Author: John Cotey

City’s New ‘All Abilities Park’ Is For Everyone

Joshua Morales was just 7 years old the first time he remembers how different he was from the other kids.

He was at a birthday party with friends, who were all running around and playing and going down a slide. Although he was confined to a wheelchair, Morales managed to pull himself out of his chair to try to go down the slide as well. Some kids laughed and pointed.

“Why are you trying to act like a normal person?,” one of them shouted.

One of the special guests when a ribbon was officially cut at New Tampa’s All-Abilities Park and the park opened to kids just like him on Dec. 21, Joshua shared that story, which he would rather forget.

“But, it stuck to me like glue,” he said.

As one of more than a handful of special guests and dignitaries who received recognition as the All-Abilities Park — located within the boundaries of the New Tampa Community Park in Tampa Palms — opened, Joshua was a shining example of what the park will be all about.

The idea was initiated by District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, whose older brother Juan suffers from mental disabilities. At a final cost of roughly $2 million, the park is expected to be a beacon for children who may not feel they fit in at other parks.

“The park for me is about a basic idea, which is respect, dignity, security and inclusivity,” Viera said, recalling some of the moments he witnessed as a child when his brother wasn’t welcomed at places like a movie theater or a park. “The basic message the City of Tampa has for families like the Viera family is that you are welcome here.”

Others, like Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, State Senator Jay Collins and State Representative and Florida State House minority leader Fentrice Driskell shared the same message before a crowd of about 75 people.

The 10,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art playground has something for anyone with physical, cognitive, sensory and/or neuro diverse disabilities.

There are two small zip lines, one with a large seat to sit in, and two large swings, including one that slides back and forth and is wheelchair accessible.

For three-year-old Petra Farabee, there was plenty to do. Petra steered her wheelchair in between the adults and around the park like a pro, looking for new things to try. She even helped her dad Adam get a good bit of exercise trying to keep up with her.

Petra Farabee enjoys the see-saw at the new All Abilities Park.

Born with spina bifida, Petra was able to enjoy most of what the playground offered, including a see-saw with large seats that allowed her to have a break from her wheelchair (see photo on page 1).

“I think she likes it,” Adam said, smiling.

The park features a number of interactive pieces, like drums, a xylophone and chimes. There also is a learning board in three languages, including braille, a communication board for those who do not verbally communicate, and even a Pulse table tennis game that uses sensors, lights and sounds.

“It’s an amazing park,” Joshua said. “I’ve never seen one like it, and it will be great for kids to make friends and play with people they can relate to.”

The park is equipped with benches and tables and next to each bench is a power station that can be used to charge wheelchairs or other devices, if needed.

A mural (photo above left), by Pep Rally, Inc., a team of St. Petersburg and Tampa artists that focuses on brand identity, murals and installation art — entitled “Wild Florida Parade” — has vibrant colors and offers a tactile experience for low- to no-vision children, with carved grooves. The mural also is designed at a height that makes it wheelchair accessible.

For parents of any child who has experienced a summer day at a Florida playground, the best things about the New Tampa All Abilities Playground might be the safe, rubber surface, the large sails that provide an ample amount of protection from the sun, and a misting station that was built with $15,000 raised by the Rotary Club of New Tampa.

“This is a wonderful, wonderful addition to the New Tampa area, and to the entire city,” said Mayor Castor.

Joshua, now a 17-year-old senior at Sumner High in Ruskin, tried out the zip line and gave it a thumbs-up.

Diagnosed with transverse myelitis at 22 months leading to a spinal cord injury, Joshua has still managed to live a full life. He has played baseball, basketball, sled hockey, wheelchair rugby and has been able to go water skiing, practice jiu-jitsu and write music. He even got to sing one of his original rap songs at the ribbon cutting.

“I would have loved to have a park like this when I was younger,” he said.

For Viera, the ribbon cutting marked the completion of one of his first goals when he was elected in 2018.

