Tag: Wesley Chapel

Gary’s Favorites in Wesley Chapel, Nos. 11-25!

Wesley Chapel definitely had one of its biggest years ever, in terms of restaurant openings, in 2020, so my list this year looks very different than last year. Here are short write-ups about my 25 favorite restaurants (new and existing) in Wesley Chapel for 2020, starting with No. 25 and counting down to No. 11. Tomorrow, we’ll show you the Top 10.

Here we go. Enjoy! — GN

25 — 900 DEGREES WOODFIRED PIZZA
Shops at Wiregrass
28152 Paseo Dr., St. 195
(813) 527-6940
The next three restaurants, which tied for my 25th place this year, are all among my favorite NY-style pizza places, but all three also feature one or more of my favorite local pasta dishes, so they all deserved to be on this list. I personally prefer the NY-style to the woodfired Neapolitan-style pizza at 900º Woodfired Pizza, but my favorite dish is definitely the freshly-made penne pesto Genovese shown above, although I usually have owner Steve Falabella’s happy crew add grilled chicken and even some sautéed spinach to mine. The penne alla vodka and lasagne are awesome, too!

25 — FRATELLI’S PIZZA & CAFE
5327 Village Market
(813) 991-1118
Even though I didn’t remember the name of their long-time, open-24-hours-a-day original Fratelli’s in the Hunts Point Market in The Bronx, NY, I am so happy that the Fratelli brothers decided to sell that location and bring their tasty NY-style pizza and pastas to Wesley Chapel. I was even happier when I first sampled the truly authentic penne with broccoli rabe, chicken and sausage shown above. You won’t find better broccoli rabe in the Tampa Bay area and the baked pastas and hot subs also rock! Fratelli’s also features Jannah’s favorite garlicky Grandma’s pizza in Wesley Chapel.

25 — AMICI PIZZA
26602 Wesley Chapel Blvd.
(813) 973-9734
For anyone who loves authentic NY-style pizza, the new location of Amici’s on Wesley Chapel Blvd (aka S.R. 54) in Lutz has brought me ever closer to the Mannino brothers and their delicious pizza. But, like 900º Woodfired, Amici’s makes my list of Wesley Chapel favorites in part because it features a very authentic NY-style version of another one of my favorite pasta dishes — the linguine with white clams shown above. I can’t really call it a sauce, because it’s correctly more of a light broth, but it is loaded with whole clams and garlic and is a definite must-try! And, although I’ve never been a big fan of the garlic knots at most pizza places, try Amici’s garlic bread with marinara dip. Yum!

24 — RICE-N-BEANS
27405 Wesley Chapel Blvd.
(813) 803-7974
Although I never really thought of Puerto Rican food as one of my favorite Latin cuisines until I tried the original location of Rice-n-Beans on S.R. 54 in Lutz, the beautiful new location (in the former Cody’s Roadhouse building) has kept me a fan of Wesley Chapel’s Rice-n-Beans, especially the amazing fried chicken chicharrons shown above. I’m also a fan of the roast pork mofongo, the grilled pork chops and chicken breast in garlic sauce. And yes, the rice and (I prefer the red) beans served with every meal are also delicious and authentic. Rice-n-Beans also has great drink prices at its spacious, full-liquor bar and had added salsa dancing and other entertainment pre-pandemic.

23 — THE GARDEN GRILLE
at the Hilton Garden Inn
26640 Silver Maple Pkwy.
(813) 591-6900
Please stop me if you’ve heard me say this before, but when the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa-Wesley Chapel first opened in late 2018, it hosted a Grand Opening event, where the food served in the hotel’s Garden Grille restaurant was so good, I thought it must’ve come from an outside caterer. Wrong! The food at the Garden Grille is excellent, from delicious crispy wings, to tasty meatballs, perfect Pan Asian ribs and even a great New York strip steak (photo). I wish the Garden Grille was open for lunch, but it’s also great for “event” food like a unique French toast casserole for brunch and more. The bar is never crowded and has great drink prices.

