The recreational sports complex now has partitioned space to accommodate numerous training programs.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published May 28, 2004
BIGGER STARS: Their good intentions led to success, then their success demanded a bigger space.
South Tampa Athletic Recreational Sports has moved from a 23,000-square-foot warehouse at 5400 S West Shore Blvd. to a 35,000-square-foot space at 4921 S Lois Ave. It occupies nearly half of the former Tropical Sportswear warehouse.
STARS opened in April 2002 to provide practice space for rival football and cheerleading squads in the Tampa Bay Youth Football League. While they were at it, the STARS owners added gymnastics, weight training, tae kwon do, dance, wrestling and triathlete programs.
It did not take long before a problem arose.
"We were in one huge space, and it was very hard for each individual sport to concentrate ... when the other things were going on," said STARS executive director Lori Moses.
The new STARS facility offers the same programs in partitioned spaces. Recreational gymnastics (for ages 18 months to 12 years) and the concession stand are in one room. Team gymnastics (ages 5 to 18) meet in another. There's also a 15,000-square-foot spring floor for cheerleading.
A grand reopening with camp giveaways is set for June 5. Call 835-1600.
DADDY'S TRIBUTE: It's the sort of compliment that only a 6-year-old daughter could give. Anna Crusoe said her father's new restaurant, Cafe Anna, is just like Wendy's because it's named after his daughter.
Rest assured, Dave Crusoe has set his culinary sights higher. "But I do like their fries," he said.
His menu is contemporary American bistro, including steaks, seafood, chicken, pasta, duck quesadillas, shrimp and crawfish cakes, grouper in parchment and filet mignon stuffed with crab meat.
Cafe Anna opened May 3 at 3671 S West Shore Blvd., former site of Aldo's Italian. Crusoe has replaced Aldo's 1960s Italian B-movie kitsch theme with hardwood floors, exposed brick walls and more contemporary colors. The cafe features a 60-label wine list. The full liquor bar remains.
The restaurant added a private dining room for 50, with DVD and LCD players and Internet access. It's ideal for business meetings, he said.
An outdoor patio is slated to open in about a week, bringing the 4,100-square-foot restaurant's seating capacity to 150.
Before opening Cafe Anna, Crusoe was a general manager for the Palm restaurant chain, working at locations in WestShore Plaza, Boston and Las Vegas.
Hours are 4:30 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 4:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Visit www.cafeanna.net
OUT WITH THE OLD: Redevelopment has claimed a quaint, two-story, brick building at Interbay and Bayshore boulevards.
Property co-owner B.J. Jabbari tried to save the 1925 building after buying it in 2002 from the B.F. Hurley Mat company, the owner since 1941. After spending about $30,000 on refurbishments, Jabbari realized that the building's foundation was damaged and beyond saving, he said.
Jabbari demolished it last year. Now he and his company, Tampa Bay Property Developers, are negotiating with two developers to sell the property.
Realtor Cindy Ryan of Coldwell Banker Commercial wouldn't name the interested parties but said one intends to build nine luxury townhomes and a single-family home, possibly priced in the $900,000 range. The other potential developer proposes to build two single-family homes priced at $1.2-million each, Ryan said.
"We are almost under contract," she said.
Meanwhile, a half-mile down Interbay at MacDill Avenue, another project by Tampa Bay Property Developers continues to gel. The Shoppes at Interbay Village, a new strip plaza completed in February, will likely have a Thai restaurant, tanning salon, and a UPS Store as its first tenants, Jabbari said.
NEW CONDOS IN OLD PLACE: The Terraces of Old Hyde Park will actually be in Historic Hyde Park.
But, hey, it's still Hyde Park. Which is old.
The project calls for four luxury condos at the northeast corner of Fremont and Watrous avenues, said sales agent Tap Hendry. The two ground-floor units will be 1,500 square feet, with three bedrooms and two baths. The two second-floor units will be 1,900 square feet, with three bedrooms and three baths.
First-floor units will have patios; second-floor units will have covered terraces. All of them will feature fireplaces, granite counter tops, wood floors and one-car garages.
Hendry expects construction to begin within two months and take six to eight months. Prices will range from $325,000 to $425,000. Call 254-5213.
- Do you know something that should be everybody's business? Call 226-3394, or e-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com
