Clark Elementary Hosts A Successful Multicultural Fair! 

At the Clark Elementary Multicultural Fair on Sept. 27, many of the 35 languages spoken by the school’s students and their parents were well-represented. (All photos by Charmaine George)

While organizing a Multicultural Fair at the school with her staff and PTA members, Clark Elementary (located in West Meadows) principal Dr. Delilah Rabeiro says they soon realized that 35 different languages were being spoken at the school. 

PTA secretary Meghan Shirey, who helped organize the fair on Sept. 27, says that the goal was to have as many of the different cultures at the school as possible represented at the event. 

At least nine different countries — including China, Brazil, The Philippines, Italy, Vietnam. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Puerto Rico and a large contingent from India provided authentic food from their countries. There also were performances by some of the students, including traditional dances and songs. 

After the performances, all of the students lined up to walk the stage for a fashion show that showed off traditional outfits from their culture. All of the kids and parents seemed really excited to show off their food and clothing to each other and many asked questions about the other attendees’ food and cultural traditions. 

New Tampa Projects In The City Of Tampa’s Fiscal ‘24 Budget 

The City of Tampa’s Fiscal 2024 budget includes $75,000 in funding for the New Tampa Players’ Penguin Project, whose production of “Beauty & the Beast” was the first performance at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. (Photo credit: Angie Schneider)

The City of Tampa’s Fiscal 2024 budget passed unanimously on October 3 and, according to District 7 City Council member Luis Viera (whose district includes all of New Tampa), a number of New Tampa projects were included in the budget allocations. 

1. K-Bar Ranch City Park — “I was able to put the plans for the city park in K-Bar Ranch in the Community Investment Tax (CIT) for future consideration,” Viera says. “This puts us in the dugout so to speak, and ready to bat when the time comes. That’s a big change and major movement forward for us there. This is the K-Bar Ranch Park I have been talking about with my constituents for a really long time. My idea was to move it into potential projects with plans ready to go in concrete.” 

2. Penguin Project Funding — “I was able to get $75,000 for the New Tampa Players (NTP) theatre troupe, for their Penguin Project, for an adult version arts program for people with intellectual disabilities,” Viera says. “Presently, when persons with intellectual disabilities in the Penguin Project (an effort by NTP to give persons with ID a first-class theatre opportunity — like ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Beauty & the Beast (photo), etc. — “age out” (at age 18), they are done with the program. This funding will allow NTP to create another program for adults. It’s wonderful. This project is spearheaded by NTP president Nora Paine, who is an amazing disability advocate who also is a Heritage Isles resident.” 

3. Street Repaving — “We were able to get about $7 million in new funding for repaving,” Viera says. “This will create opportunities for streets like New Tampa Blvd. in West Meadows, which desperately needs to be resurfaced, and 30th St. (Bruce B. Downs Blvd. south of Fowler Ave.). Nothing is set in stone yet regarding which planned repaving projects will get what, but it moves us faster forward for New Tampa Blvd. for consideration. I believe the Tampa Palms Blvd. repaving is just about done.” 

4. Fire Station & Public Safety Funding — “I also was able to secure $1.5 million in design funding for Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) Station No. 25, which will be on Fowler Ave,” Viera says. “This will allow for better response times for the areas around Fowler Ave., but it also will allow Station No. 20 on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (serving the Tampa Palms area) to better serve areas north of Fowler, especially zip code 33647. The design of the new station will take about a year, and then, we will get construction funding. I have a motion coming in a month or so to look at government bonds for our new fire stations. So, while this budget item is not directly funding for New Tampa, it will allow areas in North Tampa south of Tampa Palms to be taken care of by this new forthcoming station, so that Station No. 20 can better focus on the areas to the north of Tampa Palms. So, it is a piece of the puzzle.” 

He adds, however, “As for direct fire station funding for New Tampa, we got money for a new rescue vehicle for TFR Station No. 22 on Cross Creek Blvd. (a little west of Morris Bridge Rd.) to help with response times for the K-Bar Ranch area. This is big news for that area.” 

