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Iorio hears of needs: bowling, breakfast

The usual New Tampa issues - traffic, roads, property values, disappearing green space - are also discussed.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published August 7, 2005

HUNTER'S GREEN - Mary Ann Yaney was especially sad to see the Hunter's Green Winn-Dixie go. The grocery store was one of the first in New Tampa in 1995. Her husband, Cliff, who has worked for Winn-Dixie for more than 30 years, helped open it.

"It's the end of an era," said Yaney, who lives in Meadow Pointe. "But if it has to go, why not put it to good use?"

The mother of two knows exactly what that good use should be, and when she suggested it in a meeting among eight area business people who met with Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio at the New Tampa Library on Tuesday, many chimed in and agreed:

The stand-alone structure would make the perfect home for a bowling alley.

"That's the second time I've heard someone at one of these (New Tampa) meetings say they want a bowling alley," Iorio said. "Maybe the city government can intervene there."

Iorio stopped short of promising New Tampa its own set of shiny new lanes, but the topic was pressing enough for Shannon Edge, Tampa's director of neighborhood and community relations, to send a letter to the Department of Business and Housing Development asking it to look into the matter.

The usual New Tampa issues - traffic, roads, property values, disappearing green space - were also discussed at the one-hour meeting, which included Hunter's Green Elementary principal Kristin Tonelli and several members of the New Tampa Community Council. But none of the problems discussed seemed as easily fixable as the dilemma of entertaining bored suburban kids.

As more and more families move into New Tampa each year, evening and weekend options like the movies and McDonald's increasingly fall short, some of the parents complained.

"Oh, I certainly understand that," said Iorio, who has two children. "It's like, how many times can they go to the mall?"

Yaney, a mortgage consultant for Wachovia and the mother of a 19-year-old and 22-year-old, pointed to Channelside's Splitsville, an upscale bowling and dining complex, as an example of something kids enjoy. She suggested Strike & Spare Fun Center, which operates in Tampa's Crown Lanes and Regal Lanes, as one possible option for the Winn-Dixie building.

"I realize that residents (living near the site) might fight it because it's essentially a hangout for kids," Yaney said. "But people need to look at it in the context that it's good, clean fun. If the kids aren't there, where are they going to be?"

The Winn-Dixie, which is at Bruce B. Downs and Cross Creek boulevards, began its liquidation sale on Wednesday and will close once everything is sold, possibly in the next week. Because no one has made a bid on the store yet, it most likely will not become another grocery store, Winn-Dixie communications manager Dennis Wortham said.

Edge is trying to act fast before the site is snapped up by some other business.

"I got the ball rolling," she said. "We heard that (request for bowling) before. Bowling is a lot of fun and we're definitely looking into it."

Meeting guests also bemoaned New Tampa's lack of a breakfast restaurant. The place has no Denny's, no Waffle House, no First Watch. Nothing other than the Cracker Barrel at Bruce B. Downs and Bearss, and that's not really New Tampa.

"Wow," Iorio said. "People in New Tampa must have great cholesterol levels."

[Last modified August 6, 2005, 10:03:05]