22 — LITTLE ITALY’S
24436 S.R. 54, Lutz
(813) 909-2122
Owners Jessica and Carl Meyers’ seemingly hard-to-find location on S.R. 54, a mile or so west of the Tampa Premium Outlets, has been bringing in hungry fans from the moment it opened and the addition of beer, wine and homemade sangria definitely hasn’t hurt business, either. Although I’ve always said that the menu could be more diverse, if you’re looking for huge portions of lasagne, chicken or veal parmigiana (photo, usually offered as a special only) and, especially the calzones, this is your place. I can’t partake of the “lobsta” ravioli, but I’ve seen and heard many rave about it.

21 — ARROY THAI
27427 Wesley Chapel Blvd.
Pinebrook at The Grove plaza
(813) 501-4924
For anyone looking for delicious (which is what “Arroy” means) Thai food in Wesley Chapel, Arroy Thai is fast, casual and excellent. I enjoy the lunch specials, which include steamed jasmine rice, fried wontons and a salad with peanut dressing for only $8.95-$13.95, depending upon the protein you choose — which for me is usually chicken or pork, with garlic and black pepper sauce, although I also love the spicy basil and fresh ginger sauces, too. I also love the crispy duck dinner entrées, although I’m not big on curry sauces or noodle dishes.

20 — GLORY DAYS GRILL
28812 S.R. 54
(813) 535-7678
I’ve said before that when Glory Days Grill first opened in New Tampa a few years ago, replacing the popular Lee Roy Selmon’s, I wasn’t a big fan. However, when Jannah and I first tried the new Glory Days on S.R. 54, less than a mile from my office, we immediately recognized that the menu had been greatly upgraded. Even though they did away with our favorite appetizer (zucchini fries), the burgers (try the proprietary blend) are excellent and I also enjoy the comeback chicken (with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese in lemon-butter sauce), fried chicken & waffles, the Boston clam “chowda,” the 1988 center-cut sirloin and the house-marinated pork chops shown above.

19 — FORD’S GARAGE
25226 Sierra Center Blvd., Lutz
(813) 540-3673
Another mini-chain (with 14 of its 16 locations here in Florida) with really good food, Ford’s Garage features a big variety of prime black angus burgers, plus excellent sesame-crusted ahi tuna and a giant funnel tower of jumbo piston onion rings and six different kinds of mac n’ cheese. Jannah and I love the grilled chicken Henry entrée (shown above) and the chop salad and the 10-oz. NY strip steak entrée is tasty, too. With great drink specials and lots of indoor and outdoor bar seating, Ford’s Garage lets you keep your social distance, too.

18 — TOP SHELF SPORTS LOUNGE
at AdventHealth Center Ice
3173 Cypress Ridge Blvd.
(813) 953-1032
Based on my experience at other ice rinks when both of my sons played ice hockey, I had no real expectations for good food when what is now called AdventHealth Center Ice first opened. Boy, was I wrong. Not only does Top Shelf have some of the best wings, burgers (photo) and bar food around, it also serves delicious mixed veggies as a side and the craft beers from owner Keelan Cottle’s own 81Bay Brewing are definitely popular with the hockey moms and dads. Top Shelf also is mine and Jannah’s favorite place to watch Lightning games.

17 — THE HUNGRY GREEK
2653 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
(813) 345-8526
Now that there are so many new restaurants in Wesley Chapel, it’s easy to forget about The Hungry Greek, but not if you enjoy great Greek specialties (as I do) in a fast-casual environment that never disappoints for quality, service or price. I’ve yet to try the recent addition of Greek bowls (with brown rice, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, feta, olives, pepperoncini and tzatziki sauce, with your choice of chicken, gyro meat, shrimp, falafel or salmon), but the spanakopita and the gyro dinner shown above (I get it without the onions) are always great, especially with a Mythos or other Greek beer.

