Hillsborough County commisioner candidates Ken Hagan, Victor Crist and Ray Chiaramonte are among those hoping to advance beyond Tuesday’s primaries to the Nov. 6 election.
Two county commissioners with long-time ties to New Tampa — former resident Ken Hagan and current Tampa Palms resident Victor Crist — will be hoping to win their Primary Elections on Tuesday, August 28, in their efforts to effectively swap seats in the general election on Nov. 6.
Both have been term-limited out of their current positions.
Comm. Hagan, who is currently the District 5 commissioner, a countywide seat, is running in District 2, which represents all of New Tampa, as well as Lutz, Temple Terrace and Thonotosassa. Hagan held the Dist. 2 seat from 2002-10.
Comm. Crist, currently the Dist. 2 commissioner, is running for Hagan’s Dist. 5 seat.
Hagan, 50, has been one of the highest-profile commissioners in recent months, due to his role as the county’s lead negotiator in luring the Rays to Tampa to play in a proposed $892-million stadium in Ybor City.
For his primary race against first-time office seeker Chris Paradies, Hagan had raised a staggering $484,374 at our press time. Paradies, a Keystone resident who has been critical of Hagan’s position as a political lifer who attempts to avoid term limits by jumping seats in order to stay in office, had raised $27,523.
Ken Hagan
Hagan, who has often been viewed as a pro-development commissioner, has been active in seeking New Tampa’s support in his current campaign. He has co-hosted two local town hall meetings with Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and has been active in trying to get new parks built or expanded in K-Bar Ranch and Branchton Park off Morris Bridge Rd.
Hagan also proposed adding $250,000 to the county budget last year to speed up a potential connection of Kinnan St. to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe.
In June, FloridaPolitics.com named Hagan the ninth most powerful politician in Tampa Bay.
Democrat Angela Birdsong, like Hagan, a Carrollwood resident, has raised $21,674, and she awaits the winner of Hagan vs. Paradies. Birdsong has recently picked up her efforts in New Tampa, as she seeks to expand her profile.
Crist, 61, is running against Angel S. Urbina Capo in countywide Dist. 5.
A longtime local fixture, Crist has been a strong proponent of a New Tampa Cultural Center, which is expected to finally come to fruition — by 2020. He championed, as did Hagan when he served in Dist. 2, the idea of a New Tampa “town center,” which is now under development at the Hunter’s Lake project across from Hunter’s Green.
Comm. Crist had raised $121,300 at our press time, while Capo, a 47-year-old cybersecurity consultant, was at $6,768.
Crist talks to a group at Hunter’s Green Country Club last year about plans for a New Tampa Cultural Center.
Crist’s profile, connections and list of accomplishments in government dwarf Capo’s, and he is favored to win the primary. In Nov. 6, the winner will face Joe Kotvas, who is not affiliated with any party, and whoever emerges from the Democratic primary between Mariella Smith and Elvis Piggott.
Smith, a fourth-generation Tampa native currently living in Ruskin, is a 64-year-old small business owner and has been a longtime citizen advocate and community leader who could present a formidable challenge to Crist should she defeat Piggott, a 30-year-old church pastor who had been out-raised $73,978 to $20,315.
A crowded field is seeking the District 7 seat, which also is countywide.
Four Democrats – Ray Chiaramonte, Mark Nash, Kimberly Overman and Sky White — are running. All have either governmental or activist experience.
Nash has held the edge in fund-raising, pulling in $82,768, but Chiaramonte wasn’t far behind at $74,876, followed by Overman ($54,410) and White ($9,718.22).
Chiaramonte, who stopped in at the Neighborhood News office to talk county politics with editor Gary Nager, has been the executive director of the county’s Planning Commission, Metropolitan Planning Organization and most recently, the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA, from which he elected not to renew his contract last year).
He says that as a lifelong Hillsborough resident and regional transportation specialist, he is the candidate in the best position to help focus on the transportation issues throughout our area. Look for more of Gary’s interview with Chiaramonte in these pages if he wins the primary.
