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SPC drops idea to put program in old library

The school considered putting its new orthotics and prosthetics program there, but delays were a deterrent, SPC's president said.

By SHANNON TAN
Published June 25, 2005

LARGO - St. Petersburg College has decided not to lease the old Largo Library building for its new orthotics and prosthetics program.

In a letter to City Manager Steven Stanton on Friday, SPC president Carl M. Kuttler Jr. said he believes it will be some time before Largo decides what to do with the facility. The college, however, needs to make an immediate decision on where to put its program, he wrote.

"We don't have time to wait," said Amelia Carey, SPC's director of institutional advancement. "We've got a program to start."

Mayor Bob Jackson brought up the topic of the building, which is closed to make way for the new Largo Public Library, at a recent lunch meeting with Kuttler. SPC never made a formal proposal, but Kuttler was interested enough to halt site plans for an addition to the Caruth Health Education Center in Pinellas Park, where the orthotics center was originally planned.

At Tuesday's meeting, city commissioners discussed leasing the building to SPC for $1 a year for 40 years. A referendum would have been required to approve the lease.

But while residents and several commissioners like the idea of an orthotics center in Largo, they opposed putting the program in the library building. SPC did not feel there was much support for the idea, Carey said.

Carey said the college has since received several inquiries from other places, including St. Petersburg. If those locations don't work out, the orthotics center will be built as planned in Pinellas Park.

The college will begin its bachelor's degree program in orthotics and prosthetics at the Caruth center in August and will also use temporary facilities at Shriners Hospital in Tampa.

City officials have yet to decide on what to do with the 36,000-square-foot library building, which will be empty next month. The city's consultant, Herbert Halback, proposed a Largo Arts & Community Center, but renovations could cost up to $2.77-million.

Jackson said leasing the building to SPC would have bought the city decisionmaking time without having to pay to maintain the building. He says he will explore other options for the building because the city cannot afford to create a new community center.

"We need to take another look at it," Jackson said.

Shannon Tan can be reached at shtan@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified June 25, 2005, 00:35:14]