creative Loafing's 10/100/1000 awards and won first place, which put $1,000 in the Swings Tampa Bay support account. A business was born, and it is a business with a civic mission in mind.

Pressman and Payne now bring their idea to the masses with the help of volunteers. The crew promotes the idea throughout different communities in the Tampa Bay area.

Saturday Morning Market was a seasonal favorite and now they go wherever their presence is requested.

Both Payne and Pressman are still in school at USFSP. Payne is a graphic design major while Pressman is majoring in entrepreneurship and earning a minor in leadership.

The two plan on maintaining Swings as long as it is successful. "We are working on our 501c(3) application," Pressman said, referring to the tax-exempt status a company needs to form as a nonprofit.

He said the goal is to "grow and help other cities start the same thing for their communities."

The Swings team is still young, so they want to keep their options open. "We have all kinds of ideas and plans for our future and will hopefully get to all of them," said Payne.

If you want to take a gander at the handiwork of Swings Tampa Bay, here are some locations where their swings are hanging:

The Studio@620, the offices of Creative Loafing, freefall Theatre, the overpass above I-175 heading east, or under a billboard on Central Avenue.