And finally, Viera says, “The budget also allocated $50,000 to fund the city’s Public Safety Master Plan I have been pushing for three years. This means that we will have a citywide assessment of emergency response times and needs for both fire and police — which, of course, acutely affects New Tampa when it comes to fire safety.” 

County’s Live Oak Park Site Sale Will Help Pay For Pride Rec Center 

Research by Joel Provenzano 

A drone shot of the Anand Vihar 55+ community just north of the Pasco County line on Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe. (Map & photos provided by Hillsborough County & AnandViharTampa.com) 

Earlier this year, we told you about Hillsborough County’s plans to build an indoor recreation center at Pride Park, just south of Pride Elementary. 

The problem the county faced was how to fund the nearly $7 million needed to build the 16,000-sq.-ft. indoor Pride Recreation Center, which is planned to include space for basketball, volleyball, pickleball and even space for meetings, after-school programs and perhaps an outdoor splash pad. 

The 61.89-acre parcel in Live Oak Preserve purchased by Anand Vihar, LLC, from Hillsborough County is outlined in purple.

Well, for many years, as part of the development of Live Oak Preserve, Hillsborough has owned an unused 61.89-acre parcel a little bit west and north of where the Pride Rec Center is planned that abuts the boundary between Live Oak in the county and the City of Tampa’s K-Bar Ranch/Easton Park development. 

The same parcel, which is shaped like a much smaller version of the state of Nevada (see map), also extends north to the Hillsborough/Pasco County line, basically to where Kinnan St. (in the city) meets Mansfield Blvd. in Pasco — where there currently is a gated arm that only opens for emergency vehicles, as Pasco has rejected all attempts over the years to open that patch of roadway to regular vehicular traffic. 

On Apr. 5 of this year, Hillsborough County sold this nearly 62-acre parcel of land — which countywide District 2 County Commissioner Ken Hagan said was not in the plans to be developed into a park by the county — to Anand Vihar, LLC, for the price of $6,001,200. It just so happens that Anand Vihar, LLC (and its development group, Convergent Capital Partners) is the same group that owned and developed the property immediately to the north, in Pasco County, as an age 55+ community by the same “Anand Vihar” name. 

That Pasco-based property, which is home to a large number of doctors and engineers originally from India, was just turned over to the community’s condo association in June 2023, and is now home to 167 attached townhomes. 

However, Santosh Govindaraju, the chief executive officer of Convergent Capital partners, says that when plans are filed in November with Hillsborough County, Convergent will seek approval for 111 single-family homes on the new property, with homes ranging in price from $550,000 to $1 million, and from 1,800-2,500 square feet. The property in Live Oak also is expected to be developed as an age 55-and-older community. 

The monument sign of the Anand Vihar 55+ community just north of the Pasco County line on Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe.

Although the original zoning approval for the site would allow for 143 homes, Govindaraju has said that with only 111 homes, there will be more open “green” space available. In other words, whether the Hillsborough-based community also will be called Anand Vihar or not, it will prove to be a more upscale community than Anand Vihar in Pasco. 

What remains to be seen, of course, is whether or not the two separate communities can ever be connected by anything other than the nature trail that is in the current site plan for the Hillsborough County property. At the present time, the residents of the Hillsborough County Anand Vihar property would only be able to access Pasco County by taking K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. east to Meadow Pointe Blvd., turn north to Beardsley Dr. and then back to the west on Beardsley Dr. to access the Anand Vihar property on Mansfield Blvd. 

Is there a possibility — with former Dist. 2 Pasco Commissioner Mike Moore — who never budged on allowing the connection at Kinnan St./Mansfield Blvd. — now replaced by Commissioner Seth Weightman in Pasco’s Dist. 2, that a road connection between the two Anand Vihar communities could be allowed? That remains to be seen. 

As for the Pride Recreation Center, Commissioner Hagan says the $6-million in proceeds from the Live Oak park site sale will pay for most of the cost of its construction, which is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024 and be completed by the end of next year or early in 2025. 