16 — BONEFISH GRILL
25264 Sierra Center Blvd., Lutz
(813) 907-8202
When you’re looking for the best seared tuna sashimi appetizer (photo) in Wesley Chapel, there’s no doubt in my mind that the recently relocated Bonefish Grill is still near the top of the list. The thick slices are always fresh, always well-seared but still rare and covered in black and white sesame seeds. Bonefish also features excellent fresh fish, but not as good for my money as Grillsmith’s. The Outback-quality steaks are an added bonus. I can’t eat the bang-bang shrimp because of my accursed shellfish allergy (but they will make it as bang-bang chicken for folks like me) and it’s still among the best you’ll find anywhere. Love the new bar area, too!

15 — UMU JAPANESE & THAI
2653 Bruce B Downs Blvd.
(813) 591-6121
Many locals rave about the sushi at Umu Japanese & Thai and you can count me among them, but when you take a deeper dive into the menu (as I finally have), you find out that there’s even more to love than the huge selection of sushi rolls and the best variety of white meat fish nigiri (on rice) and sashimi in our area. I have enjoyed the crispy soy-marinated Kara-Age chicken appetizer (from Umu’s “Hot Tasting” starters menu), the deep-fried chicken and pork (Umu-ton) katsu, the “Wafu-style” Japanese NY strip steak and especially, the miso-marinated Chilean sea bass shown here.

14 — CHUCK LAGER AMERICA’S TAVERN
2001 Piazza Ave Suite 175
Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 820-4500
While it didn’t take much for this third link in a new, small chain with a menu inspired by celebrity TV chef Fabio Viviani to surpass its predecessor (Primebar) in its space at the Shops at Wiregrass, there’s no doubt that Chuck Lager’s is a beautiful new restaurant with a great vibe and a unique menu that has caught on with locals, even though it opened deep into the pandemic. Jannah and I love the Fabio’s meatball sub and Cajun grouper taco handhelds, as well as the chicken parmesan, pork chop Milanese and Italian steak (photo) entrées and the sautéed baby broccolini is amazing. There also are great burgers, flatbreads and salads.

13 — PASTA DI GUY
4839 Bruce B Downs Blvd
(813) 994-1294
Owner/chef Guy Carmeli continues to add items to his still-smallish menu, but it’s hard to argue with the quality served up at the 2020 addition to our local dining scene. Our favorites at Pasta di Guy (see ad on pg. 42) are the made-from-scratch strozzapreti and spaghetti pastas, topped with any of the six different freshly made sauces (Alfredo, beef Bolognese, marinara, creamy pesto, vodka or aglio e olio (garlic and oil), and what may be the best house-cut zucchini noodles (above) in our area. Yes, it costs extra to add grilled chicken, house-made Italian sausage and veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, but it’s worth it. And, the recent addition of design-your-own, house-made pizzas is a step in the right direction, too.

12 — NOBLE CRUST
28330 Paseo Dr.
Shops at Wiregrass
(813) 703-2602
There is no doubt in my mind that with a little larger and more diverse menu, Noble Crust also would finish higher on my list of Wesley Chapel favorites. I love the house-made gnocchi and unique beef and pork meatball appetizers (there’s even Impossible meatballs available now), as well as the double cut pork chop, bistro steak and chicken fried chicken parm (above) entrées. Recently added items include crispy Brussels sprouts, a gorgonzola filet and eggplant parm. And, people rave about Noble Crust’s oven-baked pizzas, although we usually go for the entrées. The bar area may be a little tight, but it offers an amazing selection of ultra-premium liquor and a great, fun vibe.

11 — OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
5710 Oakley Blvd.
(813) 973-7717
The steak quality at the Outback Steakhouse has never been in question. The Victoria’s filet is very similar in quality and price to Longhorn’s Flo’s filet and the bone-in New York strip shown here is, as the menu claims, full of flavor. In addition to the great variety of steaks, Outback also is famous for its shrimp on the barbie and bloomin’ onion appetizers, Alice Springs chicken and surf & turf options that I sadly can’t enjoy, but rewards members (like me!) get $20 off at Outback or Bonefish or $40 off at Fleming’s every third visit. Jannah and I still won’t wait for a table, but whether we sit at the bar or use the easy takeout system, we’re rarely disappointed.