Although the initial park plans had to be changed and a new site had to be found following complaints from a nearby neighborhood, the final result is definitely a rousing success..

“It doesn’t matter your disability,” Viera told the excited crowd, “you are welcome here.”

All Abilities Park

New & Old Made For An Eventful 2022 In New Tampa

The New Tampa Performing Arts Center took decades to negotiate and build, but the ribbon was finally cut on the new PAC, which is located right across the street from the entrance to the Hunter’s Green community.

Wesley Chapel has always kind of felt like New Tampa’s little brother, who just happened to have a growth spurt and spent a lot of time in the weight room. Wesley Chapel may be stronger and tower over New Tampa these days, but big brother still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

We think this analogy kind of makes sense, but let’s lay it for you.

In 2022, New Tampa celebrated a number of significant milestones, like the 25th anniversary of opening of the New Tampa Regional Library, the 20th anniversary of schools like Liberty Middle School and Freedom High and the 25th anniversary of the opening of both Benito Middle School and Wharton High.

New Tampa truly is all grown up, in many ways. There may not be room to build new malls and hundreds of new homes — unless the vacated Pebble Creek Golf Club golf course is paved over in the next few years to make way for new homes — but the area continues to move forward with some developments that should make locals happy.

Two notable ribbon cuttings were held — one for the long-awaited New Tampa Performing Arts Center (which will begin hosting performances in 2023) and another for a first-of-its-kind All Abilities Park for the City of Tampa in Tampa Palms.

Both were significant. The Performing Arts Center, championed by Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan for more than a decade, will be the cultural center of New Tampa, opening the way for musicians, dancers, actors and more to hone their skills and have a place to perform. And, for the community, the new center is expected to offer a host of performances and shows that will provide various types of entertainment otherwise unavailable in the area.

As for Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera’s pet project — the New Tampa All Abilities Park — those who suffer from a variety of disabilities now have a place to call their own, and a chance to be included in a number of fun and even educational playground activities that, until now, have been off limits for them.

That’s not all — Hagan also led the groundbreaking of a major renovation of Branchton Park at the corner of Morris Bridge Rd. and Cross Creek Blvd., and also announced that the county hopes to build New Tampa’s first indoor recreation center at Cross Creek Park near Pride Elementary.

And, the long-awaited replacement for the vacated Sweetbay Supermarket, the Asian superstore Lotte Plaza Market, began renovating the old building and expects to open sometime in 2023.

When it comes to other notable moments, New Tampa had its fair share.

Bruhat Soma, now a sixth grader at Turner Bartels K-8, School, qualified for the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., although he couldn’t attend due to Covid-19. He was only the second New Tampa student to ever qualify for the event, joining Benito’s Nupur Lala, who actually won the title in 1999.

Tommy Tonelli, pretty much the only basketball coach Wharton High has ever known, stepped down after leading the Wildcats to the State semifinals. Tonelli finished as Hillsborough County’s all-time- winningest boys basketball coach with a 528-137 record over 23 seasons.

Long-time Pebble Creek resident Marion Brodarick celebrated her 100th birthday, and is still going strong.

And, remember when gas prices were more than $4 a gallon? That prompted more than 100 cars to line up on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. for a promotional event, as the Marathon station neat I-75 was offering gas for just $2.38 per gallon.

As for New Tampa’s aforementioned little brother, it was another big year for new and cool things. In addition to the announcement of a new hospital (Wesley Chapel’s second), a few groundbreakings for town centers and an upscale Cooper’s Hawk restaurant on S.R. 56, Wesley Chapel’s 2022 highlights also included:

• The debut of the KRATE at the Grove Container Park in June, probably Wesley Chapel’s No. 1 success story of the year. The grand opening event of what is, at the very least, our area’s most unique and one-of-a-kind hangout, drew roughly 8,000 people, and its never-ending stream of special events — like ‘70s Night, ‘80s Night, movie nights and more — routinely draw more than a thousand patrons at a time to The Grove.

