Funding for the crossing is provided through a $1-million contribution from the family of a man who died in a plane crash.
By GRACE AGOSTIN
Published June 18, 2004
A family is turning a tragedy into improved safety for students at Academy of the Holy Names.
The family of Michael P. Antinori has donated $1-million to build a pedestrian bridge over MacDill Avenue near the intersection of Julia Street. It will link the athletic and academic facilities of the K-12 campus at 3319 Bayshore Blvd.
Construction began last week for the concrete bridge, which will span 162 feet and have a tower at each end, said Dave Peterson of Cooper Johnson Smith, Architects. The bridge has a support structure in the middle with an archway above each lane and a shaded pedestrian walkway over the street.
Antinori of Culbreath Isles died in June 2002 at age 30 when his single-engine Cessna crashed in Lutz. The Antinoris own American Bedding Industries near Brandon.
Antinori has relatives who attended the Academy of Holy Names and the family wished to have the bridge named in his memory, said Myra McLeod, the academy's director of institutional advancement.
To accommodate construction, crews closed MacDill from south of Bay to Bay Boulevard to El Prado Boulevard on Tuesday. It will remain closed until Monday.
Starting this fall, the bridge will give students an easier and safer route between classes. It's part of the historic school's plans to divide the campus into academics on the Bayshore side and athletics on the MacDill side, McLeod said.
"The bridge is important for the safety issue of kids crossing the street," she said. "Especially when you have little ones. . . . We always have a teacher out there with them, but when it's a class, you have 20 of them at a time."
McLeod said crossing guards supervise the students at the intersection in the morning and afternoon, but several classes cross throughout the day leaving teachers to ensure children's safety.
