The grand opening of the Wesley Chapel District Park Recreation Complex, originally scheduled for tomorrow morning, have been postponed. The ribbon cutting ceremony today, and tomorrow’s Grand Opening celebration, will be rescheduled for a later date.
Pasco County Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources will announce the new dates for these events as soon as plans are finalized. We’ll keep you posted.
The new indoor sports and recreation center being built by Pasco County at the Wesley Chapel District Park (WCDP) will have indoor courts for basketball, volleyball, pickleball and other sports, plus the flexibility to host meetings in additional rooms and the opportunity for summer camps. That may not be all that unique for such a facility, but this is:
It’s going to finish on time.
The Neighborhood News went on a recent tour of the new $4.8-million facility, which Pasco County project manager Curtis Franklin proudly says will open as expected in June. That’s big news coming off a year where so many projects have been slowed due to Covid-influenced difficulties in getting building materials on time.
“If you get this done by June, I really need to get you on more projects,” District 2 Pasco Commissioner Mike Moore quipped.
The new facility, located at 7727 Boyette Rd., has gone vertical and is taking shape. Located right next to the Tampa Bay Lightning street hockey rink — Comm. Moore and parks director Keith Wiley fired a few shots before the tour (and we can neither confirm nor deny whether they put any in between the pipes) — the long-awaited recreation facility will have 18,000 square feet of indoor space, including 10,000 for a court that will be used for a variety of indoor sports.
The court is large enough for a regulation size basketball court and can be converted to two 3/4 length perpendicular basketball courts for youth leagues, two volleyball courts or six pickleball courts. Cheerleading and dance also can be held inside, and plans also may include indoor soccer, also known as futsal.
With the push of a button, a partition can even separate the gymnasium in two, allowing for a multi-purpose room on one side and a court on the other.
The facility will use the additional 8,000 square feet of space for two multipurpose rooms (one of them large enough to convert to two rooms) for meetings, as well as a full kitchen and offices.
The facility opens up in the back to a large seating area overlooking a grassy area, which can accommodate parties, small concerts and even movies in the park.
With the new gymnasium, plus tennis courts, 20 fields for soccer, lacrosse and flag football fields, a first-of-its-kind inclusive playground for children with disabilities, a regular playground, the Lightning street hockey rink, fishing, fitness trails, picnic areas, a pavilion and still plenty of leftover space on its 144 acres, WCDP will be the premier park in Pasco County.
“This is kind of the model for future district parks,” Wiley said during our tour.
The facility at WCDP also will be able to host summer camps, which will be a big deal, Wiley says. Currently, campers hoping to take part in the county’s popular summer programs have to drive to the Land O’Lakes Recreation Complex on Collier Pkwy., which Wiley says fills up within minutes once registration is opened each year.
Meanwhile, the much larger Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, located just a few miles south of WCDP, was completed in July as a public-private partnership between the county and RADDSports, Moore says, but the new indoor facility at WCDP will serve a different audience.
“When it comes to the county, tourism has always been the focus for Wiregrass Ranch — holding events and bringing people into town on weekends who will be spending money in the community,” Moore says. “This is more for local residents, a place for the community to congregate.”
Wiley said the county’s Parks & Recreation Dept. controls six sites for future parks in Pasco County, and three of those will be built in Wesley Chapel in the areas of future master planned developments in Wyndfields, Two Rivers and the Village of Pasadena Hills (VOPH) once concurrency calls for it and the funding can be found.
Those three projects will add a combined 50,000 or so homes to Wesley Chapel. Those projects, however, are years away from being built.
Until then, WCDP’s expansion will widen the scope of what can be offered to Wesley Chapel residents.
“The gymnasium was always the plan (when the park was originally built), we just needed to get the funding,” Wiley said. “The more residents, the more services you need, and Wesley Chapel is booming.”
The Wesley Chapel District Park (WCDP) on Boyette Rd. may not be as large as the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus a few miles to its south (see pgs. 8-10), but its own little mini-sports campus is rounding into shape nicely.