Republican Aakash Patel, however, has raised more than all of them combined. With a $381,594 war chest (that tops half a million dollars when you include money raised by his political committee, Elevate Tampa), Patel also has some big-time endorsements from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, State House Speaker Richard Corcoran, former Speaker Will Weatherford and Congressman Gus Bilirakis.
His opponent on August 28, attorney Todd Marks, had raised $138,866.
School Board primary elections also will be held, though not for New Tampa’s District 3 seat, currently held by Cindy Stuart. However, a countywide seat in District 6 (to replace April Griffin) is up for grabs, and a field of six candidates will contend for the spot on Primary Day.
To appreciate what local drivers endure every day and to find ways to fix our traffic problems, traffic engineer Jerry Wentzel had a computer-equipped car make more than 180 runs driving the speed limit through the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. corridor in New Tampa collecting data.
And, perhaps, a few choice words by those frustrated that the car was driving the speed limit.
“If you did see the car, I hope you’re not the people that were giving us obscene gestures,” Wentzel joked. “A lot of drivers in your community don’t think 45 is the right speed limit.”
But, by the end of his presentation to roughly 50 people at Compton Park in Tampa Palms on July 25, the only gesture Wentzel — the Southeast Regional manager for DKS, a transportation planning and engineering firm that recently completed a traffic light study in New Tampa — received was a thumbs up.
Wentzel and Vik Bhide, the chief traffic management engineer for the City of Tampa, told an audience of New Tampa residents, as well as a handful of political hopefuls that not only are changes in the traffic light cycles speeding things up, plans for three additional turn-only signals will continue to ease congestion.
“You should be able to recognize there has already been an improvement,” said Wentzel.
The traffic light study was hatched to address a number of concerns, primarily helping move traffic through side streets like Cross Creek Blvd., Amberly Dr. and Tampa Palms Blvd. onto and off of BBD and facilitating a steady traffic flow during peak hours that would make the roads safer, not just for cars but for cyclists and pedestrians as well.
The lights are also now timed to favor busier traffic at certain times. For example, in the morning, the lights will favor southbound traffic, and in the evening, they will favor northbound traffic.
“In the past….BBD was one giant green (light),” Bhide said. “You were running four-and-a-half-minute cycles. If you were on Bruce B. Downs and got the first green light, you were great. If you were on a side street, you were waiting for a very long time. Our goal was to reduce the delay for everyone.”
Three corridors were studied for improvements in the weekday a.m., midday and p.m. hours, as well as Saturday morning and evening hours. The Saturday results were applied to Sunday, which was not specifically studied.
“In some cases, the signals were really way off,” said Wentzel. “The timings were changed dramatically.”
The four-mile stretch from I-75 to E. Bearss Ave., which has nine traffic signals, saw the largest improvements.
According to the study, by recalibrating the cycles of the signals from an average of 222 seconds (3:42) to 146 seconds (2:26), the average delay was reduced from 139 seconds (2:19) to 73 seconds, or 1:13.
The BBD widening project allowed weekday PM cycle lengths to be reduced from 254 seconds (4:14) to 130 (2:10).
“Because it’s now four lanes, it allowed us to reduce the cycle length and give more time to the side streets and cut the delay for coming off the side streets,” Wentzel said.
The changes also helped increase the average travel speed along BBD from 31.6 miles per hour to 37.6 mph, suggesting a smoother flow of traffic. The biggest increases were seen in the weekday midday hours (31.5 to 39 mph) and Saturday p.m. hours (32 to 43).
“That’s pretty dramatic,” Wentzel said. “People in that corridor should feel the changes, should be driving better, stopping less and spending a lot less time in traffic.”
