Category: NEWS CHOICES

Hunter’s Green Country Club’s Tennis & Athletic Center Is Getting A Makeover

In the first six weeks of 2016, none of the 300 or so clubs under the Club Corp. of America (CCA) umbrella has grown as fast or added as many new members as Hunter’s Green Country Club, says general manager Dave Taylor.

That could just be the beginning of a great story. Taylor has revealed that HGCC’s Tennis & Athletic Center (TAC), tucked just inside the main gates of the Hunter’s Green community off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., and a few hundred yards southwest of the main clubhouse and Tom Fazio-designed golf course, is about to begin a “seven-figure renovation” that is going to do more than just put a fresh coat of paint on a facility that is starting to show its age a little bit.

“Before we’ve even done the renovations and before even any of this got out, we’ve had momentum with the club,’’ Taylor said. “We lead the entire company in member growth for the first six weeks of the year…it’s the first time Hunter’s Green has ever seen anything like that. So, that’s very good for us.”

Taylor says the TAC facelift, which follows the substantial renovations at the main clubhouse’s restaurant and bar area, known as Fazio’s Grille, will add amenities on par with some of the new housing developments (he used Estancia at Wiregrass Ranch as an example) going up in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel that offer lavish clubhouses and pools geared towards the family experience.

In addition to the 17 clay tennis courts, which aren’t included in the renovation plans, the TAC will soon boast things like a re-invented café with expanded hours and an emphasis on a quality menu, a new weight room, a new-look pool plus miniature golf and a water slide.

While you don’t have to live in Hunter’s Green to be a member of HGCC, the area within a five-mile radius continues to see growth — in much of Wesley Chapel and K-Bar Ranch in particular — thus making the market on comfort and family-friendly experiences competitive.

Taylor says the TAC’s Center Court Cafe will be completely rebuilt, with a more rustic scheme, bigger TVs, more events and better food. An outside area will be remodeled and will include a new fire pit. The pool will lose the long green awning that covers half of the deck area. They will be replaced by four individual cabanas with electricity, fans and poolside food and beverage service.

With the goal of having plenty to do for new families who can spend their weekends at the club , the kiddie pool is being replaced by a splash pad, all new furniture will line the deck and one of the highlights of the renovations — a 10-foot-high water slide with a 45-foot-long flume — will be added.

Taylor says the pool renovations should be completed by Memorial Day, where it will be unveiled for the TAC’s annual Memorial Day Bash, which he says draws the biggest crowd each year to the pool.

Next to the 25-meter junior Olympic heated pool (which is big enough that it hosts a multitude of junior and even high school swim meets), a small 6-hole miniature golf course will be built, and next to that will be an activity area with field turf for after-school campers and other on-site sports programs.

“Our membership is getting younger, and this is what they want,’’ Taylor says. “They want the splash pads and they want the water slides and they want the miniature golf. They want the ability to be able to have a café restaurant that is open with pool service so they can bring the kids and still hang out themselves.”

A former professional golfer on the PGA’s Nationwide Tour, Taylor joined Hunter’s Green in 2014 after stints as director of operations at East Lake Woodlands in Tarpon Springs and general manager at The Club at Hidden Creek in Navarre, FL. At Hidden Creek, he spearheaded the rebuilding and redesign of all 18 greens on the golf course, and at East Lake Woodlands, he helped improve service. At Hunter’s Green, he already has done similar work on the golf course and the club house.

“If you get the right employee partners, and get them happy, that carries over to the members, they start using the club more and the club is better off financially,’’ Taylor said. “If you don’t have the first two legs of the stool, the third won’t happen.”

The third leg, in this case, is the TAC.

The current café is expected to draw bigger crowds upon its completion sometime this summer. The exercise room will have all of its current equipment replaced by new more modern machines and weights. The spinning (indoor cycling) room, one of the TAC’s more popular destinations, will be re-done with all new cycles. The men’s and women’s locker rooms will get a fresh look as well, and the all-purpose room where exercise and yoga classes are held daily — the classes are included in the membership cost — also will be refinished.

Aesthetically, Taylor says the TAC will be a more welcoming facility, with a newly designed entrance, a larger pro shop and an open design with plenty to offer the family, inside and out.

“We’re providing a lifestyle,’’ says head tennis pro Allegra Campos. “It’s going to be a family-style, safe environment where everyone can get into the act.”

Taylor says he is currently going through the permitting process for the work to be done, and that he expects it all to be completed by the end of this summer.