Diverging Diamond Delay

Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) chairman Mike Moore has always taken great pride in his efforts to expedite the construction of the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at the busy junction of I-75 and S.R. 56.

With help from state legislators, what was originally scheduled for a 2024 completion was moved up and expected to be finished by the fall of 2021.

However, that date is now very much in question, which has riled Moore, who represents District 2, which includes most of Wesley Chapel.

“It’s very, very disappointing,” he says.

Armed with letters from constituents and his own daily experience driving through the congestion at the under-construction interchange, Moore is disappointed to hear that the project — originally expected to cost $18.5 million but now carrying a $33-million price tag — could now drag on until the spring of 2022 or even later.

Which is why, when Moore drives by the project now and sees workers, well, not working, it makes him seethe.

His frustration was on full display at a BCC meeting last month, when Moore delivered a blistering attack on the company, D.A.B. Constructors, Inc., in charge of the project.

Moore said he recently drove through the interchange and took pictures of the general malaise happening. He said he saw two workers standing next to a truck doing nothing, and a second group of construction workers standing on a hill.

“On a project of that magnitude, those are the only people I saw working on a Monday, a sunny Monday, at 1:30 in the afternoon,” Moore said. “I think that’s insane, that’s ridiculous, that’s embarrassing.”

More than 100,000 vehicles pass through the interchange on a daily basis. The eagerly-anticipated DDI is designed to create fewer conflict points at the interchange, and despite looking like a confusing, diamond-shaped jumble of roads in pictures, Florida’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange (at Exit 210 of I-75, in Sarasota) has been lauded for being safer and more efficient than your traditional junctions.

Businesses Are Unhappy, Too

The Wesley Chapel DDI will be Florida’s second, and Moore isn’t the only one disappointed that it is so far behind schedule.

In September, the Cypress Creek Town Center Property Owners Association (POA) — which includes the Tampa Premium Outlets, Costco and more than 20 other businesses located west of the interchange, sent a letter to Moore and District 3 Commissioner Kathryn Starkey expressing concern about the progress of the interchange.

The POA, which said it has spent $25 million over the last 15 years “reconstructing and widening miles

of highway in the State Road 54/56 corridor” to offset the additional traffic the Town Center attracts, said it reached out to the Florida Department of Transportation when it was becoming clear that the project was falling behind schedule.

It asked FDOT to accelerate the DDI during Covid-19, due to the reduction of traffic, but were told material deliveries had hindered the project and that D.A.B. Constructors “did not feel any substantial gains could be made.”

The POA wrote to Moore and Starkey that they were told the project was at least 200 days behind schedule — pushing the completion date to late summer of 2022.

“It’s very unfortunate that this is happening,” said Comm. Starkey, “but at least FDOT is doing as much as they can to push it along.”

Pasco County has no control over state road projects like the DDI, but Moore and Starkey both reached out to David Gwynn, the FDOT secretary for District 7, after receiving the letter from that group of angry businesses.

FDOT has taken efforts to remedy the situation, and could impose more penalties. Gwynn wrote back to Moore telling him if D.A.B. Constructors can’t meet the contracted end date, “liquidated damages, of $9,837 a day, will be assessed for every day that the contractor is late in completing the project.”

That means that for every month they are behind schedule, D.A.B. Constructors would incur a $300,000 fine.

Pasco’s BCC chair Mike Moore says D.A.B. Constructors “can’t handle it” when it comes to finishing the diverging diamond project on time.

The DDI construction kicked off in early 2019, and had an original schedule of 800 days, resulting in a finish date of April 2021. That did account for delays due to rain and holidays (though not for something like Covid-19, which did cause delays for materials for many area projects).

Gwynn wrote that in roughly 20 months, D.A.B. Constructors had been granted 99 days for weather, 34 days of holiday time and 30 days for unforeseen conditions. All told, that added 163 days to the contract, changing the end date to August 26, 2021.