Requiring minor tweaks in the cycle lengths was the corridor along Cross Creek Blvd. between BBD and Morris Bridge Rd. Improvements there helped reduce the average delay for drivers by 37 percent. Delays getting off the side streets were not as much of an issue, so the improvements focused on the east-west movement along Cross Creek Blvd.
“From one end to the other was 134 seconds (2:14), now down to 85 seconds (1:25),” Wentzel said. “That’s a pretty big reduction and something the average person should feel. We felt those were good results, very positive results.”
The third corridor studied, BBD from Cross Creek Blvd. to I-75, was the trickiest, Wentzel said.
While the signals clearly favored BBD traffic, it did not recognize that 40 percent of the traffic in the corridor was coming off Cross Creek Blvd. The result has been significantly longer cycle times for traffic turning south onto BBD from Cross Creek. That has slowed the average speed in that corridor by 1 percent and increased the average delay by 10 percent, numbers that Wentzel called insignificant.
Statistics from study regarding signal timing changes at the Cross Creek/BBD Intersection (Graphic Design: Gavin Olsen)
“If you look at the study results, it didn’t really benefit BBD traffic, because the intention was to help Cross Creek,” he said.
While the study may produce small numbers measured in seconds and minutes, when you multiply that one car by days and then times per month, you get a bigger, brighter picture (see graphic above).
“The cumulative savings to the community are significant, and to the environment are significant” Bhide said.
Bhide also said the light signal changes also will benefit bicyclists and pedestrians, who tend to take risks crossing when they are stuck at long cycles favoring BBD.
Combined with the significant amount of time saved by motorists, as well as the environmental benefits, Bhide said this light study was a success.
“We don’t always see these kind of dramatic results from signal changes,” he said. “This just happened to be a pretty good story for us to tell.”
Right-Turn Signals To Be Added!
In addition to the recently completed traffic light changes, right-turn signals will be installed at northbound BBD and Cross Creek Blvd., as well as eastbound Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. and BBD (where p.m. traffic from the business campuses behind the AMC Highwoods movie theater complex can stretch on and on) over the next 80-90 days.
An Aerial Shot of the Cross Creek & Bruce B Downs Blvd. Intersection in New Tampa. (Photo: Eagle Fly Media)
Both lanes are choke points during peak traffic hours in the evening, and the BBD/Cross Creek Blvd. location in particular has drawn the ire of many local residents.
“We’ve done what we can with signal timing, but the right turns could be going at the same time the lefts are going if we had a signal for it,” Wentzel said.
As for a third left turn lane off Cross Creek Blvd., Wentzel and Bhide both said that’s just a matter of time, and money. While Bhide works for the city, that intersection is a county asset that the city maintains, per an interlocal agreement.
“We have talked to the county about putting that as a project in their capital improvement plan, and tentatively, they are reviewing that and will try to get it funded in the next few years,” Bhide said.
The traffic signal study was hosted by the New Tampa Council (NTC). Along with District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, who founded the NTC, the crowd also included a handful of political candidates running for seats, either in the upcoming “mid-term” elections in August and November, or in March 2019, that will represent New Tampa — Angela Birdsong (running for Hillsborough County Commissioner District 2), Joseph Caetano and Joe Citro (Tampa City Council Dist. 1) and Fentrice Driskell, who is running against incumbent Shawn Harrison for the Florida House of Representatives Dist. 63 seat.
The Friends of the New Tampa Regional Library, including (l.-r.) Sujatha Palanivel, Said Iravani, Joan Zacharias and Lisa Coyle, want to keep the library named for our area, rather than rename it for former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush.
Despite preliminary efforts by Hillsborough County commissioners to rename a county library after former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush — including a recommendation by Victor Crist that the New Tampa Regional Library be the one renamed — a study suggests there is no overwhelming appetite to do so.
At the request by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), the Hillsborough County Library Board gathered public feedback from area residents who live near three county libraries — Bloomingdale, Mango/Seffner and New Tampa Regional — and discovered that a majority of respondents in all three areas preferred that their local libraries should continue to reflect their own communities.As a result, the Library Board, “based on the feedback collected so far and lack of community support for the proposal,” unanimously voted on July 26 to defer a decision indefinitely, pending more community input, or additional direction from the BOCC.
