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Public cafe isn't a priority for Schiller

The school still plans to someday open a restaurant, after moving from Dunedin to the old hospice property.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published March 11, 2006

LARGO - Officials from Schiller International University told city leaders last month if they were granted permission to relocate to downtown Largo they would fortify their new campus with a restaurant and other public amenities.

But don't try to book a table at Schiller cafe just yet.

Now that the school has approval to make the old hospice property on East Bay its new home, Schiller officials said public amenities are not a priority.

And the city's planning board said Schiller doesn't have to offer public services at all.

"It is just so difficult to get our whole operation in there, and that is our first concern, and then we will see what we can do in terms of making other facilities available," said Schiller president Walter Leibrecht.

The city staff originally said the university wasn't right for Largo's mixed-use district and that appealing that decision could take 60 to 90 days. But the city staff fast-tracked the appeal. Nine days after city commissioners said they wanted the university to relocate to the district, the city's planning board said the university was compatible with or without public offerings.

School officials originally said they'd planned to have a full-service restaurant open to the public seven days a week. But Lutz Hoernecke, vice president of university, said that while the school plans to have a restaurant someday, he doesn't know when it will open or how many days a week it will serve the public.

Most of the commission liked the idea of a new restaurant in the downtown district. And some said they were disappointed to learn that the university had altered its plans.

"It kind of makes them an exclusive club," said Commissioner Harriet Crozier.

But Commissioner Andy Guyette, who said he recognized that the university hedged a bit on its original vision, said he was okay with it.

"I didn't want us to truly restrict what they use that property for, controlling their destiny as far as success," Guyette said.

School officials said time was of the essence. George Rahdert, who represents the St. Petersburg Times on First Amendment issues, bought the school's Dunedin property for $8-million about two months ago. While Rahdert agreed to temporarily rent the property to the school, officials knew they needed to find a new home.

Schiller has a contract on the old hospice property for about $3.5-million and plans to close on the sale at the end of April, Leibrecht said. It plans to move to Largo by the end of the summer and start classes at its new campus in the fall.

Schiller, which has about 200 students from the United States and other countries, started looking at buildings after discovering the existing campus required major renovations. The plumbing dates to 1926, and Schiller officials thought it might be more cost-effective to move to a newer building.

Mayor Bob Jackson was the university's most ardent advocate. Jackson, whose re-election campaign received $500 from from Schiller's representative Sam Hall, has been talking with Schiller since last year when its leaders expressed an interest in moving into the old Largo library building.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 11, 2006, 01:44:05]