“There was an additional funding need of about $750,000 or $775,000 to build the rec center,” Hagan says. “But, we already have that additional funding worked out in our fiscal 2024 budget.” 

Hagan adds that he is excited that the rec center is now coming to fruition. 

Recapping The New Tampa Performing Arts Center’s First Fall Festival 

Dancers from the Tampa City Ballet catch some air during the ballet company’s performance at the first-ever Fall Festival at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center Sept. 8-10. (Photo by Charmaine George and Gary Nager)

If you somehow missed the first-ever Fall Festival at the all-new New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC), you missed a truly special weekend (Sept. 8-10) of 100% free performances of virtually every kind. 

A spectacular dance performance by the Jansen Dance Company.

Everything from ballet to modern dance and from Broadway to traditional Indian dance was available to attendees, thousands of whom packed the NTPAC throughout the weekend. NTPAC executive director Keith Arsenault (photo below) was clearly beaming all three days of the Fall Festival. 

“We couldn’t be happier with the performances, the attendance and the feedback we’ve received from everyone who visited this weekend,” Arsenault said. “It’s clear that this community has been hungry for more cultural opportunities.” 

Although we weren’t able to take pictures at every performance, Neighborhood News photographer Charmaine George and I were proud to be on hand for most of the weekend’s festivities, which also included Arsenault unveiling a plaque of thanks (bottom middle) to Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan (bottom left). Arsenault said that the land for the NTPAC was dedicated 15 years ago, and that it took 15 County Commission votes to make the Center a reality. “We have many people at the county to thank,” Arsenault said, “but we would not be standing here today without the long-standing efforts of Ken Hagan.” 

Hagan was clearly moved by the plaque. “Politicians are rarely at a loss for words, but I am blown away by this. Thank you!”

Among the memorable performances and activities on Friday afternoon and evening at the NTPAC’s Fall Festival were song-&- dance routines by the Freedom High chorus.
A hands-on “Instrument Petting Zoo” sponsored by The Florida Orchestra.
Members of the New Tampa Players theatre troupe (l.-r., Makayla Raines, TrevorLloyd, Alyson Gannon, pianist G. Frank Meekins & Kyle Billington) kept the huge crowd entertained with a cabaret lounge-style set of timeless classics.

After the impressive and super-fun performances on Friday afternoon and evening, the NTPAC’s Fall Festival didn’t rest on its laurels. To the contrary, it may have even stepped it up to another level on Saturday, as the outstanding Wharton High band (above) first filled the main stage theater and no one left disappointed. 

But, as great as the ‘Cats musicians were, the performance by the Tampa City Ballet (above pics) Saturday evening was the first of the weekend to have to turn away people who wanted to check out this professional-level ballet company, as somewhere between 20-30 people had to watch the dancers and the troupe’s incredible backgrounds that were projected onto the cyclorama (cyc) at the back of the NTPAC stage on a TV in the lobby. 

There was no let-up on Sunday, either, as the Rudram Dance Company brought a huge number of traditionally-costumed Indian dancers to the NTPAC’s main stage. Then, before two one-act plays (“Co-Workers” and “Sherlock Holmes & Case of the 5-Pound Note”) were presented by winners of the Tampa Bay Theatre Festival, the folk rock acoustic duo of Daisies & Axes performed in Studio 2. There also was a “Fun with Broadway Trivia” game presented by the New Tampa Players, followed by ATLAS Modern Ballet’s contemporary dance performance, but we didn’t get to shoot those because of our deadline. Wow! Can’t wait ‘til next year!—GN 


The Rudram Dance Company ‘s performance filled the Theater’s stage with traditional Indian dance, costumes & pageantry. 

Daisies & Axes perform acoustic folk rock in Studio 2. 

“Sherlock Holmes & the 5-Pound Note.” 