“We were all smiles, and very relieved,” said Joan Zacharias, the current president of the New Tampa Regional Library chapter of the Friends of the Library, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that supports public libraries in Hillsborough County. “The Library Board listened to the community; now we hope the county commissioners do the same and it goes away quietly and maybe we can revisit this when a literacy hero emerges from (our area).”
The BOCC is expected to revisit the issue at their meeting on Wednesday, August 15.
District 5 commissioner Ken Hagan, a former New Tampa resident currently running for New Tampa’s District 2 seat (see story on pg. 10), made the recommendation to find a library to rename after Barbara Bush at the May 2 BOCC meeting.
Said Iravani, an 18-year New Tampa resident and past president of the New Tampa chapter of the Friends of the Library, said Hagan’s recommendation came out of nowhere, and questioned the choice.
“He might as well have picked Moe, Larry or Curly,” Iravani said. “The library is one of the signatures of our community. What does Barbara Bush have to do with that?”
Ten of the county’s 28 libraries are named after people, but all had strong ties to the local library that bears their name and the community, or made an impact locally.
Hagan cited the former First Lady’s crusade to end illiteracy, her 1984 children’s book C. Fred’s Story that raised money for literacy and her creation of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which Hagan said, “has supported and underwritten programs across America, in all 50 states.”
Hagan also said that over 29 years, the foundation has provided more than $110 million to family literacy programs.
District 7 county commissioner Sandy Murman suggested a statue in front of a library, and Crist, who currently represents New Tampa as the District 2 commissioner, volunteered the New Tampa Regional Library as the one to be renamed.
Comm. Crist noted that he, Murman and Hagan — all Republicans — served during the time when Republican Jeb Bush was Florida’s governor.
“There is a library that was built during that period of time that I feel would be a good candidate for consideration and that is the New Tampa Library,” Crist said.
The motion carried by a 7-0 vote.
The current board, as well as the past presidents, of the Friends of the New Tampa Regional Library expressed their unanimous opposition in a letter to the BOCC.
“For those of us trying to make this community of chain stores and cul-de-sacs our home, the New Tampa library anchors us,” the letter said. “Our children play and learn there, associations and community groups meet there, and learners of all ages come to connect with new people, ideas and resources. The New Tampa Regional Library uniquely brings us together from up, down and across the ever-expanding boulevard…we ask that you consider the “New” in New Tampa as cause to let the community settle in a bit before recasting one of the few places that grounds us, our library.”
In New Tampa, 34 of 65 respondents, or 52 percent — mostly from local homeowner associations, community meetings and an online survey — said they were opposed to renaming their library.
While a few of the responses were partisan, most of those against it praised Bush and her work with literacy but questioned her connection to New Tampa.
“I would much prefer seeing the honor go to someone who ensures literacy support in our community,” one respondent replied. “Let us recognize our local advocates that work tirelessly instead of jumping on the bandwagon of the nation. I guarantee her (Mrs. Bush’s) hometown, as well as major cities where she lived and directly impacted the community, will address her contributions.”
“I voted for Bush but think this is stupid,” another wrote. “If you rename the library, at least do it for a local New Tampa community leader.”
“I admired Barbara Bush, but I think that the New Tampa Regional Library should remain just that. Replacing geographical names with names of persons, especially those with no relationship to the area, makes little sense.”
While only a slim majority voiced opposition to renaming the New Tampa Library, those in the Bloomingdale and Mango/Seffner areas were much more vociferous in opposition to having their libraries renamed.
In Seffner/Mango, 75 percent of respondents (39 of 52) were opposed to renaming their library after Barbara Bush, while in Bloomingdale, 73.5 percent (50 of 68) were opposed to the idea.