The latest addition is a new Tampa Bay Lightning-sponsored street, or ball, hockey rink, which officially opened a few days before Christmas. It was constructed just a few steps away from WCDP’s new 17,800-sq.-ft. indoor basketball facility, which broke ground in July and is expected to open by late summer 2021.
“It’s nice to see the park growing and offering more and more opportunities for kids to play different sports,” said District 2 commissioner Mike Moore, who has coached a variety of youth teams at WCDP, but the only basketball and volleyball offered at the park has previously been only outdoors.
In a public-private partnership between the Stanley Cup champion Lighting and Pasco County, two street hockey rinks were built in Pasco — one in Holiday, at the J. Ben Harrill Recreation Center, and the other at WCDP.
The virtually-held ribbon-cutting ceremony for the rinks were held in Holiday and were attended by Tampa Bay Lightning CEO Steve Griggs, former Lightning general manager and 2004 Stanley Cup Champion Jay Feaster, former Lightning defenseman Jassen Cullimore and Stanley Cup captain Dave Andreychuk.
“We are very proud to open these two rinks today as part of our pledge to build 10 ball hockey rinks across the Tampa Bay area,” said Griggs. “These two rinks that we opened will give local youth the opportunity to get outside and play the great game of hockey. The Lightning would like to thank Pasco County for their enthusiasm and support in helping us make this a reality for everyone in Pasco County.”
The other rinks the Lightning have opened in the Tampa Bay area are in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Polk counties. They are of the Lightning’s Build The Thunder 2.0 and Connect the Thunder outreach programs. In 2015, through the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) Industry Growth Fund, the Lightning announced a $6 million grass roots hockey development initiative to be delivered to young people throughout the Bay area.
The NHL club finalized its agreement to build the two rinks in Pasco County last January.
Wesley Chapel already has the popular AdventHealth Center Ice — the largest indoor ice skating/hockey facility south of New York in the United States — so Pasco County was an ideal location, says Josh Dreith, the Lightning’s community manager.
“I love Pasco County,” he said. “There is a ton of Lightning fans in Pasco, and a ton of engaged kids as well.”
The county supplied the land and built the pads the rink is built on, and the Lightning built the actual rink, which is 120 feet long by 60 feet wide, has a full dasher-board system and a scoreboard. The Lightning also is providing the equipment, and will host a series of clinics to get the program going.
The county and Lightning will then coordinate actual league play, which could begin as early as March 2021, but will be dictated by Covid-19 conditions. The rink also will offer plenty of free play time to the public.
For more information, visit LightningMadeHockey.com.
On June 1, roughly 20 kids showed up at a camp at Heritage Isles in New Tampa.
Two weeks later, a similarly-sized group was scheduled to begin camp at the Seven Oaks Community Club in Wesley Chapel.
PROtential Sports owner Nyree Bland could finally breathe again.
“I am grateful to be opened again. It’s good to be back,” says Bland who, along with her husband (and former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver) Tony, has been running sports camps locally for 17 years.
For a while, Bland was unsure if she would be able to host camps again in 2020. PROtential after-school camps were canceled when school was (back in March), and summer activities were in doubt right up until Gov. Ron DeSantis ended all restrictions on youth activities for the state on May 22.
“The data is pretty clear that, for whatever reason, kids don’t seem to get infected at the same rates that some other adults get infected,” DeSantis said when making the announcement.
Summer camps and sports leagues are ready to go. There will be strict new CDC guidelines to follow, such as cleaning and social distancing protocols.
How that works out, however, remains to be seen, as anyone who has ever coached a large group of 9-year-olds can attest.
Keith Wiley, the Pasco County director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, says his department is working closely with the 30 or so co-sponsored groups they partner with to determine the best and safest way forward.
Although DeSantis specifically said the state would not “be instituting a lot of rules” and would “trust parents to be able to make decisions in conjunction with physicians,” Wiley says that all groups hosting youth sports leagues in Pasco County will be required to supply a safe play plan to the county that strictly adheres to CDC guidelines.
