Newest Chick-fil-A Is Worth The Wait For Overnight Campers

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Robert Hutton and Barbra Spesak are the first two through the doors at the newest Chick-fil-A on S.R. 56.

If you are having trouble wrapping your head around why anyone would camp out in a parking lot on back-to-back nights for a free chicken sandwich, order of waffle fries and a medium drink weekly, Robert Hutto understands.

If you think it’s all about the chicken (although he says it’s really not), Hutto gets it.

And if you think Hutto is a little crazy for sleeping in an asphalt parking space off S.R. 56 and then hanging out there all day in 93-degree heat — for a few sandwiches — he doesn’t blame you.

Crazy?

“They are not too far from the truth,’’ Hutto says.

Hutto and Barbra Spesak, Brandon residents, were the first two people in line at the Grand Opening of the newest Chick-fil-A in our area, this one in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets off S.R. 56. Hutto arrived June 28 at 8 p.m.; he saved a spot under his 10’x10’ tent for Spesak, who arrived after work at 11:30 p.m.

Decked out in complimentary red and white Chick-fil-A t-shirts and paper hats, they were the first two in line and the first two through the door on Thursday morning, June 30. As cameras from two local television stations rolled — as well as our own WCNT-tv cameras recording footage for our second episode (see pages 44-45 and 51), Hutto and Spesak met the local Chick-fil-A franchise owner Britt Young, shook his hand and received their chicken “debit” card — stocked with 52 No. 1 combos — before being ushered out another door and back into the parking lot.

For those doing the math at home, it was 34 hours of waiting for about 30 seconds of picking up the reward.

“But, it’s about the experience,’’ Hutto said.

The experience is called the First 100, a Chick-fil-A tradition started 12 years ago to celebrate the grand openings of their wildly popular fast food chicken restaurants. Chick-fil-A has given away more than $27-million in free food since beginning the First 100.

For Hutto, it was the third time he had been one of the first 100. He also waited overnight at the Chick-fil-A openings on Waters Ave. in Citrus Park, as well as for the Bruce B. Downs Blvd. location in New Tampa.

CHICK2 WEB“I’ve made some friends at these things,’’ Hutto said. “They have a live deejay playing music. They feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner, so that’s not bad. It’s a good time.”

Both Hutto and Spesak admit that they probably won’t eat every No. 1 meal on their cards themselves.

“It really isn’t about the sandwich,’’ Hutto said. “When we are out and we see someone who needs a sandwich, like a homeless person or something like that, we’ll go hit the drive-thru and use the card for them. We’ll also use it for friends and family.”

Hutto, who transports RVs all over the country for a living, says he also sometimes uses his free meals as a pit stop when he’s on the road.

He said of all the First 100 events he has attended, this one might have been the toughest. It was blistering hot, the heat made even worse by his setup on black asphalt, and it rained three times. During one heavy downpour the last day, more than a dozen revelers seeking free chicken abandoned their posts, and the first 12 alternates were selected.

Nothing, however, was deterring Spesak, a certified nursing assistant. It was her first overnighter at Chick-fil-A.

“It was fun,’’ she said. “Everybody thought I was crazy, the people at work thought I was crazy, for taking days off to go camp out at a Chick-fil-A.”

And, she may have caught the fever. Asked if they had plans to do this again, Spesak said she is already scouting out the next opening.

“I hear they might be opening one soon on Dale Mabry,’’ she said, smiling.

TIA Hopes $3.8-Million Tech Grant Will Speed North Tampa’s Transformation

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Tampa Innovation Alliance CEO Mark Sharpe speaks at a recent CodaPalooza event, a “Hackathon” to develop a mobile application to help the homeless and those who serve them.

As the world speeds forward and embraces more of a technology-based economy, the Tampa Innovation Alliance (TIA) is hoping to do its part to help the area around both New Tampa and the USF area keep pace.

Last month, the Alliance got a pretty sizable helping hand.

On June 28, the federal government awarded TIA a $3.8-million TechHire Partnership Grant, one of 39 distributed across the nation and announced by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Department of Labor Secretary Tom Perez.

“There is no limit to what we can accomplish when we work together,’’ said TIA President and CEO Mark Sharpe in a press release the day the grants were announced.