“Ninety-nine rain days? I don’t how that is, but okay, I guess?,” Moore said. “I guess if it sprinkles outside they don’t work?”

Moore also found 34 days off for holidays “extreme.”

Moore wants to see FDOT come down hard on D.A.B. Constructors, including fines and heavy pressure. He went as far as to suggest D.A.B. “sub out every little piece of the project going forward…cut their losses, and get out.”

He doesn’t want the company used on any more projects in Pasco County, where it is currently working on 10 other projects, including the widening of State Roads 54 and 52.

“They have so many projects going on right now they can’t handle it,” Moore says.

Starkey worried that any further delays could impact the traffic for yet another holiday season in 2021, further hurting businesses in the S.R. 56 corridor.

DDI diverging diamond interchange Wesley Chapel

We Have Moved Again, Thanks To All Of These Businesses!

When you stay in business for 27 years and have had to move more than one or two times, you definitely dread having to do it again.

Well, I will be celebrating my 27th anniversary of owning and publishing the New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News in a new location (more on exactly where that is below) in February, which will be our sixth office location in all that time.

I doubt that anybody can name all five of our previous office locations, but rather than make a contest out of it, I’ll tell you all of them at the end of this editorial. (if even I can remember them).

This would definitely have been the worst and hardest move, business or residence, of my entire life, if not for the help of several of the advertisers who appear in this publication and one Rotarian I greatly admire.

I don’t consider myself to be a “hoarder,” per se, but those of us in the news business are supposed to save records for at least a certain period of time and I may have taken that to something of an extreme in my nearly three decades of serving the same distribution areas.

In addition, there was a time when we would order many hundreds (500-600 or more) of extra copies of each issue, so that we could, by leaving copies around the community, provide more people with all of the information they couldn’t get anywhere else. But, not only did that never benefit the business financially, it left us with hundreds of extra copies of hundreds of issues of the paper. Do the math. That’s literally “crap-tons” of paper!

We started ordering and saving fewer extra copies a few years ago — and we’ve always thrown out/recycled hundreds of copies each year, but all I knew was that we couldn’t (and shouldn’t) take it all with us to our slightly smaller new office, located less than a half-mile west on S.R. 54 from the office we were leaving, both of which are very close to Saddlebrook Resort.

Shred (360)Your Troubles Away!

So first, I called on Cam Caudle, a U.S. Army veteran and member of the Rotary Club of New Tampa (the club that has been meeting on Friday mornings at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club for almost as long as I’ve been in business). Cam also is a recent (2015) “Franchisee of the Year” of Shred360, an incredible mobile document destruction company.

So, whether you have years of no-longer-needed financial and other records that you want to safely dispose of, or thousands of copies of publications that you’ll never need (or both), Cam will send his mobile unit to your home or office and will shred all that paper, on-site which will then be recycled. (Note – The Neighborhood News is and always has been printed on 100% recycled paper, no matter which stock we’ve been using.)

In our case, Cam’s guy Ed (photo above) pulled the truck up to our office, and we dropped those thousands of copies into a rolling bin from our second floor stairs. The bin then got loaded into the truck (several times) and I was able to watch, on a small monitor, 27 years of my memories literally being torn to shreds…in a good way.

Got a large or small shredding job for Shred 360? Cam does some shredding events for charity throughout the year, but his prices are very fair and his people are as excellent at their jobs as Cam is funny.

Call Cam at (813) 944-2223 or visit Shred360.com and tell him I sent you (and told you to watch his stand-up comedy debut. Really funny stuff, but not suitable for kids!)

Why Is This Hauler Smiling?

Next, I definitely needed a good junk guy to get rid of…well, everything that wasn’t coming to the new office that wasn’t able to be shredded.

And believe me, that was a lot of stuff. We had several old filing cabinets filled with old advertising agreements, office furniture that wasn’t going to be needed in the new office, a safe, and a whole lot more.

