New Operator Takes Over At The Sports Campus! 

Sports Facilities Companies Studying Parking & Other Improvements At Popular Wiregrass Ranch Facility 

The lobby was packed at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus on Sept. 20 for a 100-team AAU volleyball tournament. (Photo by Charmaine George)

 It’s only been roughly two months since Sports Facilities Companies (SFC) received the contract with Pasco County to manage the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, but the Clearwater-based company that manages dozens of similar facilities across the country is already taking action to make improvements to what has been called the “crown jewel” of sports attractors to Florida’s Sports Coast, also known as the Pasco County Tourism Department. 

Although we have yet to be able to sit down and actually chat with any of SFC’s upper management, SFC partner Ashley Whitaker did respond to all of my questions about SFC’s plans for the Sports Campus by email — and it’s obvious from those answers that this company definitely knows how to manage facilities like these and, as Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter recently told me, “the county made the right choice when they chose [SFC].” 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been back at the Sports Campus. As you readers know, my wife (and sales manager) Jannah was the director of sales and marketing under the previous operator RADDSports, which had its contract bought out by the Pasco County back in 2023, after the County Commission voted to default RADDSports and RADD sued Pasco County. 

The county then opted to manage the facility itself, even though Pasco’s agreement with Wiregrass Ranch was that the county was never allowed to operate the facility. 

But, that’s all water under the bridge now, as SFC has already made a number of important moves — with more still to come. 

Below is my email discussion with Sports Facilities Companies (SFC) partner Ashley Whittaker (photo, right & “AW “in Q&A below), who leads SFC’s in-house marketing and branding “agency.” 

I appreciate Ashley’s candid answers to my many questions about SFC’s plans for the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, now that the company has a little less than two months of manging the facility under its belt. 

For those who are unaware, SFC has developed and/or managed nearly 100 sports facilities across the country, making it one of the leaders in this industry. — GN 

Partner Ashley Whittaker of Sports Facilities Companies is excited about the full slate of activities happening at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus and SFC’s role in bringing improved parking, new events and amenities to the sports campus in the future. (Photo of Ashley Whittaker from SportsFacilities.com)

GN – Does SFC now have its own management on-site at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus (WRSC)? 

AW – SFC has been fortunate to inherit the hardworking staff at WRSC, and we are aligning them with our industry leading standards in all departments, integrating with our support center in Clearwater. 

GN-Is SFC retaining all of the existing employees at the Sports Campus or have you been deciding on a case-by-case basis which of those employees you will retain? 

AW-All existing employees of WRSC were offered the opportunity to remain with the venue under SFC management. 

GN-How many weekend events are already on the books at the Sports Campus for the rest of 2025? 

AW-Along with the Florida’s Sports Coast DMO (Destination Management Organization), we have a robust schedule and are looking forward to a great fall season with events both inside and outside on the new grass fields throughout the end of the year every weekend. 

(Photo of AAU volleyball at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus by Charmaine George) 

GN-Are there any weekends available this year for your company to book your own events? If not, when will SFC be able to start adding new weekend events? 

AW-With such a full calendar, there are few weekends available for any additional events. When we do have availability, events (including SFC ones) will be selected on merit for the benefit of the community. 

GN-Will you be continuing the local programming that’s currently in place or will SFC be replacing that programming with programs of its own? If so, what programs will you change/add? 

AW-Yes, we will be continuing with the local programming. The only change will be how parents register for the programming through enhanced software. 

GN-I know the county said that SFC will be conducting a study to see how additional parking can be configured at that site and that it will take up to six months for you to conclude that study, but when will the study actually begin (or has it already)? 

This isn’t just a view of the adjacent Residence Inn, it’s also one of the current grass-&-gravel overflow parking lots for the Sports Campus.

AW-Yes, the study is under way. In addition to parking, we are also exploring the feasibility of indoor and outdoor complimentary amenities. The study is under way and will be reviewed with the county in November/ December timeframe. 

GN-Is there anywhere at the Sports Campus site where you can see being able to expand the existing parking? 

AW-We are exploring with Pasco County the opportunity to enhance parking at the Sports Campus. 

GN-Have you now spoken with JD Porter and/or Scott Sheridan of Locust Branch/Wiregrass Ranch? Can you tell me anything about that (or those) discussion(s)? 

AW-Yes, we have engaged in conversations with JD Porter and Scott Sheridan and look forward to being great neighbors and community partners. 

GN-Have you been in contact with the Peachtree Group about the Residence Inn that shares the site? Can you tell me anything about that discussion? 

AW-We have hosted specific meetings introducing ourselves to the hotel community and also presented to local business owners at the request of Florida’s Sports Coast DMO. 