The grant, the result of a partnership between TIA and CareerSource Tampa Bay, the University Area Community Development Corporation (UACDC), Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay Technology forum — and championed by District 14 U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor  — will help with programming and training for technology and healthcare jobs, for those in the North Tampa area who are unemployed, underemployed or merely looking for a career change.

The grant is a huge award for TIA, which was founded in 2014 by Sharpe (a former Hillsborough County commissioner) and area businesses with the intention of rejuvenating the North Tampa area around the University of South Florida. Sharpe hopes to transform the area economically through business innovation — and grants like this will help.

“When you think about us as a relatively new organization, taking our first attempt at a national grant, that’s a big deal,’’ said Kelley Sims, the senior vice-president of TIA.

TIA1TechHire was launched in 2015 as part of a federal government initiative designed to build economic development through the growth of technology jobs nationwide.

Sims said she believes TIA was able to secure the grant because of its strong partnerships with more than 150 area businesses, many which have already declared an interest in hiring graduates of the Tampa Bay TechHire program.

“This is for an extreme variety of people, from those entering the workforce to those who just want to change their place in the workforce,’’ she said.

Applicants for the grant funds must be between 17-29 years old, with barriers to employment and training opportunities (e.g., lack of money, transportation or having to work full-time while training to support a family, etc.), says CareerSource Tampa Bay (& Pinellas) programs director Michelle Schultz.

CareerSource will partner with Hillsborough Community College (HCC), St. Petersburg College (SPC) and the UACDC to provide the tech training, and HCC, SPC and the Erwin Technical College (a vocational school in the Hillsborough County Public School system) for healthcare training.

The program also is designed to benefit “frontline incumbents,” Schultz said, as workers employed at IBM and BayCare Health Systems also will have opportunities for training to advance in their current positions.

USF will allow participants to earn certificates and associate degrees in customized programs.

“This can be transformational for the area,’’ Sims said.

Although the boundaries of TIA are between Busch Blvd. (to the south) and Bearss Ave. (to the north), and between I-275 (to the west) and I-75 (to the east), Sims said our readership’s proximity to the area means New Tampa-area residents and businesses also will benefit.

“As that (USF) area improves, so improves the jobs available for those who may be living in New Tampa or for (USF) graduate students who want to live in New Tampa,’’ Sims said. “The idea that a whole other area is being created around the north part of Tampa, which you haven’t been hearing about the last 10 or 20 years, means new opportunities for everyone living in the area. It’s really going to affect us all.”

For more information about the Tampa Innovation Alliance, visit Tampa Innovation.com.

NTP’s ‘Beauty & The Beast’ To Be A Local Acting Family Affair!

Shoemaker familyOn Friday, July 29, 8 p.m. (and running through Sunday, August 7), the curtains at the University Area Community Development Center (UACDC) on N. 22nd Street in Tampa will part for the New Tampa Players (NTP)’s production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

Backstage, an entire family will run their lines through their heads, clear their throats and take deep breaths to calm their pre-show jitters. That family is not just the troupe of actors joined together for the show. Rather, it’s literally a biological family of five. It’s also not their first time performing together.

Husband and wife Adam Shoemaker and Amy Rothman first met at a singing group at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA. Now, 20 years, two professional careers and three children later, Shoemaker and Rothman are still fulfilling their passions, which have been extended to their children.

“We have a family conference before any show we do,” Rothman said. “No one is forced into it and we’re clear that it takes up the whole summer.”

What began as a summer vacation idea has blossomed into a summer family tradition. And, the children aren’t just along for the ride, they’re all active participants. Claire is 11 years old, Gail is 8 and James is 6, and they already have a litany of shows longer than actors twice their age to their credit, adding to the vast wall of show bills in the Shoemaker home.

Claire recently graduated from Hunter’s Green Elementary and is planning to attend performing arts magnet school Orange Grove in East Tampa. She plays Chip in “Beauty and the Beast” the teacup son of Mrs. Potts, both cursed by the Enchantress and changed from their human forms into a teacup and teapot, respectively. Both Gail and James are in the ensemble and have both have choreography, lines and songs to memorize.