And, it just so happened that our old friend Don Smith — also known as The Happy Hauler — of Smith’s Clean-Up Service (top left photo) had just started back up advertising with us again.

Don’s another hard-working man. I stuffed lots of large, contractor-sized bags of garbage and he carried those bags — and the aforementioned filing cabinets and other garbage — to his waiting trailer and loaded all of it by himself.

Don told me that when he receives items he believes will be useful to local charities — like The Children’s Home Foundation of Tampa or the Sunrise of Pasco Hospice — he’ll set those aside and drive them to the organizations. He told me our filing cabinets, the safe and some of the furniture might be useful to those charities. Best of all, he was done in less than an hour and his rates are extremely reasonable.

So, for everything from single item pick-ups to yard waste, construction debris, small building tear-downs and yes, office (or home) clean-outs, call Don at Smith’s Clean-Up Service at (813) 727-6655. Be sure to tell him that Gary from the Neighborhood News sent you!

Who’s Gonna Clean This Mess?

Another aspect of moving out of one office and into another is that the place you’re leaving has to be broom-clean and even though the place you’re moving to should also be broom clean, I wanted both offices to be as clean as possible.

For our “move-out” clean-up, I chose the company that’s been cleaning our office at the last three or four of our locations and the last at least 10-15 years — D Ultra Cleaning Services.

My friends Eduardo and Deborah Ferreira of D Ultra have always been reliable and although some of their cleaning folks don’t speak much English, Eduardo and Deborah are both bilingual in English and Spanish and anytime I’ve had an issue over the years, they’ve always taken care of it right away. They’re good people who also do grout/ceramic cleaning, pressure washing, carpet and window cleaning and house and light commercial cleaning.

Call D Ultra Cleaning Services at (813) 758-9710 or visit DUltraCleaningService.com.

Because both jobs were so big and I had limited time to get them both done, I decided to let my other friend Celly De Freitas of Clean-it (at right in photo above, which was not taken at our new office, by the way) take on the job of getting our new office sparkling clean before we moved into it.

Celly came with her outstanding crew and in less than two hours, made the new office ready for primetime — or at least for us moving in.

Clean-it has other excellent references, is licensed and insured and also has been cleaning homes and offices in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel for nearly 20 years. Call (813) 505-0431 for a free quote today.

What I Really Need Is A Nerd!

I don’t know about your business, but our office has to have working computers and I still don’t know the difference between a server and a network and had no idea how to make sure we were able to safely move all of our desktop computers to the new office.

So, I called my friend Michael Varnadore, the owner of Nerds To Go Computer Service of New Tampa (photo top right), which has a brick-and-mortar location in the Pebble Creek Collection (behind Kobé Steakhouse; one of our former offices was in the same plaza).

I have had a service agreement with the New Tampa Nerds to Go for over a year, but I never felt as fortunate to have it as I did as we got ready to move. Mike said to me, “Gary, this is why you hired us. We’ve got you covered.” and dispatched his newest Nerd, Derik Jenkins, to our old office a few days before our move.

Derik came to see how things were connected to make sure that we could move the whole shebang safely, and when he came back, he got it disconnected, reconnected and up and running — and we literally never missed a beat.

If this kind of peace of mind is important to you, you should definitely visit Nerds To Go at 19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Ste C-6, or call Mike’s awesome sidekick, Maxine, at (813) 321-1700 or visit NerdsToGo.com. Also, check out the ad in our latest issue for a great Black Friday special on an Acer Aspire TC-865 Desktop PC and other deals.

So, there you have it. Our new office is in the Westbrook Professional Park at 28949 S.R. 54, Wesley Chapel 33543. As soon as we get everything put away, we’ll host an Open House/party to show off our new digs.

