Pokemon GO is taking over The Shops at Wiregrass mall, new restaurants are nearing completion of S.R. 56, we stop by and talk with PROtential Sports and Gary shares some of his favorite places to get a good meal in the Seminole Heights area.
Taylor Blair, a senior at Freedom High in Tampa Palms, recently traveled to Flint, MI, to work with local organizations trying to mitigate the cityโs ongoing water crisis and help residents of the area.
Blair was part of a group of 12 students and eight adults from the Ryan Nece Foundation, including founder Ryan Nece and CEO Shelley Sharp, and several board members. Nece, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beginning in 2002 and was part of team that won Super Bowl XXVII, started the foundation in 2006. Nece was released by the Bucs before the 2008 season, then played for the Detroit Lions for one season. The group from his foundation traveled to Michigan June 12-16 and, in addition to their projects in Flint, the students also volunteered in Detroit, about an hour away.
Blair says the first day in Flint, the group assembled rain barrels that collect and filter rainwater to make it useable for watering gardens. The next day, they delivered the barrels to residents affected by the water crisis and helped in community gardens by weeding and planting.
โIt was eye-opening,โ Blair says. โIt was hard to believe, with all the luxuries that we have in our day-to-day lives, that in other parts of the same country, there are these types of communities where (so many) people are in need.โ
Sharp says the students helped citizens and worked on sustainability projects, such as urban gardening. โWe worked with a wonderful organization called Edible Flint that encourages gardening,โ Sharp explains, including fundraising before the trip to buy all of the materials and supplies for the rain barrels.
Blair says that after two days in Flint, the group spent the next day in Detroit, and she and her fellow students were shocked at the conditions they experienced. โTo an extent, some of the conditions were as bad as a third world country,โ she explains. โFor example, we were in a neighborhood where there werenโt very many grocery stores, because the people are so poor they canโt buy enough food (to support the store). So, we worked with a program called Greening of Detroit thatโs helping people to start gardens to grow healthy food.โ
Blair was touched by the examples of generosity they saw, such as the woman who appeared to be in need herself, however, โShe said that if anyone is hungry, they can come and take something from her garden.โ
The trip was the final event in a year of learning and service that Blair and the other students had just completed as part of the Ryan Nece Foundationโs flagship program, called the Student Service Program. โItโs a two-year program for high school juniors and seniors,โ explains Sharp, who says students apply at the end of their sophomore year and are chosen based on their leadership skills and commitment to service.
โAt the end of their first year, the program culminates with a service learning trip outside of our area,โ Sharp adds. โItโs a real eye opener to the needs of the community.โ
Blair says she heard about the program through the college and career counselor at her school. โIt sounded like it was very similar to my personal interests,โ she says. โSo, I applied and, fortunately, I got in.โ
Blair spent the last year learning about servant leadership and practicing skills she was taught through the Student Service Program at local service projects.
โWe focus on leadership and service,โ Blair explains. โEvery month we have a class where we learn about one of the principals from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (by Sean Covey, 1998). Business leaders from the community come in and teach us skills, and then we do community service projects.โ
As a group, Blair says, โWe look for opportunities to give back to the community and help people in need, and we talk about the power of giving.โ
She says her favorite local project was when the group worked with The Spring of Tampa Bay, a residential facility for victims of domestic violence. โFirst, we learned about domestic violence with both adults and teens, and how to identify when itโs happening,โ Blair says, explaining they were taught how to identify โlittle red flagsโ that indicate someone might be a victim of domestic violence. She says the group then worked in The Springโs thrift shop to provide support to that organization, and filmed a public service announcement about teen dating violence.
Sharp says the highlight of each year is the annual trip outside of the Tampa Bay area. For the past couple of years, the foundationโs trip has been to the Dominican Republic. However, she explains that this year, concerns about the Zika virus prompted the group to plan a trip inside the U.S. instead.
โIt was a surprise to learn that we were going to Flint instead of the Dominican Republic, and saddening because we had heard so much about that trip from the students whoโve gone in the past,โ says Blair, โbut then, we were excited because we would get to help people in a poorer community here in the U.S.โ
When asked if the time she spent learning leadership skills and working on service projects was overwhelming for a busy high school student, Blair says, โIt wasnโt too time consuming because it was so much fun and so interesting.โ She adds that sheโll spend the next year serving as a mentor to the new students who were recently chosen for the program and will continue to participate in the foundationโs service projects.
For more information about the Ryan Nece Foundation, visit RyanNeceFoundation.com.
The land across from Hunterโs Greenโs main entrance still sits there, mostly untouched, other than serving as a retention pond for a road widening.
Despite county approval 18 months ago for a village/town center, dog park and New Tampa Cultural Center, there are no dump trucks, no cranes and no men in hard hats wandering around.
If you are one of the many who have wondered — and many have asked us — what is going on, the answer is plenty.
โTell them itโs definitely coming,โโ says District 2 County Commissioner Victor Crist, who represents New Tampa on the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and was one of the key forces in making the long-sought-after New Tampa Cultural Center a reality.
โThere are so many hoops we have to jump through,โโ Crist says. โBut weโre jumping through them.โ
David Freeman knows that all too well. His company, Harrison Bennett Properties, LLC, won the rights (along with Regency Centers as part of a joint venture) in 2014 to build a mixed-use village center, tentatively called The Village At Hunterโs Lake at the time of approval.