“A lot of people from the last show (“Mary Poppins,” which ran last August) are in this one and it’s fun to meet new people,” Gail says. “I also like how much people enjoy the shows. They say they like how they thought the show would be something more childlike and they’re surprised by how good it is.”

Sounds like lots of fun for parents who either work from home or don’t have full-time jobs. How else could they do this, right? Not so fast.

NTP WEB3Shoemaker and Rothman are both working professionals. Rothman is a Doctor of Medical Dentistry (DMD) who was previously in private practice and now is a dentist and clinical instructor for dental assistants at Erwin Technical College on Hillsborough Ave. Shoemaker is an industrial/organizational psychology professor at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo. Yet, somehow, they find a way to pull it off.

Getting each family member involved was a key factor.

“At first they kids would just sit in the audience and wait for us, but it went to a whole new level when they started coming up on stage with us,” Rothman says.

That’s when some of the kids’ talents began to emerge.

“During ‘Mary Poppins,’ James was not even in the show but he would be backstage during rehearsals and he would learn the numbers and perform them,” Rothman says. “I never even knew it until another cast member videotaped it and showed me.”

Gail, who was seven during the run of “Mary Poppins,” was there to remind Rothman of some of the dance moves.

“The kids are better than the adults sometimes about memorizing numbers,” Shoemaker says. “I don’t know if it’s because their brains are still growing, but it’s cool to be able to see them doing these dancing scenes.”

Claire was bitten by the performing bug even earlier, and already has several credits to her name, including her first role as an orphan in NTP’s production of “Annie” in 2011.

“A lot of people and families say they would love to do something like this but they think it’s hard to get into,” Shoemaker says. “It’s community theatre, it’s laid back. The Tampa Bay area has dozens of community theatre (troupes) where average Joes can get involved.”

NTP WEBThe Players currently operate out of the gymnasium in the University Community Development Center in the USF area between Bearss and Fletcher Aves. The facility is nothing to scoff at. The gym can be divided, making for a cozier auditorium and there’s also a catwalk filled with lights, a public address system, ample wings offstage and a scene shop that opens onto a loading dock.

A small army of volunteers make it go, and they produce three musicals a year. As hospitable as the UACDC is, the players long for a performance space actually in New Tampa. The Shoemakers live in Hunter’s Green, and plans for a theatre and cultural center across Bruce B. Downs Blvd. from the main entrance to their community are an exciting prospect for the family and for NTP.

“This community center has been great to us but it’s sometimes hard to get stage space,” Shoemaker said. “We want a space in New Tampa like the Carrollwood Cultural Center. We only run three shows per year here, but the Carrollwood Cultural Center is never dark.”

The development, tentatively called The Village at Hunter’s Lake, is a 17.6 acre parcel of land that’s sale has already been approved by the Hillsborough County Commission. However, because the property lies within Tampa city limits, there are zoning ordinances that have yet to be worked out.

New Tampa-area performers are excited about the 20,000-sq.-ft. cultural center and 300-seat auditorium, but for now, they are content with doing their best at the UACDC where many of the players also volunteer for charity work.

From their first production together (in the musical “1776”) as college sweethearts, to participating in Purim plays at their temple (Congregation Beth Am in Carrollwood), to standing onstage July 29 — Shoemaker as the Beast and Rothman as Madame de le Grande Bouche (the opera star turned wardrobe) — the acting bug has taken them on a fulfilling journey. It hardly gets any better, though, when the couple can look across the stage and see their own children in costume and makeup, taming the butterflies in their own stomachs.

They will be able to look at each other and say, “It’s going to be a great summer.”

Performances of the “Beauty & The Beast” will be held Fri., Jul. 29 & Aug. 5, 8 p.m.; Sat, Jul. 30 & Aug. 6, 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.; & Sun., July 31 & Aug. 7, 2 p.m.; at 14013 N. 22nd St.  For tickets & info, visit NewTampaPlayers.org.

New Tampa Cultural Center Weaving Way Through Red Tape

Hunter-Lakes-WEBThe land across from Hunter’s Green’s main entrance still sits there, mostly untouched, other than serving as a retention pond for a road widening.