GN-Is there any way to do a live interview with you, your partner Eric Sullivan or someone else from SFC — at the Sports Campus or at the North Tampa Bay Chamber office for my new podcast? Even if it needs to be much further into the future, an actual interview is much more personal and will be better received by my readers (because I also will do a story about it in print) and podcast viewers. 

AW-This is possible to be scheduled sometime in the future. 

Spotlight On Luis Viera! 

Now Running For The State Legislature, New Tampa’s City Councilman Is Still Out There Working For You! 

District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera has announced his plans to run for the State Legislature in 2026 but, in the meantime, he’s still out there working for New Tampa! (Photo by Charmaine George) 

 For those of you who don’t know the story, District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and I had never met prior to his first run for his City Council seat back in 2016. 

Viera was running against Dr. Jim Davison, who was my neighbor in the same subdivision in Hunter’s Green for more than a decade (until I moved out in 2006). I also knew Dr. Jim from attending many City of Tampa and Hillsborough County governmental meetings with him, especially on transportation issues. 

I was the moderator for the debate between Dr. Jim and Luis, the top two finishers in the special election in November 2016 (Davison was first, by nearly 2,500 votes; Luis was second). They both advanced to the runoff election in December because neither one received 50% of the Nov. vote. 

During that debate, I asked a question about whether or not the candidates would support New Tampa seceding from the City of Tampa and incorporating as its own city, an idea originally floated by former Dist. 7 Councilman (and Tampa Palms resident) Joseph Caetano. 

While Viera said “Absolutely not. I’m running for Tampa City Council,” Davison said that although he wasn’t in favor of the idea, he didn’t think seceding from the city should be taken off the table. The Tampa Bay Times wrote an unfavorable editorial about Davison’s comments following the debate and Viera won the Dec. runoff — where fewer total votes were cast than either candidate received in Nov. — by 65 votes. 

Since then, Viera has kept his promise to be a hard-working councilman who builds bridges across political aisles. He also finally got the city to fund the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center in Tampa Palms and build the city’s first All-Abilities Park on the Rec Center property. Viera also is still fighting for a Tampa Fire Rescue station in K-Bar Ranch on or near Morris Bridge Rd., in order to improve response times in that community, since response times from TFR Station No. 23 on Cross Creek Blvd. (more than two miles away from the entrance to K-Bar) are too slow. 

But, fighting for New Tampa (and North Tampa, the other part of his district) is nothing new for Viera. He says he will continue to fight for our area if he wins his next election in Nov. 2026 — for the District 67 State House seat currently occupied by his friend (and State House Minority Leader) Fentrice Driskell, who is term-limited in 2026. 

Unlike many elected officials, who really only make pubic appearances when they are actively running for office, Viera has hosted more community meetings/Town Halls — around 85 — in his tenure as a City Council member than pretty much any “politician” I’ve met in my 31 years as the editor of this publication. 

His most recent community meeting was at Easton Park on Apr. 15, where Viera said the #1 issue for most of the residents was “Morris Bridge (MB) Rd. People were just expressing frustration over Morris Bridge, with the main idea being that there’s so much construction and development that’s happened and yet, the road hasn’t really kept up with that, so there’s a lot of concern there.” 

Viera says he told those in attendance about the county’s plans to improve MB Rd., as we reported in our last issue, “And people were very, very happy about that. $2 million is great but my main issue I stress to people is that I want to put Morris Bridge on the radar of the City of Tampa, because even though it’s a county road, it affects our [city] residents. A lot of times, we defer exclusively to the county on Morris Bridge. I’m not calling out Hillsborough or Pasco, I’m actually saying that the City of Tampa needs to step up and be collaborative on this road for our constituents because it does have an effect on our city residents.” 

In addition, Viera said that many city residents who attend Cypress Pointe or Heritage Baptist Church, the Islamic Society of New Tampa Mosque or the Sikh Gurdwara of Tampa Bay on the road, “have an interest in seeing Morris Bridge Rd. widened and made safer.” 

He added that the residents in attendance at the Easton Park meeting said they feel that MB Rd. is, “very unsafe. They want to see incremental and structural changes — like short-term impact and long-term evaluation changes. So, they were very happy with the short-term changes that the county is doing and I, of course, shared those changes with them in detail.” 

He said that long-term, however, several of the residents wondered what can be done long-term “to transform Morris Bridge Rd. from the ‘rural’ road it still is today to a more modern road. And, those are questions that transportation engineers and professionals have got to answer.” 