Although parks and fields are open for walk-up play by the general public, co-sponsored leagues can only return once those plans have been approved by the county.
According to the CDC, the “lowest risk” of Covid-19 spreading is during skill-building drills and conditioning, with team-based practices considered a “higher risk.”
Full competition between teams from the same local geographic area is considered “even more risk,” while full competition between teams from different geographic areas is considered the “highest risk.”
Equipment like bats, balls, pads and helmets will also require disinfecting they had probably not received in previous years. Counselors and coaches should wear masks, according to the CDC.
Requiring groups to ponder the new normal and submit a plan was a no-brainer.
“Until you start to think it through and visualize what practices or games will look like, it’s difficult,” Wiley says. “We didn’t want groups running out there and figuring it out on the fly.”
Considering that the public’s feelings on masks isn’t unanimous, Wiley is hoping the community can come together to follow the rules for the sake of the 5,000 or so children that typically participate in youth sports across Pasco County. Keeping parents from hovering at practices and games will be a challenge as well.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult to police and enforce,” Wiley says. “So far, however, we’ve had a few conversations with our 30 co-sponsored groups, and they have all been positive. We haven’t had to twist any arms.”
As for the popular county-sponsored summer camps at 11 locations, Wiley said they will be limited to 25 percent of typical capacity.
He says the county did a survey and 60 percent of the parents of previous participants said they had every intention of returning. The remaining 40 percent were a “mixed bag.”
Wiley notes that the Pasco camps usually fill up within three minutes of registration opening.
“My guess is there are going to be a lot of folks waiting to rush right in,” Wiley says, “and a percentage of families that plan on taking it slow.”
The Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA), which says it serves more than 3,500 area families, has made no official announcement yet about upcoming registrations.
The WCAA’s Board of Directors met on May 28 to discuss how to best implement its summer athletic programs, and what has to be done to make soccer, basketball and baseball safe for everyone.
Baseball, for example, had just begun its spring Babe Ruth League (which also includes Cal Ripken baseball) when Covid-19 hit. Spring ball would have ended in mid-May, with All-Star Districts and State play running during the summer.
All-stars, however, has been canceled for 2020, so Chad Erker, the director of WCAA Baseball, says the organization may resume the spring league to fill the calendar and get kids back on the fields.
“We’re working on it,” he says. “I think, first and foremost, we’d have to see who is willing to return, who can return, who wants to return. And, who feels safe in returning.”
That will be the same predicament facing every camp and every sports league trying to return to action over the next few months. Erker says entire rosters of teams may need to be shuffled so games can be scheduled. Many camps will have to run at a smaller capacity, due to the CDC guidelines, so the demand may still be there, but the numbers won’t.
Meanwhile, Bland says PROtential’s camps usually have 100-plus participants at each location, but will be limited to 25 percent of their usual capacity.
She has canceled the field trips that are usually a part of the PROtential Sports summer camp experience. Counselors will be taking temperatures daily. The groups will be kept smaller than usual, since some of the activities are held indoors.
“The parents we have talked to that are coming are super excited,” Bland says. “Some aren’t ready. I think it is about 50-50. So, we’ll be a lot smaller. But, it’s the new normal, and I’m embracing it.”
Mike Moore spends a lot of time at the Wesley Chapel District Park (WCDP) on Boyette Rd.
Sometimes he is coaching. Other times he watches his three kids participate in other activities. And other times, he has noticed the absence of children with disabilities, who don’t get the same opportunities his kids do.
“A void,” he calls it.
A few years ago, Moore, the Pasco County Commissioner for District 2 and Seven Oaks resident who represents most of Wesley Chapel, started out on a mission to fill that void.
On Aug. 6, Moore revealed his work to his fellow county commissioners, as plans to build an inclusive playground that is welcoming to those with physical disabilities — and to those who care for them — sprang to life.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research the last couple of years, looking at other inclusive parks around the country,” Moore says. “I thought it was something we should do here. I wanted to figure out a way to make that happen.”