Despite the opposition, the BOCC could still decide to rename the New Tampa Regional Library. But, Zacharias hopes they don’t, although she says she is open to naming a meeting room or even the new children’s reading space after the former First Lady.
“This is not really about her,” Zacharias said. “It’s about New Tampa. People like having their library named after their community and their neighborhood.”
Tony and Nyree Bland know what it takes to achieve success at the highest levels of athletic competition, and they have been sharing that knowledge with young people in communities throughout New Tampa and Wesley Chapel for more than a dozen years.
PROtential Sports campers stretch before breaking off into teams for flag football. (Photo: Gavin Olsen)
“It’s about being the best you can be and having integrity,” says Nyree.
That’s the foundation of the New Tampa couple’s youth sports training company, PROtential Sports, where the stated mission is “Teaching Life Through Sports.”
Achieving high standards of performance through hard work and fair play is what the Blands credit for their own personal and professional successes, on and off the fields of play.
Nyree was ranked as the number-one junior tennis player in North Carolina before a knee injury curtailed her professional tennis aspirations. Tony was a wide receiver for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings for four years, including the team’s historic 16-victory season in 1998, when he played behind NFL Hall of Famers Cris Carter and Randy Moss.
Passing on the insights and lessons from their own sports and life experiences is the goal of every after-school instructional sports program and summer camp the Blands offer.“We’re trying to teach them how to be good people, as well as being good athletes,” says Nyree.
Their venture into the business side of athletics came about in 2003, when Tony participated in a youth football camp with then-Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson (who was also a teammate of Tony’s at Minnesota) and former Bucs running back Michael Pittman.
That experience brought home Tony’s own football beginning, as a 14-year-old playing in a youth football league and then catching passes at Pinellas Park High. His focused dedication to athletic achievement became part of his overall lifestyle, including academics, and he earned a scholarship to Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, where he majored in political science.
PROtential district manager Julie Garretson is another lifelong athlete who aspired to a career in physical education and now oversees many of the day-to-day operations of PROtential Sports. Since the youth activities are community-oriented, that means developing relationships with the activity and lifestyle directors in local communities like The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel and Heritage Isles, and stopping by when the children are on-site to check on things.
So Many Locations!
According to Garretson, PROtential Sports’ after-school instructional sports programs for students ages 5-12 years old are located at Club Tampa Palms, Arbor Greene, Heritage Isles, Grand Hampton and Cory Lake Isles in New Tampa. While previously only available to residents, the Cory Lake Isles location is now open to everyone.
PROtential sports summer campers work on agility drills at Grand Hampton, one of five sites that host after-school instructional sports programs for students ages 5-12 in New Tampa. (Photo: Gavin Olsen)
In Wesley Chapel, PROtential has been running summer camps and after-school instructional sports programs at Seven Oaks and Meadow Pointe IV, and this summer has added The Ridge.
“We are so happy to be in The Ridge,” Nyree says, adding that the summer programs have been a big hit in the bustling new community. “It’s just a beautiful subdivision, the amenities are great, the staff is amazing and the residents coming to PROtential have been wonderful.”
Being able to operate in the new communities popping up in Wesley Chapel is a treat for Nyree and Tony. Developments like The Ridge grow into long-time relationships, like at Heritage Isles, where PROtential is in its 16th year of operations.
“Anytime you have a chance to grow with a new development, it’s a blessing,” Nyree says.
PROtential also offers the added convenience of transportation, which is extremely helpful for families where both parents work, especially during the school year. Children can be transported from school back to their communities in many cases, and are provided with exercise and positive team-building skills that they can’t find at home playing Fortnite.
“We pick up from all the local schools,” says Garretson. “We do two to three sports rotations a day and try to hit each major sport twice a week.”
Besides getting a chance to learn about and play a variety of sports, like baseball, flag football, golf, tennis and soccer, kids participating in a PROtential Sports after-school instructional sports program also learn the principles of teamwork and sportsmanship.