In the meantime, listed below are all five of our previous offices:

1. Gerry Mann Financial Building (11201 N. 56th St., Temple Terrace)

2. Palm Plaza (12108 N. 56th St., Tampa/Temple Terrace)

3. Pebble Creek Collection (19651 BBD Blvd., New Tampa)

4. Shoppes at Amberly (15345 Amberly Dr., Tampa Palms)

5. Brookside Prof. Park (29157 Chapel Park Dr., Suite B, Wesley Chapel)

Thanks again to all of our advertisers and friends who helped get us moved in quickly, cleanly and safely.

moving Wesley Chapel

How About Two Libraries For Wesley Chapel?

Wesley Chapel has been without a library for more than a year since the only previous location, the New River Branch Library on S.R. 54, began a major facelift.

That facelift, which will feature areas for teens and children, remodeled bathrooms, new furniture, an improved community garden and covered learning space, should be completed by January, but that hasn’t stopped District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore from looking ahead to another library for the area.

“I think the time is right,” Moore says, pointing to the massive growth the area has witnessed in recent years, as well as the tens of thousands of homes still planned for the future.

Moore pitched the idea to his fellow county commissioners last week.

As usual, it will all come down to finding the money to build what Moore expects would be roughly a $10-million endeavor.

*It may be a few years away, but plans to add a second library in Wesley Chapel are proceeding. The rendering above shows the outdoor lounge.*

The land already is owned by Pasco County, Moore says. It is right in front of Seven Oaks Elementary, off of Mystic Oaks Blvd. In 2004, that parcel was set aside as part of the development agreement for the Seven Oaks DRI with the intention that the county would use it for a future library.

In September, Moore was able to secure funding for a concept design for the 20,000-sq.-ft. facility. Renderings of the possible library show plenty of meeting spaces inside and outside, as well as large glass windows that overlook the wetlands that would be behind the library (above).

Now, he is proposing a larger expenditure, probably close to $1-million, to fund the actual design of the library.

After that, “We’ll look at all possible resources to get it built,” Moore says.

Bob Harrison, the Pasco County Libraries marketing and communications program manager, says it could take 3-4 years to bring the project to fruition. He agrees that Wesley Chapel’s rapid growth warrants a second library.

“We definitely look at the growth areas and Wesley Chapel is probably the fastest growing area in Pasco County and has been for some time,” he says. “It definitely could use another library based on its population growth.”

Many of the county’s libraries have been refurbished and received updated maker spaces. For example, the Regency Park Library in New Port Richey has a test kitchen, the Hudson library has a recording studio, and both were decided on by local residents.

Harrison says the Wesley Chapel community will decide what special features to put in a new library via focus groups and meetings.

“As far as I know, (Moore and his fellow commissioners) are certainly committed to making it happen,” Harrison says. “Of course, funding is always a question, but I know at this point they are moving forward with it.”

Although the New River Library is still closed, it’s still available as an early voting site for this year’s General Election. For info, visit PascoVotes.com.

Library Wesley Chapel

LIFE IN THE BUBBLE

Candice Dupree pushes her 3-year-old twins Cali and Demi on swings near their home in The Ridge at Wiregrass Ranch.

Her 15th WNBA season is over for former Wharton High star Candice Dupree, and while she wishes her summer also included the WNBA playoffs, she says she couldn’t be happier.

It was time to head home to be reunited with her three-year-old twins, Cali and Demi.

“I told my mom, whenever that last game is, I need you here the next morning to get me out of here,” Dupree said from Bradenton, where she wrapped up the season with her Indiana Fever teammates in the WNBA bubble at the IMG Academy on Sept. 12. “I want to get home.”

Home is Wesley Chapel, just up the road from Wharton, where Dupree remains the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Today, she says, her greatest accomplishments are raising the twins with wife DeWanna Bonner, a job she is eager to resume full time.

Because Dupree and Bonner are both WNBA players, it is often no easy task. They play for different teams, have different schedules and because most women’s basketball players make more money playing overseas — before coronavirus and this summer’s WNBA season, Dupree was playing in Hungary, DeWanna in China — they have a hectic travel schedule and few days off.

