New Tampa does not lack for amenities, but if you don’t live in one of the many gated communities, your chances of actually using them usually depends upon an invite from someone who does.
Aside from being a member of the New Tampa YMCA or living in Cory Lake Isles, Arbor Greene, Hunter’s Green, Pebble Creek, Tampa Palms or West Meadows, it can sometimes be tough to find a place to play.
If District 2 Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan gets his way, however, there will be another option available.
The county is about to begin, according to the commissioner, the process of building the first public gymnasium at Cross Creek Park in New Tampa, adjacent to Pride Elementary and just off Kinnan St.
While New Tampa has a YMCA (which requires a membership to use) and the New Tampa Recreation Center (which is tailored towards dance and gymnastics), there is no indoor gym or recreation center that caters to basketball, volleyball and pickleball players, to name a few sports that Hagan envisions being played in the new facility.
“We have the Y, we have some school gyms and the city has the gymnastics center, but this will be the first gym that’s open to the public,” Hagan says. “This would fill a much-needed void that exists in New Tampa.”
The facility would be modeled after the other gymnasiums built by the county, and Hagan says it would likely compare to the Northdale Park & Recreation Center in Carrollwood. It would include multipurpose indoor courts and meeting rooms.
Currently, Cross Creek Park has a playground, a small pavilion area, two basketball courts that are showing their age, and two baseball fields that have not been manicured in years — the dirt on the fields is mostly overgrown with grass. There are no bathrooms (one portable potty, sometimes two, fill that need) or water fountains. It remains, popular, however, on the weekends.
The entire park would be upgraded. The baseball fields might be built over, and a new playground and updated outdoor basketball courts could be part of the package.
“We’re looking at doing a splash pad there as well,” Hagan says. “And the parking lot would be upgraded, which would improve access to the school.”
Hagan said while the facility would also provide morning programs for seniors, open basketball and volleyball play in the evenings and plenty of league play as well, the proximity to Pride also would open the center up for after-school and summer programs.
Hagan says one of the park directors with the county told him, “Trust me, it will be at capacity the day it opens.”
Hagan says he has secured $1.5 million for the project, and is looking at the rest of the funding to come from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding. Hillsborough County received $285 million from the federal program.
“I anticipate it being fully funded this year and ideally breaking ground in the summer or fall,” he said.
The county could begin community outreach and virtual public meetings about the project sometime this month or next.