“We want the kids to always put their best foot forward,” Garretson says, adding that instilling a solid work ethic and sense of compassion in young people — whatever their athletic goals may be — will serve them well in the future. And, she says that’s important for the children to understand.
Nyree adds that while PROtential places a strong emphasis on athletic development, it balances that with an equal dose of character building. When former PROtential participants who went onto become college athletes come back to help the younger generation at their summer camps, Nyree knows that incorporating lessons about integrity, responsibility and compassion at PROtential have paid off.
“We want to make great athletes and great people,” she says. “We are devout Christians, and this is our mission in life.”
There are about 20 coaches working directly with children at PROtential. Experience in sports is a requirement, but according to Garretson, they need more to meet PROtential’s standards by also being able to pass on athletic and life skills.
“(Our instructors) should be teachers,” Julie says. “They are 50-percent life coaches and 50-percent sports coaches.”
One of PROtential’s coaches is Brooks Lovely, who says he has been playing sports since he was 3-years-old. Brooks was an offensive lineman at Maryville College in Maryville, TN, and he also was a football coach at Robinson High in Tampa before signing up with PROtential.
“We try to make a positive impact on their lives every day,” Brooks says. “We teach them what we learned in our lives through sports, like the importance of teamwork and communication.”
He adds that part of the job sometimes involves helping kids in the after-school instructional sports programs with their homework and instilling a positive attitude about getting good grades.
“(We tell the kids that they need to learn to like school,” he says.
Coach Devonn Polk, a graduate of Wharton High in New Tampa who played tight end for the Wildcats, can easily relate to the kids he’s responsible for at PROtential Sports. To him, you’re never too young to learn a sense of responsibility and he says PROtential Sports offers a way to do just that.
“We teach them not just how to play sports, but how to be good leaders,” the Heritage Isles resident says.
The lessons that New Tampa resident Sandra Ferris says her son Alexavier has learned through PROtential Sports makes the program a winner in her view.
“It’s gratifying to watch my son learn a variety of sporting techniques while gaining lifelong leadership and sportsmanship skills,” Ferris says. “I firmly believe that Alexavier will learn to exemplify PROtential Sports’ motto by developing an appreciation for teamwork, perseverance and consistency throughout his adolescence into adulthood.”
NFL Flag Football, Too!
Now that the summer programs have ended, PROtential Sports has begun shifting gears as it fields inquiries about its after-school instructional sports programs. After-school sports programs cost $68 per week (or $295 a month) per child.
If you pay online, use coupon code AS1819 to drop the price to $58/$255.
It’s also the time of year when interest in football is renewed. For kids who want to compete in organized, limited-contact flag football in a professionally-run league, PROtential Sports offers NFL Flag Football in both the fall and the spring.
The NFL Flag Football program operates under a license granted by the National Football League. It’s a 6-on-6 game, which is known for exciting, low-contact playmaking on the gridiron.
Currently in its second year, PROtential’s NFL Travel Flag Football League — which offers more of a competitive experience — also continues to be a success, including a second-place finish in a national tournament held at Lakewood Ranch.
“That’s Tony’s baby,” Nyree jokes.
The New Stuff
PROtential Sports is adding a golf academy at Heritage Isles Golf Club each day from 4 p.m.-6 p.m., and Tony also is starting new middle school leagues this fall.
Geared towards athletes who may not be ready to get playing time on teams with seventh and eighth graders, PROtential also will begin offering leagues in a handful of sports to be determined, like tennis, basketball, soccer and others.
Teams, which will play and practice each day from 4 p.m.-6 p.m., will represent their communities. So, a team from The Ridge might travel to Grand Hampton for a soccer match, or Meadow Pointe IV might take on Cory Lake Isles in a tennis contest.
Because many sixth graders can’t compete against bigger and more experienced schoolmates, they can often lose an entire season of playing while they wait their turns. The Blands aren’t looking to compete against middle school sports teams at area schools, but are hoping to help sixth graders in particular lay the foundation for future athletic success at school.