Comprised of converted shipping containers with an Instagrammable flair, KRATE has a little something for almost everyone. It boasts 29 restaurants with a variety of ethnic offerings, as well as 17 retail stores. The KRATE’s stage features some kind of live entertainment almost every week. Even during the recent winter chill, it’s been (and still is) the hot place to be these days.

• Saddlebrook Resort — which deserves maybe more credit than anything else for putting Wesley Chapel on the map as far back as the 1980s — was sold in 2022 for $15 million. And, long-time owner Tom Dempsey told us that it was just the first step in an expansion and renovation of the storied golf resort and residential development. Those plans include expanding Saddlebrook’s master-planned unit development (MPUD) by more than 400 acres and converting one of its two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses and the resort’s driving range into a site that would potentially include commercial/retail, restaurants, apartments, homes and other uses — serving as something of a Saddlebrook town center.

• If you regularly drive to Wesley Chapel for all the cool stuff, a lot of 2022 traffic improvements should make traveling in the area much more pleasant in 2023.

The diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is now fully open at the S.R. 56 and I-75 interchange and, except for some clean up and road markings. And, the Overpass Rd. interchange at I-75 — between the S.R. 54 and S.R. 52 exits — will be open soon, and the widening of S.R. 54 from east of Curley Rd. to Morris Bridge Rd. should be completed late in 2023.

When you add in the new paving planned for Tampa Palms Blvd., it feels like this year was a win for area commuters.

• Looking Ahead…In 2023, New Tampa can expect the completion of the Branchton Park improvements and a schedule of events for the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. And, with the ongoing fight over what to do with Pebble Creek’s golf course picking up steam, potential replacements for the Best Buy and Oronzo Honest Italian restaurant in Highwoods Preserve, when Kobe Japanese Steakhouse will open in its new location (see pg. 36) and a surprise or two, New Tampa definitely can expect an eventful 2023.

Meanwhile, Wesley Chapel can look forward to stepped-up growth in Wiregrass Ranch, including the long-awaited town center, and another in downtown Avalon Park Wesley Chapel and much more.

2022 New Tampa

Can 2023 Top 2022 In Wesley Chapel? Sure, Why Not?

Will Wesley Chapel ever stop growing?

Conventional wisdom suggests that, eventually, the area will just run out of available space for new development.

On the other hand, there’s currently still a lot of developable space and 2022 was packed with more eye-opening developments and announcements, portending a future that will continue to delight those eager for new “stuff” and infuriate those who don’t want to be stuck in traffic getting to that new stuff.

Here are five of the biggest things that went down in Wesley Chapel in 2022, with an eye towards 2023.

1. The KRATE at the Grove Container Park finally debuted in June, and we think it’s fair to say that while it’s not perfect, it was still Wesley Chapel’s No. 1 success story of 2022. The grand opening event of what is, at the very least, our area’s most unique and one-of-a-kind hangout, drew roughly 8,000 people, and its neverending stream of special events — like ‘70s Night, ‘80s Night, movie nights and more — routinely draw more than a thousand patrons at a time.

Comprised of converted shipping containers with an Instagrammable flair, KRATE has a little something for almost everyone. It boasts 29 restaurants with a variety of ethnic offerings – many doing well in our annual Reader Dining Survey of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa eateries; results will be online next week — as well as 17 retail stores. The KRATE’s stage features some kind of live entertainment most weeks.

And, the park continues to come up with innovative new ideas — like wrapping up 2022 with “Swiftmas Christmas” celebrating Taylor Swift with contests and Wesley Chapel performer Isabella Diaz singing the pop superstar’s hits — that provide just another taste of what we can expect in 2023.

2. The Pop Stroke groundbreaking was definitely one of the more buzz-worthy beginnings of a new project in or near Wesley Chapel in 2022. Sure, there are bigger and more consequential developments in the area, but a hip new place to do stuff in an area that has complained about a lack of it for years will be huge when it opens in early 2023.