The development is expected to feature a 20,000-sq.-ft. cultural center (expandable to 30,000-sq.-ft.) that will seat roughly 300 and include art and sound galleries โ and its primary tenant will be the New Tampa Players, a local acting troupe that has been putting productions in our area for more than a decade โ a 3-acre dog park and a town center that would include a โgreenโ grocer, shops and restaurants and anywhere from 100-250 condos, townhomes or boutique apartments.
Harrison Bennett will build on roughly 17 acres of land purchased by the City of Tampa. The property is part of 80 acres originally purchased by the city for drainage and a retention pond for the widening of Bruce B. Downs to eight lanes.
Freemanโs proposal was chosen via a unanimous 7-0 vote by the BOCC on Dec. 17, 2014, with the understanding that Harrison Bennett would be responsible for obtaining the necessary zoning, permits and land-use approvals from the City of Tampa.
โAt this point, we are really getting started with the process of rezoning so we can move ahead,โโ Freeman says. โRight now, everything else is just on the backburner.โ
โPeople are excited,โโ says Crist, who is often asked about the status of the project. โThey want to get it up and opening and running immediately. Unfortunately, this is not just a clean piece of dirt. Itโs environmentally protected land, and had an original zoning as a park site or preserve. This is a very complex deal.โ
The project is currently in an inspection period, according to Josh Bellotti, director of Hillsborough Countyโs Real Estate & Facilities. He said that engineers are continuing their investigation of environmental and stormwater issues.
The inspection period was scheduled to conclude on July 30, but has been extended through Sept. 9 to allow the buyer to conduct its due diligence. The extension is nothing too unusual, Bellotti said, as engineers begin digging into undeveloped land and find new issues to deal with.
After the inspection period is over, the project moves into the approval period โ which lasts 180 days โ when Freeman has to obtain all of the necessary regulatory approvals. The approval period, should any issues arise, can be extended up to a maximum of 360 days. Closing would occur 30 days after the approval period ends, which could be sometime in March of 2017.
A Little History…
Sure, red tape can hold up projects for years. But you canโt blame those skittish about the development of the cultural center clearing obstacles. The quest for a cultural center โ or a โpulseโ and โidentityโ as some had referred to it over the years โ hasย stretched more than a decade.
In 2001, a Connecticut firm was paid $27,000 by the city for a study that determined New Tampa could support a cultural center. The nonprofit New Tampa Cultural Arts Center โ led by Hunterโs Green resident Graeme Woodbrook โ was offered the six acres it requested for the project, but the city wanted the group to come up with a $10-million endowment to pay for it, killing the effort in 2005.
The project was revived again for a brief time in 2007 by New Tampa Players president and founding artistic director Doug Wall, who also was involved in the earlier efforts. But again, money was an issue, until Crist was able to secure promises of funding andย the project gained traction.
โItโs rewarding for them to know their work was not done in vain,โ Crist says.
Crist says he is currently working on creating a new nonprofit, similar to the University Area Community Development Corporation (which Crist helped start and he is still a Board member). The nonprofit would be housed at the Cultural Center and would manage it, while being responsible for programming and fundraising.
The cost of the Hunterโs Lake project is around $7.5-million. The county has $3.1-million budgeted in its CIP program, Harrison Bennett will provide the county with $2.02-million in cash, as well as making another $1.885 million in site improvements.
Crist said he has been told the final appropriations for the project are included in the 2016-2017 county budget, which will be debated and finalized by Aug. 1.ย
Fireworks, free chicken, ribbon cuttings, Bain Complete Wellness and Gary shares some dining favorites in our second episode of WCNT-tv. Enjoy!
Living in Wesley Chapel, we can consider ourselves fortunate to have Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC) close by for our medical needs.
The 200,000-sq. ft., 83-bed facility, which is currently being expanded, continues to be recognized for being outstanding in various ways.
The hospital recently was named the countryโs first Center of Excellence for its Hip & Knee Replacement Center.
This designation was awarded by DNV GL Healthcare USA, an international health care accreditation organization.
โThis comprehensive, independent evaluation is recognition of the high-quality orthopaedic care provided by our physicians and staff and dedication to the best outcomes for our patients,โ says Dr. Stephen Raterman, orthopaedic surgeon and medical director of FHWCโs Hip & Knee Replacement Center.
In addition, FHWC also has received the 2016 Womenโs Choice Award as one of Americaโs best hospitals for obstetrics.
The Womenโs Choice Award is an organization that seeks to give women a collective voice to choose brands, products and services with confidence, knowing that other women have tried and would highly recommend them.
The designation is based on a variety of criteria that consider patient satisfaction, patient recommendation rating, and what women say they want from a hospital.
FHWCโs Baby Place opened in 2012 with 11 private rooms for labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum care.
Each room features overnight space for family, spa-like amenities, such as Jacuzzi tub or walk-in shower, and 42โ TV.
Wireless fetal monitoring and a state-of-the-art infant security system are other highlights of The Baby Place.
โWomen choosing us as the hospital to welcome their babies into the world is the highest honor we can receive,โ says Denyse Bales-Chubb, CEO and president of FHWC. โThis award is another reflection of that honor, and we pledge to keep earning it every day.โ
For more information about FHWC, visit FHWesleyChapel.org. And, donโt forget, FHWC also is the Studio Sponsor for WCNT-tv.