“We want to get kids ready,” Nyree says. “And, of course, not just for sports.”
More information about PROtential Sports’ NFL Flag Football, after-school instructional sports programs, sports leagues and camps is available at PROtentialSports.com or by calling (813)-843-9460. Also, see the ad on pg. 35 of this issue for more information.
The fruits of this year’s New Tampa-friendly budget are beginning to ripen, as meetings in June and July presented visions of the expansion of the New Tampa Recreation Center (NTRC), as well a sensory-friendly park, which will be the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay area.
Kevin Smith, senior vice president of FleischmanGarcia, addresses those gathered to hear about the expansion progress.
On July 11, the City of Tampa’s Parks & Recreation Department hosted a community meeting at the NTRC to present its plans for a 7,825-sq.-ft. expansion of the overcrowded Tampa Palms home of one of the Tampa Bay area’s most sought-after gymnastics and dance programs.
The popularity of the programs has resulted in thousands of Tampa and Pasco County residents being placed on waiting lists for years.
However, those waiting lists should dwindle a lot, thanks to $1.95 million allocated in this year’s budget to creating more room for more programs at NTRC — which could double — says Brad Suder, the superintendent of planning and design for Tampa Parks & Rec.
The expansion will add another multi-purpose room similar to the room currently used and there will be a new preschool gymnasium. Currently, the preschool program uses the main multi-purpose room.
Suder said the NTRC also will have a new training box, a 1,760-sq.-ft. rectangular room that can be used for a variety of training regimens. In addition, Suder said, there will be more windows so parents and family can watch the gymnastics and dance programs, as well as six new bathrooms.
One of the bathrooms will have an electromagnetic lock, so it can be open on the weekends for those using the outdoor areas when the NTRC is closed.
The expansion currently is in the design stage, and bids are expected to go out in October. Suder said he expects construction to begin in January, and for the expansion to be completed for the summer of 2019, or a year from now.
Public Shown Sensory Park Plans
At another public meeting held in June, more than two dozen residents and City of Tampa officials gathered with design architects at the NTRC to share ideas and their vision for a 5-acre sensory-friendly park that will be located behind the B.J.’s Wholesale Club on Commerce Palms Dr. in Tampa Palms.
David Conner, president of David Conner & Associates, showed some preliminary plans to area residents. Conner heads up the planning, landscape architecture and urban design firm that is being paid $49,400 (of the $90,000 budgeted by the City of Tampa) to begin designing the sensory-friendly park.
Attendees looked over a series of display boards (left) showing examples of other sensory parks in the U.S. — which are created for children and adults identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and are focused more on soothing and serene activities — with some additional ideas for the New Tampa park.
Those who are on the autism spectrum can take in information from their five senses just like everyone else, but cannot process it the same way and can become overwhelmed, which makes them unable to communicate and interact because they are overcome with anxiety.
Sensory-friendly parks focus on incorporating easier-to-process activities and sights. They are, however, still accessible to everyone.
Proponents of the park say as many as 40,000 children in and around the New Tampa area are likely to use the park each year.
The displays showed photographs of potential amenities that could be part of the park, like slides, swings and jungle gyms. Residents were asked to place “Like” and “Love” stickers (above) on the amenities they liked the most.
District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, whose older brother Juan has autism, spearheaded the effort to get the study and design of the sensory park funded in this year’s city budget.
Several residents voiced their excitement and approval during a short presentation by Conner and Brad Suder of Tampa’s Parks & Recreation Department.
“We live in Stafford Place (in Tampa Palms), like one block away from the park,” said Jeff Chacon, who said that he is eager to take his two-year old grandson, Finn, to the park. “I want to be able to walk down there with my grandson. We’re excited. It’s good for the neighborhood and good for the City of Tampa.”
Freelance writer Andy Warrener contributed to this report.
