When the half-penny school sales tax referendum passed in Hillsborough County last year, the promise was that aged roofs and floors and playgrounds would be repaired, athletic tracks would be repaved and classrooms and fire evacuation systems being upgraded, just to name just a few much-needed enhancements.
But, what got Wharton High’s Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) president Kristie Scism most excited was much cooler than all those things.
“The air conditioning,” Scism says. “It may not be the best thing, but it was the one thing I was most excited about.”
Hillsborough County Public Schools announced last week that teams of workers have begun moving into the 21 schools that will receive an overhaul or replacement of their existing AC systems.
While every school in New Tampa except for Hunter’s Green and Tampa Palms elementaries is scheduled to get upgraded AC in years 1-5 of the school tax referendum, only Wharton High, Benito Middle School and Clark Elementary are among the 21 schools having the work done this summer.
Over the next 10 years, funds from the half-penny sales tax are expected to overhaul or replace the A/C systems at 203 schools, or about 20 each summer.
“It’s pretty miserable when the A/C breaks,” Scism said, adding that it has been an all-too common occurrence at Wharton. “It gets to be like a sauna in some rooms. It’s very hard (for students) to concentrate in those conditions.”
Intermittent air conditioning at times has also been a complaint of parents and teachers at Benito and Clark for years.
As far as Pasco County is concerned, the long-debated connection of Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Meadow Pointe — a 30-foot or so patch of grass, dirt, weed and garbage — is dead.
The Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) was presented with the results from its recent online Connections Survey Tuesday morning, and voted unanimously to forward the second-most popular option, Option 3, which would connect both the Meadow Pointe Blvd. and Wyndfields Blvd. extensions to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy. in New Tampa’s K-Bar Ranch community — to the Pasco Board of County Commissioners (BCC) for a final vote.
The MPO did agree to connect Kinnan St. and Mansfield Blvd., but only for emergencies. A traffic arm will be installed for emergency service vehicles, and there will be a path for bikers and pedestrians.
The final vote to settle the connections conundrum will likely be held on Tuesday, July 9, in Dade City. Considering that all five members of the BOC are on the MPO, and they voted unanimously in favor of Option 3, it is almost certain to pass.
County residents were given four options, and despite claims that connecting Kinnan-Mansfield was widely unpopular, 54 percent of the 1,180 respondents actually voted for Option 1, which would connect Kinnan-Mansfield as well as the Meadow Pointe Blvd. extension to K-Bar Ranch Pkwy.
There was no option to just connect Kinnan-Mansfield, nor was it an option that was studied in the year-long Roadways Connections Study commissioned by the county.
The most popular option (No. 2) among those who filled out the online survey was connecting just Meadow Pointe Blvd. to K-Bar Ranch, with 67 percent of respondents voting yes.
The least popular option was No. 4, which would have made all the connections — Kinnan-Mansfield and Meadow Pointe Blvd. and Wyndfields Blvd. extensions to New Tampa.
Even so, a majority of those responding, 52 percent, voted in favor of Option 4.
John C. Cotey can be reached at john@ntneighborhoodnews.com
For more information, check out the upcoming June 28 edition of the Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News.
Brew Bus Brewing, Inc., the company behind Florida Avenue Brewing Co. and Brew Bus Brewing, has officially announced that it has purchased the former Sports + Field location on S.R. 56. The new owners will convert Sports + Field into a brewery with a beer garden, full-service restaurant and event space.
The 34,000-sq.-ft., two-floor facility in Wesley Chapel was originally opened in 2005 as $10.5-million multi-purpose fitness center that trained professional athletes while also offering fitness programs for local residents. It closed in 2015.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Brew Bus Brewing Inc., Anthony Derby, told the Neighborhood News last month that his company was taking a close look at property, located at 2029 Arrowgrass Dr., and saw a craft brewery as a missing part of the local Wesley Chapel/New Tampa scene.
“We are excited to expand our operations into Pasco County to provide the community with a family-friendly brewery, event and restaurant destination,” Derby said in a statement. “By this time next year, Pasco County residents will not only be working in our expanded operation, but also enjoying our products a bit closer to home.”
The completed deal is expected to create 46 new local jobs and more than $8.7 million in new capital investment in Pasco County.
“It’s great to reactivate a dormant property with high-paying manufacturing jobs in a unique industry,” Bill Cronin, the president/CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, said in a press release. “A company like Brew Bus Brewing, Inc., is a win for the whole community, as they embody the live, work, play notion so important to our community’s future economic growth.”
Brew Bus Brewing, Inc., created in 2011, currently operates both a brewery and buses that travel to breweries throughout the Tampa Bay area. In addition to brewing its own Brew Bus beer, the brand expanded in 2015, with the acquisition of Florida Avenue Brewing Co., in an effort to revive one of the area’s most historic breweries. Both Brew Bus and Florida Avenue brands are distributed throughout the entire state of Florida.
“We are happy to welcome Brew Bus Brewing, Inc., to Pasco,” said District 2 Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore. “Not only are they creating jobs, but their new tasting room and restaurant will be a great destination for residents and tourists alike. Breweries are a huge part of the tourism market.”
Nicolas Gordon leaps over the 4-foot-tall “wall” as he begins the obstacle course at Cypress Creek Middle/High School
While the rest of her classmates were inside classrooms and sitting at their desks, Cypress Creek Middle/High (CCMH) seventh grader Rose Macapinlac was running in a dead sprint towards the school’s athletic fields.
