Pokemon GO is taking over The Shops at Wiregrass mall, new restaurants are nearing completion of S.R. 56, we stop by and talk with PROtential Sports and Gary shares some of his favorite places to get a good meal in the Seminole Heights area.
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.
“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.
The 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.
“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.
Wesley Chapel resident Colin Eke grew up playing soccer. He says that in Ipswich, England, where he was born and raised, “football” was more than a game, it was a passion.
The older Eke got, however, the harder the game got. Factor in injuries to his hips, knees and Achilles tendon, and Eke turned to refereeing games. But now, he’s turning to a whole new game — “walking football,” or as it’s called here, soccer. He jokes that this way, “You can play soccer on Sunday afternoon, and when you go to work on Monday, you’re not on crutches.’’
Eke, who is 60, is trying to start what he believes will be Florida’s first-ever over-50 Walking Football League right here in Wesley Chapel and New Tampa. He held a clinic last week at the Benito Middle School soccer fields on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, and is hoping to attract enough players for a 4-team league.
Eke says the concept is no joke – walking football is one of the fastest growing sports in England. He says that everyone should check out YouTube to see how the sport is played. “It’s quicker than you think,” he says.
There is an official organization in England that holds regional and national tournaments – Walking Football United – and the United States Adult Soccer Association will include the game in its Adult Soccer Fest in Denver, CO, July 13-17.
“A good friend in England told me about it,’’ he said. “Most people over the age of 50 can’t run anymore, they’ve chosen to hang their boots up or not play anymore, whether it’s weight, injuries or they’re not fit enough. This game just involves a new mindset.”
Eke is trying to persuade people to that new mindset, hoping to have enough teams for his planned league by sometime later this month — after the COPA America tournament has ended and the Euro Cup is nearing its finale.
“I’ve had some people say ,‘You must be kidding,’’ Eke says. “I just tell them, after five minutes in (of regular soccer), if you’re over 50, you’re either walking anyway, laying on the ground exhausted or wanting to come off for water.”
In walking football, as you might imagine, no running is allowed. You can power walk, but are not permitted to jog, lest you end up being sentenced to two minutes in the “sin bin,” equivalent to hockey’s penalty box.
The game is still quicker than you might imagine (again, check out the YouTube videos if you don’t believe it) and the players need to possess good footwork and solid ball striking skills. Instead of 11-on-11, walking football features 6-on-6 play.
The game is open to men and women. The goals and field are smaller, no one is allowed in the penalty area in front of the net, and there is no offsides, no slide tackling and no over-the-head throw-ins.
“The goal is to let people who love the game to keep playing,’’ Eke says. “It’s still great physical fitness, it’s a great social game and there’s (much less) chance of injury.’’
Eke has run the New Adult Premier Soccer League (APSL) along with partner Miguel Herrera since 2012. Roughly 200 players from the Wesley Chapel, New Tampa and Dade City areas have competed at places like Benito Middle School on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, the Wesley Chapel District Park on Boyette Rd., and the New Tampa Community Park in Tampa Palms during men’s and co-ed leagues on Wednesday and Friday nights and Sunday afternoons.
Eke hopes the addition of walking football is as successful as the rest of his leagues have been. “The whole point is to get players who are older to be healthy and active,’’ he says. “It’s like a stroll on a Sunday afternoon, so why not kick a ball at the same time?”
For more information about Eke’s walking soccer league and how to sign up, check out NewAPSL.com or email him at Colin@NewAPSL.com or Miguel@NewAPSL.com.
For additional information about the sport of walking soccer, check out WalkingFootballUnited.co.uk.
Check out the Premiere Episode of WCNT-tv Now at WCNeighborhoodNews.com!
If you somehow haven’t already seen the first-ever episode of WCNT-tv, I suggest visiting our website — WCNeighborhoodNews.com — right now, even before you read this article. The photos on this page and on page 3 are from the incredible Premiere Party we hosted at our Neighborhood News offices on S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel on June 23 for the first-ever webcast dedicated to the residents and businesses in the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area and there’s no doubt the premiere episode of our bi-weekly webcast has already captured the attention — and the imagination — of a pretty impressive list of major business owners and representatives who were on hand at the Premiere Party.
Among the people already talking about WCNT-tv — which has its own Youtube channel, but also can be accessed from the front page of our website, our Facebook page and/or by clicking on the “WCNT-tv” tab on the front page of WesleyChapelChamber.com — included our Premiere Party attendees Gordie Zimmerman of ZMitch, LLC, the developers of Florida Hospital Center Ice, our first video news feature; Tampa Premium Outlets GM Stacey Nance; marketing director Tracy Clouser of Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, which is
the studio sponsor of WCNT-tv’s news segment; WCCC CEO Hope Allen and membership coordinator Jennifer Reightler; Pasco County commissioner Mike Moore; New Tampa’s State Rep. Shawn Harrison; Peter Gambacorta of the Private Chef of Tampa, which provided some of the food for the event (as did Little’s Italy’s Family Restaurant); and Troy Stevenson of Wesley Chapel Nissan and his Acme On the Go Movies (which provided the amazing 17’x9’ screen) technician Harry Wilkins, as well as many WCCC business owners & New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Rotary Club members.
Also special thanks to our first chamber-featured business sponsor, VIP Pest Control, and restaurant sponsor, OTB Café.
Special thanks also goes out to John Fisher of The Polar Pod, which provided 50º comfort on a hot and humid night for all of our attendees, to my WCNT-tv co-anchor Susanna Martinez; Mike McDonald, who provided the entertainment; WCCC Featured Business host Jill Reilly (who also is my Neighborhood News billing manager), my WCNT-tv sales & production assistant Lauren McDonald, as well as asst. editor John Cotey (who took these great pictures at the event) and my entire staff at Neighborhood News, which have allowed me the freedom to pursue a dream; cameraman Brad Hall and especially, my partner and WCNT-tv executive producer Craig Miller of Full Throttle Intermedia.
Look for new episodes of WCNT-tv every two weeks and more to come!