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'Growing pains' stall recreation complex

Internet access is promised this week at the Carver City complex. Neighbors are eager to see progress.

By SHERRI DAY
Published August 12, 2005

The Loretta Ingraham Recreation Complex opened in March to great fanfare. Residents swarmed the Carver City center on opening day for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, an appearance by Mayor Pam Iorio and a chance to view the long-awaited $3.1-million complex.

But five months later, homeowners are tired of contractors' delays that have rendered several facilities within the complex unsafe or unusable.

The center has no Internet service, which means the public can't surf the Web or check out books in the library. The swimming pool's surface was so rough that users donned shoes or risked blistered feet. An open space between a wall surrounding the complex and fences around homes quickly became a hangout for youth.

Neighbors also complained that the nearby city-owned Lincoln Gardens football field was in disrepair.

Annoyed, Lorraine Wiley, president of the Carver City/Lincoln Gardens Homeowners Association, called the mayor and City Council representatives late last month. Within days, workers began to complete some of the outstanding projects.

"They didn't want to be exposed, and I think that's why they got someone in and took care of the matter," Wiley said in an interview. "I really don't think that if the community was somewhere else that this would have gone on as long. I have a problem with that."

Tampa's chief of recreation programming, Pete Burgue, said the city has been working to complete the center. At an Aug. 4 neighborhood association meeting, he thanked residents for showing patience through the hiccups of construction.

Burgue said contractors recently smoothed the pool floor and installed a fence that cuts off access to the space between the complex's perimeter and homeowners' fences. He also promised community members that Internet access would be available by the end of this week. An Internet connection will allow the center's library to open, said Tampa-Hillsborough County library director Joe Stines. The library also recently won a $47,000 grant to assist with operations at the center.

"We've been ready now for two months," Stines said. "The problem was the cable company had not gotten the connectivity."

Although there are still several projects left to complete, including the landscaping of the Lincoln Gardens field, longtime Carver City resident Reginald Williams said he is pleased with the city's progress. Williams, a former Carver City homeowners association president, led the charge for a new community center for several decades.

"Everything was better than my expectations, even with the problems," said Williams, gazing at the swimming pool last week. "Like (Burgue) says, it's a bunch of growing pains going on."

- Sherri Day can be reached at 226-3405 or sday@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 08:56:11]