Walmart To Begin Utilizing Robotic Order Fulfillment By Next Year 

Research by Joel Provenzano 

The construction of the auto dispense towers at the New Tampa Walmart on BBD Blvd. should be completed and open for business by early 2024. (Photo by Joel Provenzano).

A few issues ago, we told you about the New Tampa Walmart’s drone delivery of a surprise reward for two teachers at Clark Elementary. 

The New Tampa location is still one of very few Walmart stores nationwide, and one of fewer than ten in Florida, to offer drone deliveries. 

But, for those who couldn’t help but notice the long-term construction at the New Tampa Walmart (especially anyone trying to access the store from Wharton High), the news about that construction is that the local Walmart store will be the first in Florida — and only the second in the country — to offer robotic/automated customer fulfillment pods for pickup orders. Walmart calls them “auto dispense towers” and the corresponding area inside the store as a Market Fulfillment Center (MFC). 


Blue bins that have been loaded with groceries & other items into the Alphabot are then brought to the store’s Market Fulfillment Center. (Photo from Walmart Corp.) 

The track-and-rail system of bins inside the MFC at Bentonville, AR. 

Items (including groceries) will be run in blue containers on a rail system that runs through (and inside of) the thick blue part of the ceiling structure, from inside the store, and then down to waiting vehicles parked under the awnings that cover the parking area (see top photo on this page). 

Customers awaiting their pickup orders put in a code, and their groceries and other items are transported through the ceiling out the door in front of their vehicles. There are eight dedicated parking spaces for customers to pick up from these digital auto dispense towers. There also are an extra four loading spaces to the right of the large doors for ‘other’ customer orders — including for large items, etc., where employees will manually bring the items out to waiting vehicles. 

The very large “fulfillment center” area behind the newly constructed pharmacy inside of Walmart is where products will be pulled in an automated fashion to fill orders. There will be refrigeration for cold items. Employees also will be back there to ensure orders are filled correctly. 


A Walmart associate inputs data for an order in one of the blue bins filled with groceries. 

A filled blue bin being brought out to the w area. 

It may be hard to understand how the auto dispensing works without being able to see it, so we have provided some photos from Walmart’s recently begun pilot program at its Store 100 in Bentonville, AR, near the company’s headquarters. 

The MFC is built inside the store and is powered by a proprietary storage and retrieval system – named Alphabot. Walmart believes fulfillment through digitization and connecting its store and supply chain assets end to end will transform order fulfillment. And, along with it, the company believes, this should improve customer satisfaction and offer more opportunities for associates. 

“This new order fulfillment system is truly game changing,” said Ryan Simpson, the store manager at Walmart’s Store 100. “Not only does it enhance the customer experience through quicker, more accurate online order fulfillment, it also provides us the runway to continue growing our business now and in the future.” 

Once the fulfillment center opens, Walmart management believes that customers can expect to see the benefits of the MFC almost immediately. 

A Walmart associate in Bentonville helps load a customer’s groceries. (All photos from Walmart Corp.) 

MFCs will significantly increase the number of orders the store is able to fulfill in a day, promising faster fulfillment with lower substitutions. Walmart+ members have even more to look forward to, with free unlimited delivery. MFCs also improve the in-store shopping experience by freeing up associates to help customers shopping in-store. 

“I love the MFC,” says Gilbert Giron, MFC digital team lead at Walmart. “The dedicated space allows us to concentrate on picking items for our online customers. I feel confident that the items our associates are looking for are going to be there when a customer wants them. I know our team is providing our customers with great service.” 

When Will Ours Open? 

Walmart began the permitting process for the New Tampa store’s new addition back in the fall of 2021. 

According to the plans filed, the inside portion of the new MFC area will take up approximately 27,000 sq. ft. inside the Walmart building. This will be one of the first operational ones in the nation with this new technology. 

The staff at the New Tampa Walmart stated that they expect the new system to be open for customers by sometime early in 2024. They explained that once the construction has been completed, they will need to test the system and run trials to smooth out any kinks. 

For more info, visit Walmart.com.Â