When she reached her goal, she turned around and ran back, then attacked an obstacle course that included a four-foot-tall wall she had to drag herself over, hurdles she was required to leap, orange cones she zig-zagged around and a low crawl she slithered through before reaching a 100-pound dummy she had to drag across the grass.
And, that only marked the halfway point of the modified Physical Abilities Test (PAT) that is required for Florida Department of Law Enforcement Capitol Police.
“Once they pull that dummy, that’s when the legs turn to jelly,” said April Heuss, the teacher of CCMH’s criminal justice program, which she says she believes is the first of its kind in the state of Florida.
After a school year of teaching students things like proper radio procedures, teamwork, leadership and the importance of law enforcement, Heuss wrapped up the school year by putting her classes through the arduous demands of a simulated PAT, which has to be passed by prospective law enforcement officers.
Students in her classes had to exit a vehicle (in this case a golf cart) with a flashlight in hand, run 220 yards, complete an obstacle course, drag the dummy, do the obstacle course again, run 220 yards, dry-fire a plastic gun six times with each hand, and call in their report.
While law enforcement applicants have to complete their course in 6 minutes, 4 seconds, Cypress Creek students were wrapping up their modified course (with a 100-pound dummy compared to the 150 pounder dragged by law enforcement) in 3:30-5 minutes.
“Getting over the wall with a flashlight in my hands was the hardest,” said Rose. “My legs hurt.”
Gabriel Linck was the fastest boy on the day, with a time of 3:35, running it twice with plans to do it again.
Anna Ritchie was the fastest girl, finishing in 4:03.
“They are all wanting to see who got the best time, who is going to win,” Heuss said. “This was supposed to be a one-day thing but the kids were so stoked and excited about it we decided to keep doing it for three days. They love it.”
A rendering of the new outpatient center for cancer patients is to the right of the main AdventHealth Wesley Chapel hospital (while the existing AHWC Wellness Plaza is to the left). (Rendering courtesy of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel)
Plans to expand the services at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel (AHWC) have been in the works for more than a year, but for hospital president and CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb, the most important thing was finding the right partner.
She is convinced the hospital has done just that.
On May 21, AHWC and the Moffitt Cancer Center officially broke ground on a new outpatient center to serve cancer patients as part of a new medical office building on the AHWC campus.
The new medical office will be the bookend on the south side of the hospital along Bruce B. Downs Blvd., with the similarily-sized, existing Wellness Plaza on the north side.
AHWC president and CEO Denyse Bales-Chubb
“We believe that the community here in Wesley Chapel is in need of having some cancer specialists they would be able to access, so it was natural we would go and talk to Moffitt,” Bales-Chubb said at the packed groundbreaking event. “They have the expertise, the awards and the skills we are looking for in our community.”
According to Bales-Chubb, the second medical office on the hospital’s campus also is necessary because the first one is full and cannot add anymore physicians. One of the pressing needs AHWC was looking to fill was cancer treatment. “It’s a natural fit,” she said.
The groundbreaking for the three-story, 100,000-sq.-ft. medical building was attended by more than 100 community members, local leaders and officials from AHWC and Moffitt. It was heralded as a breakthrough moment for medical service in Pasco County.
Nearly a third of that space will be used for the cancer outpatient center. AHWC’s own spine institute, which has outgrown its current space in the Wellness Plaza, also is moving the services moving into the new building.
A close-up artist’s rendering of the new medical building at AdventHealth Wesley Chapel.
The rest of the space will be used for other services and Bales-Chubb hinted that more partnerships could be on the way.
“The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered and, in order that the sick may have the benefit of advancing knowledge, a union of forces is necessary,” said Dominic Sarafin, the vice president of strategic alliances and network for Moffitt, quoting something Dr. William J. Mayo, M.D. (founder of the original Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN) said in 1910. “It is a sentiment we share today.”
The outpatient center will offer medical and radiation oncology services and will be designed to accommodate oncologists to deliver chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy to patients, said Dr. Lewis Harrison, chair & senior member of radiation oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center.
Dr. Harrison also said the center at AHWC will have 20 examination rooms, 22 infusion suites and will accommodate two linear accelerators —which customizes the radiation treatment to focus on the tumor or cancer cells without damaging surrounding tissue — for radiation therapy services.
Full-length glass will provide patients the opportunity to look outside and see trees and nature, contributing to the overall patient experience.
The new $44-million facility also will offer cancer screenings and survivorship programs for post-treatment patients.
The building is expected to be completed by the fall of 2020.
A Little History…
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer & Research Institute was founded as the state’s cancer center when it opened on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa in 1986. As one of only 50 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, Moffitt has gained national acclaim over the years for its research and patient care.
“The mission has remained the same — to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer,” said Sarafin. “It drives everything and everyone at Moffitt. As the state grows and ages, the ACA estimates more than 130,000 (Floridians)…. will learn they have cancer this year. We are joining with AdventHealth, in the hopes that this project will make a difference in their lives.”
Bales-Chubb also noted that it is a big step for Moffitt to be able to bring its renowned cancer treatments and access to clinical trials closer to patients in our area who need it.
“To me, it says they want to make sure they are taking care of the community,” she said. “Instead of just saying you come to us, it’s more of we are going to come to you…we want to bring our services to you, where you live and where you work.”
AHWC, formerly Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, opened in 2012 as Wesley Chapel’s first hospital, and in 2016, doubled its emergency department from 18 to 35 rooms and went from 83 private patient rooms to 143 while adding three floors and 111,993 sq. ft. of new space during a $78-million expansion.