With help from the local community, including the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel and the Lennar Foundation, the county commission accepted a total of $120,000 in contributions towards building the new playground — with $5,000 more in contributions expected — and agreed to kick in $215,000 of public money as well.
The $340,000 is expected to cover the entire cost of building the inclusive playground.
Moore says that work could begin on the park in about six months.
The response from the community since the announcement has been overwhelming, Moore says, noting that he has even received calls from others looking to make donations, and parents of children with disabilities who are overjoyed.
The playground is not just for children with disabilities. The goal is to build a playground that is available to everyone, and isolates no one. It will be the first of its kind in Pasco County, but not the last, Moore hopes. He says that for every 1,000 children in Pasco County, there are 85 who have some type of special needs. The Pasco County School District says there are 16,000 children with special needs countywide.
“We want a place where kids have the opportunity to participate and not just sit on the sidelines, no matter what their abilities are,” Moore says.
While many area parks may be compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines, few truly meet the standards of what proponents consider to be inclusivity.
To meet those inclusive standards, many of these playgrounds incorporate wider pathways and easier-to-navigate surfaces, activity panels that are at ground height, larger swings with more back support and sensory elements that include touch and music.
While the local playground may focus on physical activities, Moore says promoting socialization is a significant benefit of inclusive playgrounds, which bring kids who might otherwise shy away from others due to their disabilities together by promoting active play.
“We want a place that takes away the social barriers and gives parents an opportunity to participate as well,” Moore says. “Parents don’t always feel they are part of something, because their kids can’t take part.”
Getting The Ball Rolling
Once Moore hatched the idea, he went to Keith Wiley, the director of the county parks department. With a new indoor recreation center on the way to the WCDP as well, Moore had synergistic goals.
Wiley’s reaction? He says he was thinking the exact same thing.
“Our team realized the need for more special needs summer camps, but where would they go?,” Wiley says. “That I got that call (from Moore) was an amazing coincidence.”
There are few offerings within 30 miles for area residents to take their children to. At the park at the New Tampa Recreation Center, some swings were outfitted last year to accommodate children in wheelchairs. And, in another part of Tampa Palms, an autism-friendly sensory park is in the design phase, although no money was included in the recent fiscal 2019 City of Tampa budget to begin construction.
To help raise the needed funds, Moore reached out to some reliable community partners.
As a former member of the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel (and still an honorary member), Moore presented a proposal to the club, whose Board thought it was in line with their mission and agreed to donate money from a special charitable fund the club created.
“Years ago, when I was president, (former club president) Dane Parilo, Mike and I got together, and we had this vision — what if we could (start a special fund); what if we could raise money for future projects?,” says Eric Johnson, the past president of the Rotary Club. “And, it’s all coming to fruition right now. We are very excited about this opportunity.”
According to Johnson, Rotary District 6950 (which includes about 40 Rotary Clubs) is giving a $10,000 grant to match the Wesley Chapel Rotary’s donation of $35,000, and the club plans on donating $5,000 more to be raised from their Casino Night fund raiser being held tonight at Lexington Oak Golf Clubs, bringing their total donation to $50,000.
That is one of the club’s biggest donations to date.
The Rotary Club will maintain a butterfly garden adjacent to the playground.
The Lennar Foundation also is donating $50,000.
“We are very excited and grateful (to be involved),” said Arcadia Solesky, director of marketing for the Lennar Foundation.
Meanwhile, AdventHealth contributed $25,000 to the project.
“Our brand promise is to feel whole,” says AdventHealth chief financial officer Tyson Davis. “I can’t think of a better way to apply that brand promise in our community than being a part of this project.”
Perhaps no one, however, was more pleased than Moore. He says the inclusive playground will go down as one of the highlights of his career.
“It’s not always the government doing things, it’s the community coming together for the betterment of all of our kids,” he said. “After this project is done and complete…this will rank as one of the top things we’ve ever done.”