While some WNBA players brought their children into the bubble — basically an isolation zone to keep the players coronavirus-free so the season could be played — Dupree was able to rely on mom Patty and Dupree’s twin sister Crystal, who she jokes enlisted as the nanny the day Bonner gave birth to the twins.

“We didn’t really know what we’d be getting ourselves into inside the bubble,” Dupree says. “At home, they have school, they play outside and in the pool. They wouldn’t have been able to do that (in Bradenton).”

The bubble was an experience Dupree says she won’t forget. She was playing in Hungary when President Donald Trump enacted a travel ban from Europe because of coronavirus, and, the very next day, she was hustling to get back to Florida.

When she entered the bubble in June for the WNBA’s 22-game schedule, the league was at the forefront of the social justice movement (photo on next page) in the wake of the death of George Floyd and nationwide protests.

Dupree was active in the league’s initiatives and personally met with the League of Women Voters in hopes of becoming more involved with the voting community.

With the season over, Dupree is eager to spend time with the girls.

“My girls are to the point where, when we talk, they are like, “Momma, come home, when are you coming home?,” Dupree says. “Initially, they were not like that. But, they are starting to miss their parents.”

Dupree is not looking to return to Europe to play hoops anytime soon and, at the age of 36, her WNBA career is finally winding down.

She will be a free agent. Her stats this year were in line with her career numbers of 14.4 points and 6.6 rebounds a game, and she is in great shape physically. She could play another two years, she says.

“But if a different job opportunity comes my way, I wouldn’t hesitate to take it,” she added. Opportunities she is interested in exploring include coaching at the professional level.

Do You Remember When…

Dupree was a silky smooth forward for the Wildcats, becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer and winning the Dottie McGahagin Award as Hillsborough County’s best girls player in 2001-02 (to go with a 4.8 GPA). She went on to be an All-American at Temple University, playing for three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley, and was the No. 6 pick by Chicago in the WNBA draft in 2006.

One thing she never imagined while making buckets at Wharton is that she would one day be where she is today — a 15-year WNBA veteran, a seven-time All-Star, a 2014 WNBA champion and one of the best players the women’s league has ever seen.

“I never wanted to play in WNBA,” Dupree says. “I’m not going to lie. I didn’t even know what it was. I was so busy competing in so many different sports I never even watched pro sports on TV. I was just excited to be recruited and get a full ride somewhere.”

While it has been her consistency and steadiness that has defined her — she has never averaged less than double figures in points — Dupree is fifth all-time in WNBA career scoring, having put up more points than women’s basketball legends like Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird and Tina Charles.

In fact, for someone who never imagined playing professionally, Dupree is all over the WNBA career record book: second behind all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi in field goals made, fourth in minutes played, and seventh in rebounding and games played.

In 2010, she put together one of the best WNBA seasons ever, averaging 15.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, shooting a blistering (and league-leading) 66.4 percent from the floor, and was second from the free throw line at 93.6 percent.

“I put together a pretty good resume,” Dupree says. “I’m on some lists with some very elite company. At some point, when I have I have time to sit back and reflect, I’ll say that was one helluva career. But, right now, I’m still wrapped up in it, playing and trying to win games, so I don’t pay it too much attention.”

Now that she’s home, Dupree plans to relax. She may check out the new Wiregrass Sports Campus of Pasco County near her home in The Ridge at Wiregrass, which recently hosted the seventh annual Candice Dupree Invitational, a girls basketball tournament for college hoops hopefuls. Dupree has sponsored teams for the tournament organizers, the East Tampa Youth Basketball Association, for years by buying them shoes and uniforms.

“It sounds great, we’ve needed something like that in that area for years,” Dupree says. She says one of her daughters may be interesting in the Sports Campus’ cheerleading program; the other, she laughs, leans more towards playing football.

And while she takes her kids on walks and plays with them in the pool, she’ll contemplate her next move.

“I’m not really in a rush,” Dupree admits. “I usually leave for Europe after Christmas but who knows if that will be happening. I just want to spend time with the girls and hang out for the time being. Then, we’ll see what happens.”

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