“There’s a lot of excitement about it,’’ Taylor says. “(Some) people are still like, ‘Yeah yeah, we’ve heard it all before,’ but I tell them, ‘Look, it’s done, and it’s happening.’ We’re moving pretty quickly.”

The HGCC Tennis & Athletic Center is located at 18050 Hunters Oak Ct. For more information, visit ClubCorp.com/Clubs/Hunter-s-Green-Country-Club/Amenities/Tennis or call 973-4220. For membership information, call Ann Pereira at 973-1000, ext. 237.

Local Eagle Scout Speaks To Congress!

A group of Boy Scouts from across the nation -- including New Tampa's N'Jhari Jackson from Boy Scout Troop 142 in Tampa Palms -- spoke Tuesday to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (pictured here) and President Obama, as part of the organization's annual Report to the Nation. — A group of Boy Scouts from across the nation — including New Tampa’s N’Jhari Jackson from Boy Scout Troop 142 in Tampa Palms — spoke Tuesday to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (pictured here) and President Obama, as part of the organization’s annual Report to the Nation.

N’Jhari Jackson, an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 142 in New Tampa, was selected as one of 10 Boy Scouts from across the nation and delivered the “BSA 2015 Report to the Nation” to U.S. Congressional and governmental leaders Tuesday, March 1 in Washington, DC.

“JUST GAVE MY SPEECH TO OBAMAAAAAA,” Jackson texted to friends. “(It went) Great, I didn’t stutter either. OMG. I’m awesome ohhh I feel gosh!”

N’Jhari is still just 13 years old, but has already earned an incredible 121 Merit Badges and has set a personal goal to earn all 136. He has been recognized extensively (including in this publication in March 2015) for his outstanding volunteer service, with projects he has created and implemented, such as collecting 1,200 pair of socks for children’s group homes in the Tampa Bay area, delivering more than 4,000 Pajama Buddies and Pajama Grab Bags to hospitalized children, raising money to donate an AED (automated external defibrillator) to his school, and delivering blankets and other items to the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.

“I am excited and nervous about my trip to Washington, DC,” N’Jhari told the Neighborhood News prior to his trip. “I know it will be something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

WRH Cross Country Program ‘Wins’ $700 From ‘Wobble’

Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot officials recently presented a $700 check to the Wiregrass Ranch High (WRH) cross country teams, winners in the newly established team school competition at the yearly event.

At the third annual Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot 5K, held on Thanksgiving Day at the Shops of Wiregrass mall, the Bulls runners logged the fastest average time of any high school in the boys category (19 minutes, 11 seconds) for the 3.1-mile race.

WRH also won with the most number of participants with 38 runners. For winning both categories, the cross country program, coached by Don Howard, won the $700.

The check was presented to Coach Howard and his runners by Rotary Club of New Tampa (RCNT) president Lesley Zajac, RCNT secretary Craig DiCecco and FITniche (the running and fitness store in the mall) general manager Brian Brink, who all helped organize the yearly event.

Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes

By Gary Nager

Tarek’s Café & Grill Opens 2nd Location…In Our Old Location!

Considering that I’m celebrating my 22nd year of owning and editing this publication (as of the day before this issue’s cover date), I can’t help but be impressed by someone who has been doing something great in our area for even longer than I have been serving this community.

Case in point — Tarek Elsayed, who has been the owner of Tarek’s Cafe & Grill near the intersection of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. and Fletcher Ave., on the USF Tampa campus, for 24 years!

I hope some of you may already have tried Tarek’s new place which — because he expanded into our former location in the Shoppes at Amberly plaza in Tampa Palms, actually has our old address — 15345 Amberly Dr.! Tarek promises to serve great American cuisine with a Mediterranean flair at his now-open Tampa Palms café & grill!

Whether you’re craving a great hamburger or sandwich, or maybe want to try a tomato and mozzarella salad with a side of homemade couscous (photo) or authentic Middle Eastern pastries, Tarek has been keeping USF students, professors and staffers happy for nearly a quarter of a century and his Tampa Palms location is a lot bigger and nicer than his hugely popular takeout counter at USF.

For more info, visit TareksCafe.com, call 252-3238 or see the ad on pg. 47 of our current issue.

Congratulations to everyone at CentraCare Florida Hospital Urgent Care, which hosted a Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting at its location in front of the Wesley Chapel Target on Feb. 9. For more info, visit CentraCare.org.