With Tiger Woods’ backing, the unique mini-golf course is sure to draw big crowds to its location at the intersection of S.R. 56 and Wesley Chapel Blvd. If it also can draw, well, Tiger Woods, to its grand opening, wouldn’t that be something?

Heck, Pop Stroke might even be open before the more traditional, family-oriented mini-golf course at The Grove, which we expect to announce it is officially opening….any…day…now…

3. Saddlebrook Resort — which deserves maybe more credit than anything else for putting Wesley Chapel on the map as far back as the 1980s — was sold in 2022 for $15 million, and long-time owner Tom Dempsey told us that it was just the first step in an expansion and renovation of the storied golf resort and residential development.

Sure enough, buyers Mast Capital and Amzak Capital Management are prepping to get their money’s worth from the deal. On Jan. 5, the developers

will present their plans to the public at a Pasco County Planning Commission meeting, with hopes of taking it to the Board of County Commissioners in February for approval.

Those plans include expanding Saddlebrook’s master-planned unit development (MPUD) by more than 400 acres and converting one of its two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses and the resort’s driving range into a site that would potentially include commercial/retail, restaurants, apartments, homes and other uses — serving as something of a Saddlebrook town center.

4. New roads may not be that sexy of a thing to list in the year’s biggest news, but Wesley Chapel took a few giant steps (and maybe a short drive) forward in 2022.

First, the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) is now fully open at the S.R. 56 and I-75 and, except for some clean up and road markings, has been completed.

Considering the issues the interchange had with its previous construction company, which caused a months-long delay, the completion of the DDI is a pretty impressive feat. And, while it may still be a little confusing to some people, there is little doubt the interchange has proven to be a success.

Any day now (maybe even by the time you read this), the Overpass Rd. Interchange at I-75 also will be open, another project expected to have a big impact on area traffic. Located halfway between the S.R. 54 and S.R. 52 exits, the new Exit 282 interchange will be a boon for those settling in the quickly developing northern part of Wesley Chapel, and heck, it might even also improve the S.R. 54 interchange, which likely has taken over the title from S.R. 56/I-75 as the worst area locally to be driving at 5 p.m. on a weekday.

Toss the widening of S.R. 54 from east of Curley Rd. to Morris Bridge Rd. in there, which also is making steady progress and should be completed late in 2023, and, all in all, it kind of feels like this year was a win for area commuters. And, next year also should see the opening of at least the first leg of the long-awaited Zephyrhills Bypass from S.R. 54 to Morris Bridge Rd.

5. Wiregrass Ranch, which has been simmering for the past few years, is starting to boil, too.

In 2022, it was announced that a second hospital (Orlando Hospital) was coming to the Ranch, along with Cooper’s Hawk Restaurant (which blew up our Facebook page more than any other story in 2022). A number of plans also were filed with the county to begin work on some of the other long-vacant parcels in the DRI, including the long-awaited town center.

With Wiregrass Ranch Blvd., which will serve as the spine to the entire development, just about complete, we’re expecting a slew of major announcements from developer JD Porter in 2023.

DDI JD Porter krate saddlebrook

Gramatica Now Kicking Winners With Life Guard Imaging

*Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers placekicker Martin Gramatica is now the VP of development for Life Guard Imaging.*

Like most people, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers placekicker Martin Gramatica worried about what, if any, future maladies might be lurking in his body. So, when he heard a commercial on the radio for Life Guard Imaging, which promises to help answer those questions with high-tech full-body scans, he made a mental note to give them a call.

However, he never did.

Instead, it was a chance meeting — with a diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan — a few weeks later on an airplane, that put the former Buc on a path to not only get himself scanned, but to join the team at Life Guard Imaging and start helping to save other people’s lives.

That Kansas City Chiefs fan was Frankie Maldonado, the director of operations of Life Guard Imaging, which is located on Rocky Point Dr. in Tampa, off the Courtney Campbell Cswy.