He also noted that one of the most important things the city can do is, “continue to have law enforcement presence out there, because a lot of the problems out there are caused by bad actors — speeding, distracted driving, unsafe passing — if we can take care of that, we can take care of a lot of the issues. But, the truth is that we can’t just blame individuals. We’ve got to look at the road itself and be prepared for people who are bad actors.” 

Viera also said that he is going to propose composing a letter from the city to the county asking, “if it’s feasible to build a sidewalk from Easton Park to the Mosque and to Cypress Pointe Church. That is very important because a lot of people walk to their house of worship. It’s not my jurisdiction, but we can at least request that to the county. I believe we’re all on the same team. We all want to protect our constituents.” 

In addition to MB Rd., Viera said that several people at the Easton Park meeting were interested in Viera’s efforts to get some sort of emergency vehicle somewhere near the connection of MB Rd. and K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. to try to get better response times for the K-Bar and Easton Park communities. “They were very interested in that,” Viera says. “I actually texted [Tampa Fire rescue] Chief [Barbara] Tripp about that re-zoning we approved almost a year ago to get a status update on whether that ‘safety connection’ you guys reported about will be made.” 

“We also had Tampa Police Department officers (photo) on hand at the meeting to talk about crime. People always are happy to get updates from the police on that.” 

One issue Viera knows he has to deal with is that, now that he’s announced he’s going to run for a different office, how does he continue to see his pet projects and ideas through to fruition? 

“Well, I do have another year and a half or so on City Council, so I’ve got plenty of time to get things done,” he said. “But of course, we will have an election for my seat and many of the things I’ve been fighting for, including Morris Bridge Rd., are real issues so it’s important for my constituents to talk to these candidates and make sure New Tampa’s issues are on the minds of the candidates.” 

In addition to Morris Bridge., Viera says he has had constituents come to him about, “stormwater issues, getting a [city] pool for New Tampa and others,” he says. “These are issues that I can work on now, to a degree, but some of them will have to be done or followed up by the next councilman. So, it’s important for these candidates to have these issues stressed to them by residents.” 

And, speaking of elections, Viera said that several of the residents were interested in getting more involved in city politics. 

“I said, ‘Good!,” Viera says. “Take a look at the voting record in New Tampa in city elections. The numbers aren’t very good. New Tampa needs to get involved in city elections.” 

Viera admits that he has, “wielded a very big hammer on behalf of New Tampa, but we need to have a bigger voice from the people. We vote OK in even-year elections (county and state) but not in odd-year city elections.” 

His proposal to move city elections to even-numbered years, which he says would save the city “about a million dollars every four years per election, got one vote — mine. It’s one of those fights I’ve fought where I’ve said, ‘We fought the good fight, but we don’t got it.” 

As for his announcement about seeking Leader Driskell’s seat, Viera says the reaction so far has been, “Very positive. A ton of elected officials have given me their support. State Legislators haven’t been able to endorse yet, because they’re in session in Tallahassee, but I will keep everyone updated on my supporters as we go through the process. It seems that a lot of people were happy to hear that although I’m term-limited out of City Council, that I’m not planning to leave politics.” 

He added, “Look, a lot of politicians, when they run for office, they step it up — going to community events and such. But, I do that in the course of my work in office. I’m always meeting with constituents. This is how I’m built. I’m the son of Cuban immigrants, so I work hard and that’s what I’m going to do, God-willing, in Tallahassee, with the support of people in the New and North Tampa areas.” 

One of the issues he didn’t have to fight for was that Viera made a motion to rename the New Tampa All Abilities Park in honor of Harrison Boonstoppel, the 20-year-old innocent bystander who was fatally shot in an Ybor City gunfight on Oct. 29, 2023, after a fight broke out. Harrison and his friends had just arrived in Ybor City minutes before the shots rang out. In all, 16 people were injured and another 14-year-old youngster also was killed. 

On Mar. 28, Viera made the motion to rename the All Abilities Park for Harrison, whose life was, “a testament to resilience and determination, exemplifying the power of hard work, along with the support of his family. Despite facing many physical and developmental challenges, Harrison overcame many obstacles with unwavering perseverance. He graduated from Pepin Academies in 2022, a remarkable achievement. Honorably remembering Harrison shows that with hard work, support and positive outlook, one can overcome much adversity.” 

Harrison, who was born premature and barely survived his first few months in the neonatal ICU, needed a feeding tube until he was three years old. He developed a hearing disorder and would wear a cochlear implant at age 5. He began middle school weighing only 60 pounds and was developmentally delayed at school. 

Viera, who has gotten to know Harrison’s mother Brucie and his twin sister Ava, has a developmentally disabled brother Juan, so, “This is very near and dear to my heart.” 