Despite county approval 18 months ago for a village/town center, dog park and New Tampa Cultural Center, there are no dump trucks, no cranes and no men in hard hats wandering around.

If you are one of the many who have wondered — and many have asked us — what is going on, the answer is plenty.

“Tell them it’s definitely coming,’’ says District 2 County Commissioner Victor Crist, who represents New Tampa on the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and was one of the key forces in making the long-sought-after New Tampa Cultural Center a reality.

“There are so many hoops we have to jump through,’’ Crist says. “But we’re jumping through them.”

David Freeman knows that all too well. His company, Harrison Bennett Properties, LLC, won the rights (along with Regency Centers as part of a joint venture) in 2014 to build a mixed-use village center, tentatively called The Village At Hunter’s Lake at the time of approval.

The development is expected to feature a 20,000-sq.-ft. cultural center (expandable to 30,000-sq.-ft.) that will seat roughly 300 and include art and sound galleries — and its primary tenant will be the New Tampa Players, a local acting troupe that has been putting productions in our area for more than a decade — a 3-acre dog park and a town center that would include a “green” grocer, shops and restaurants and anywhere from 100-250 condos, townhomes or boutique apartments.

Harrison Bennett will build on roughly 17 acres of land purchased by the City of Tampa. The property is part of 80 acres originally purchased by the city for drainage and a retention pond for the widening of Bruce B. Downs to eight lanes.

Freeman’s proposal was chosen via a unanimous 7-0 vote by the BOCC on Dec. 17, 2014, with the understanding that Harrison Bennett would be responsible for obtaining the necessary zoning, permits and land-use approvals from the City of Tampa.

Victor_Crist
Victor Crist

“At this point, we are really getting started with the process of rezoning so we can move ahead,’’ Freeman says. “Right now, everything else is just on the backburner.”

“People are excited,’’ says Crist, who is often asked about the status of the project. “They want to get it up and opening and running immediately. Unfortunately, this is not just a clean piece of dirt. It’s environmentally protected land, and had an original zoning as a park site or preserve. This is a very complex deal.”

The project is currently in an inspection period, according to Josh Bellotti, director of Hillsborough County’s Real Estate & Facilities. He said that engineers are continuing their investigation of environmental and stormwater issues.

The inspection period was scheduled to conclude on July 30, but has been extended through Sept. 9 to allow the buyer to conduct its due diligence. The extension is nothing too unusual, Bellotti said, as engineers begin digging into undeveloped land and find new issues to deal with.

After the inspection period is over, the project moves into the approval period – which lasts 180 days – when Freeman has to obtain all of the necessary regulatory approvals. The approval period, should any issues arise, can be extended up to a maximum of 360 days. Closing would occur 30 days after the approval period ends, which could be sometime in March of 2017.

A Little History…

Sure, red tape can hold up projects for years. But you can’t blame those skittish about the development of the cultural center clearing obstacles. The quest for a cultural center — or a “pulse” and “identity” as some had referred to it over the years — has stretched more than a decade.

In 2001, a Connecticut firm was paid $27,000 by the city for a study that determined New Tampa could support a cultural center. The nonprofit New Tampa Cultural Arts Center — led by Hunter’s Green resident Graeme Woodbrook — was offered the six acres it requested for the project, but the city wanted the group to come up with a $10-million endowment to pay for it, killing the effort in 2005.

The project was revived again for a brief time in 2007 by New Tampa Players president and founding artistic director Doug Wall, who also was involved in the earlier efforts. But again, money was an issue, until Crist was able to secure promises of funding and the project gained traction.

“It’s rewarding for them to know their work was not done in vain,” Crist says.

Crist says he is currently working on creating a new nonprofit, similar to the University Area Community Development Corporation (which Crist helped start and he is still a Board member). The nonprofit would be housed at the Cultural Center and would manage it, while being responsible for programming and fundraising.

The cost of the Hunter’s Lake project is around $7.5-million. The county has $3.1-million budgeted in its CIP program, Harrison Bennett will provide the county with $2.02-million in cash, as well as making another $1.885 million in site improvements.

Crist said he has been told the final appropriations for the project are included in the 2016-2017 county budget, which will be debated and finalized by Aug. 1.