As a Bucs sponsor, Maldonado was on a team-sponsored flight sitting in the row ahead of Gramatica, who does color commentary for the Bucs’ Spanish flagship radio station WTMP-FM 96.1.

Gramatica’s wife Ashlee overheard the conversation and told Martin it was the guys from the radio commercial.

“Frankie is a huge Chiefs fan and was wearing his Chiefs shirt, so I had to say something to him,” Gramatica said. “We ended up hanging out that weekend and had a great time. We landed back in Tampa on Sunday, and I had my scan on Tuesday, and it kind of went from there. Then, Eric (Shuman, Life Guard marketing director), and Frankie asked me if I wanted to come on board.”

Gramatica is now the vice president of business development for Life Guard Imaging, a company that specializes in preventive screenings in order to find heart disease, cancer and other illnesses early enough that patients and their physicians can take the proper steps to correct them.

At Life Guard Imaging, you are scanned from your shoulders to the base of your pelvis. A registered CT Technologist slides you through a low-radiation, high-resolution CT scanner, creating 3D images of your internal organs, which are then examined by a team of Board-certified Doctors of Radiology who can help aid in detecting deadly diseases before it’s too late.

The scans can help detect hundreds of issues, but among the most prominent are lung cancer (which kills more men and women than any other cancer), liver disease (which accounts for 2 million deaths per year) and abnormalities in your chest, abdomen or pelvis.

Maldonado describes the first scan as your base, and although you can get just one scan, he says yearly scans can reveal any dangerous year-to-year changes. He compares it to getting a mammogram.

“The single-most diagnosed cancer in America is breast cancer,” Maldonado says. “And yet, and most people don’t know this, the single most-survived cancer in American is breast cancer. That’s not a coincidence.”

A Little History

Maldonado took a job at an independent imaging facility in Atlanta in 2017, and knew then he wanted to bring scanning services to as many people as possible.

He has seen patient scans reveal early-stage pancreatic cancer — the same cancer that killed his father, prominent Maryland surgeon Dr. Benjamin J. Maldonado, Jr. — allowing this deadly type of cancer to be caught in time. Another patient had a cardiac calcium score so high it was revealed that three of his four main arteries had 90-percent blockage. Triple bypass surgery saved him from an inevitable heart attack.

Life Guard Imaging is one of only five places nationwide that offer this type of full-body-scan program, and the job is extremely gratifying. Gramatica says there are plans to expand to other locations in Florida.

“I’m having so much fun with it,” Gramatica says. “Where else can you say you are saving people’s lives?”

That’s why Gramatica didn’t want to just be a spokesman for the company. He wanted a larger role — “I wanted to be all in,” he says. “I didn’t just want to do a couple of commercials and put my face and name out there and be done with it. As VP of business development, my job is to get the word out there and let people know what we do, because what we do is important.”

For Gramatica, knowing that he’s healthy is important. He owns his own business, coaches all three of his kids — 14- and 16-year-old boys and a 10-year-old daughter — in soccer, has been doing Bucs radio with his brother (and former USF kicker) Santiago for five years and was recently named the head coach of the new Tampa Bay Strikers men’s and women’s teams that will play in the National Indoor Soccer League, which will play its home matches nearby at the USF Yuengling Center.

“When I first thought about getting scanned, my stomach had been bothering me,” Gramatica says. That checked out fine, however, and his scans have only revealed a few wear-and-tear issues from a lifetime of playing soccer and kicking field goals.

“It gave my wife and I tremendous piece of mind,” he says. “It’s extremely valuable to know that everything is fine. And, if anything does develop, we’ll catch it early.”

Life Guard Imaging is located at 3001 N. Rocky Point Dr., Suite 185. For more info, visit LifeGuardImaging.com or call (813) 524-1010. If you mention this story or the ad, you will receive a heart scan and coronary calcium score absolutely free.