Irish 31 To Open Next To Panera In Wiregrass Mall!

As nearly 22,000 of you already viewed on our Facebook page, former USF football star Jay Mize, who already has four successful Irish 31 restaurants (in Hyde Park Village, Westshore, Westchase & at the Amalie Arena), says he hopes to open his fifth & sixth locations by the end of 2016.

One of those new locales is on Clearwater Beach & the other is in The Shops at Wiregrass mall, in a shared building that just began site work next to Panera Bread.

Mize says the Irish 31 at Wiregrass will be 2,800 SF & will feature the same great chef-inspired (I call it ‘Irish-plus-gourmet’) cuisine as the other Irish 31 locations. “It’s sort of a race to see which of our new stores opens first,” Mize says. “But we hope both will be open by the end of 2016.”

Visit Irish31.com and stay tuned to NTNeighborhoodNews.com for updates.

RGA Promises Great Networking & Fun!

I hope you will start joining me and dozens of other happy business networkers at the next RGA Network weekly networking luncheon or monthly networking Happy Hour, both of which are held at the Shops at Wiregrass mall. The lunch events are held every Thursday at GrillSmith (2000 Piazza Ave.), 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., and the Happy Hours are held the third Tuesday of every month at Pinchers Crab Shack (28330 Paseo Dr.), where $5 gets you free appetizers and free chances to win great prizes given away by other happy networkers. I’ve already made several great, new contacts at Pinchers, where I recently gave away about a dozen gift cards.

For more info, visit RGANetwork.net and please tell them I sent you! — GN

Library Cooperative Holds ‘2020 Vision’ Meeting At New Tampa Library

What do you want from your public library?

Cooking classes? Yoga classes? More DVDs or magazines? Less noise?

These questions, and more, were asked on Feb. 16 at a Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HCPLC) 2020 Vision Open House at the New Tampa Regional Library (NTRL) on Cross Creek Blvd.

The NTRL stop was the third in a series of 10 open houses HCPLC is holding across Hillsborough County as the cooperative forges it’s agenda for the next five years.

“This is the public input period in the planning and design of our strategic plan,’’ said Andrew Breidenbaugh, the director of library services for Hillsborough County during the meeting. “We use this as kind of a guide to what our services are going to look like for the next five years.”

HCPLC had a handful of displays for patrons to look at in NTRL’s community room during the open house, with employees of the cooperative stationed at each display to facilitate conversation and answer questions.

The turnout was the best yet, Breidenbaugh says, as 73 people took part, compared to an average of roughly 40 at the HCPLC’s previous two stops at the Upper Tampa Bay and Jimmie B. Keel regional libraries.

“That was great and nice to see,’’ said Breidenbaugh, who says he started his career at the New Tampa location when it opened in 1997. “It’s nice to see such involvement from a community that doesn’t really have a center. Maybe the library can be that center.”

Although inconclusive at this early stage in the 2020 Vision process, some of the responses at the NTRL open house indicated a desire for the library to partner with museums, schools and neighborhood associations, but not so much with sports teams and restaurants.

Some people wanted the library to start offering yoga, cooking classes and even self-defense classes. Others expressed interest in the library carrying newer-release DVDs and books.

In 2015, the HCPLC hosted 13,452 events and classes in its 29 libraries, ranging from astronomy to computer coding, with 272,463 people participating.

“We take the public phase input on this very seriously,’’ Breidenbaugh said. “We were looking for feedback on what we are doing well, what it is we can improve and generally speaking what people want in their future library.”

When the remaining seven open houses have been completed, the HCPLC will solicit questionnaires and surveys through its website and in print, sometime in late March.

That will be followed by focus groups in late May or early June of this year. The HCLPC will analyze the raw data and put together a plan by Oct. 1, the start of the county’s new fiscal year.

One thing that Breidenbaugh says will be interesting to watch is how the HLPLC balances the technological demands of the patrons who use the library for the internet, and those who prefer it remains a completely silent place for reading books and studying.

Customers who have used the library for a long time seem to like the way it is, but the way information is presented today is far different — and far louder, according to Breidenbaugh — than it was 25 years ago.

“There are different ideas of what the library should be,’’ Breidenbaugh said. “The picture is not clear to everyone.”

By October, the HCPLC hopes the picture will be clearer.

The New Tampa Regional Library is located at 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. For more information about future open houses and how to take part in the 2020 Vision, visit 2020Vision.hcplc.org.