New Tampa’s Winn-Dixie To Become Another Aldi

As previously announced, the last remaining New Tampa Winn-Dixie supermarket, located at 6425 County Line Rd. (in the same plaza as LA Fitness), closed on Dec. 8 and is in the process of being converted to the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area’s third ALDI grocery store. 

We were told that it would be several months before the new ALDI would open, but this Germany-based international brand already has nearly 2,500 U.S. supermarkets and more than 200 stores in Florida, including at 18002 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. in New Tampa and at 2215 Sun Vista Dr. in Lutz (in front of Costco). 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the still-open (at least at our press time) Winn-Dixie in the Towne Center of Wesley Chapel plaza on Wesley Chapel Blvd. told us there are no plans to close that store. — GN 

2024 In The Rear View — Downtowns, Chicken Places, Kelly Gilroy & More!

There’s no doubt that 2024 was an amazing and crazy year in Wesley Chapel. One supposed “downtown” began building early in the year, while another just got approval to begin building near the end of the year. A seemingly never ending supply of hot chicken sandwich places either opened or were ready to open as the year ended. New road projects finally got started and Wesley Chapel continued to see explosive growth — much of which was chronicled not only in these pages, but in the seemingly magical Pasco County Development & Growth Updates Facebook page. But, its usual leader, Kelly Gilroy, admitted to yours truly that she hasn’t been using her real name on her wildly popular Facebook page. So, here are some highlights of the year that was, 2024 in Wesley Chapel:

Road Projects — With both Old Pasco Rd. and Wesley Chapel Blvd. beginning to be widened, the traffic will get worse for two or three (or more) years on each before it gets better.

Chicken Wars — It’s hard for some of us who aren’t big fans of spicy chicken to believe we really need ten or more of these chains (the left photo above is the ribbon cutting of the Wesley Chapel Hangry Joe’s chicken), but we’re still getting them anyway! It looks like Raising Cane’s will be the last to open, in January (Chicken Guy! should be open as you’re reading this), and when it does, the Neighborhood News will sponsor a contest to find the favorite of them all, as selected by a panel of hot chicken lovers — and no, I won’t be one of those judges!

Dueling Downtowns — Avalon Park Wesley Chapel developer Beat Kahli believes that the opening of his first mixed-use downtown building in Sept. (center photo) was the official launch of Wesley Chapel’s official downtown. But, Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter says his Legacy Downtown, which just had its development plan approved earlier this month, will prove to be The Chap’s true downtown when it begins building next year.

Kilroy, er Gilroy, Was Here! — Taking all of Pasco County, but especially Wesley Chapel, by storm in 2024 was the Pasco County Development & Growth Updates Facebook page, which went from 0 to tens of thousands of ardent admirers in just a few months. Page admin Kelly Gilroy has become something of a cult figure, even though it seems a large percentage of the people who respond to the page’s literally hundreds of posts only want to make jokes about car washes and storage facilities. The fact that Ms. Gilroy has gotten some Pasco officials to question whether or not she’s a real person is reason enough for me to name her Wesley Chapel’s “Person of the Year.” Will we ever find out her real name? Do we even want to know it?

And Then There’s…Some of the incredible and sometimes unexpected things that happened in our area in 2024 include: the opening in November of Cooper’s Hawk; the announcement in October that Cheesecake Factory was coming to a portion of the already stressed parking lot at the Tampa Premium Outlets; the new Publix at Innovation Springs
(in front of Epperson on Curley Rd.) included a beer-and-wine bar; the long-awaited Whole Foods announced it was coming to Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Meadow Pointe, then took it back and said it wasn’t, then re-announced that it was; people on every Wesley Chapel community Facebook page complained vehemently about the Pasco Board of County Commissioners and vowed to vote them all out, but all four running for reelection won by landslides; Orlando Health began building Wesley Chapel’s third hospital and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital officially announced that it will build a children’s hospital near Overpass Rd.; and finally, two New Tampa kids stunned the world, as 12-year-old Bruhat Soma won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June and 16-year-old Adwaith Praveen who achieved perfect scores on the PSAT, SAT and ACT exams! We’ll tell you what to expect in 2025 in Wesley Chapel in our next issue!

Check out “Avalon Aglow” at Avalon Park Wesley Chapel!

Avalon Park Wesley Chapel (4424 Friendly Way) is hosting its annual “Avalon Aglow” celebration, with FREE, fun family-friendly activities all afternoon & evening, including a “Bounce Park,” food trucks, vendors, a “real” snow slide, community performances, pictures with Santa and fireworks beginning at 9 p.m. Note – You do NOT have to be an Avalon Park resident to attend this FREE event! 

For more information, visit AvalonParkWesleyChapel.com or call (813) 783-1515.