DOWNTOWN - The 6.3-acre Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park, next the Tampa Marriott Waterside along Garrison Channel, could receive funding for its final phase.

The city council will be asked Thursday to approve more than $2.8 million for the project, parks and recreation director Karen Palus said. The work includes adding 600 linear feet to the city's Riverwalk, and creating a Heroes Plaza to honor firefighters, law enforcement officers, rescue workers and military personnel killed in the line of duty.

An entrance plaza also will be added to link the park to the Tampa Bay History Center, under construction next to Cotanchobee.

The construction will take about nine months and involves less than 1 1/2 acres of the park, said Brad Suder, who's in charge of the redesign for the city.

Palus said the waterfront park, which includes a memorial to the Seminole Wars and has cost about $24.2 million to create since 2003, will be used for more events because two other downtown parks are closed temporarily for redesigns.

"This is the last phase, and it ties in nicely to the existing park," Palus said.

Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at 813-835-2104 or jfroelich@tampatrib.com.