Lifeguard Imaging Martin Gramatica

County’s Default, RADDSports’ Lawsuit On Hold For Now

Pasco County and RADDSports failed to settle their differences over the management of the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus at a November mediation, and have decided to pause efforts to reconcile those differences for 60 days until a second mediation can be held in February 2023.

A lawsuit, filed by RADDSports on Nov. 15, now hangs over the negotiations, as well.

The two sides issued a joint statement on Dec. 12, which was signed by RADDSports’ chief operating officer Anthony Homer and Pasco’s chief assistant county attorney David Goldstein, acknowledging the lawsuit and the lack of a settlement at the initial mediation session on Nov. 28, but stated that the two sides were still trying to resolve their issues.

“The parties have now agreed to place their disputes on hold for 60 days while they continue to work towards a definitive resolution,” the joint statement says. “There has been no judicial determination of whether RADDSports is or is not in default of the (contract).”

Homer says RADDSports wants that judicial determination, which is why the company filed the suit.

“What we are suing for is a declarative action,” Homer says. “We simply want a judge to look at the county’s allegations, compare it to the contract and to essentially declare whether or not we are in default (as the county claims). That’s it.”

Goldstein declined comment.

After receiving a letter of default from Pasco County on Nov. 4, and receiving no response to its defense of the claims in the letter, RADDSports filed the suit, which claims that the county has long sought to undermine the management company’s efforts.

“Now, under the pretense of a default, the county is trying to terminate a 20-year contract with false claims in order to take over operations at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus,” Homer says.

“We’re not asking for damages, we’re not asking to renegotiate the contract,” he adds. “We’re perfectly happy to live within the terms of the agreement that we committed to at the beginning of this for the next 18 years. All we’re asking is for a judge to determine whether or not we are in default, and if we are not, we go back to business.”

While Homer hasn’t ruled out another suit for damages if the county proceeds with terminating the management company’s contract, RADDSports did agree to suspend its lawsuit during the current 60-day break in talks.

Both sides are still communicating, however, as well as collecting information and fulfilling public records requests that they expect will bolster their arguments on Feb. 7 when they meet again.

The two sides are at odds over how the sports facility, which opened in July of 2020 but officially opened in January 2021, is being run and the results of those early efforts.

On Oct. 25, the county’s Board of County Commissioners (BOC) approved a Notice of Default, originally written by Florida Sports Coast director Adam Thomas, which also included approval of roughly $3 million to take over management of the sports campus from RADDSports.

The county claims that RADD has focused too heavily on local events and did not promote tourism and overnight hotel stays – including failing to properly market the facility and not working with the Residence Inn by Marriott hotel, which is located on the same campus.

The default letter received by RADD, which Homer says was different than what the BOC initially approved, was delivered to RADDSports on Nov. 4. Homer delivered a point-by-point rebuttal to the default claims at the following BOC meeting on Nov. 8.

Homer says that RADDSports asked the county to withdraw its claim of default, but was met with silence from the five county commissioners.

The suit was filed because “Pasco County basically left us in purgatory,” Homer said, after putting the accusation of default in the public domain.

RADDSports claims it has not only promoted tourism and met all of the other requirements laid out in the contract, but actually has exceeded the number of room nights in the company’s agreement with the county and has spent $1.5 million of its own money to do so.

It says the county also paid consultants roughly $35,000 to produce data on RADDSports’ tourism efforts, and that data only confirmed that the management company has met expectations.

In addition, Florida Sports Coast is accused of attempting to turn other local businesses against RADDSports, with false accusations that those businesses refused to sign off on.

Homer says he is “optimistic” that the next mediation session will produce an agreement that both sides find satisfactory.

“We want the same thing the county wants,” he says. “The more people we bring into the building is better for us, and also better for them. It is unclear to us right now exactly what the county’s expectations are, since they are claiming we are in default, yet their own data they paid an outside company for confirmed that we are doing exactly what we said we would. In fact, their vendor said we were doing better than even we had estimated. So, there’s an alignment of interests to be found. Hopefully we can all agree on some objective metrics and move forward.“

RADD