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Starbucks to open today with free drinks, pastries

By SHERRI DAY and ALEXANDER ZAYAS
Published April 7, 2006

Starbucks to open today with free drinks, pastries

OLD SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - The Starbucks at Hillsborough and Central avenues will open today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m.

To thank the Seminole Heights community for its support, Starbucks will serve free tall beverages and pastries until 9 p.m. Tips and donations will be given to the Zonta Boys and Girls Club at 1114 W Sligh Ave.

Church will go on site once planned for apartments

SUN BAY SOUTH - A church will rise in the spot where developers had proposed a golf course and, most recently, an apartment complex.

The 13-acre site behind Home Depot at 5125 S Dale Mabry Highway will become home to Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church. The church bought the property in December from DBW Enterprises in Largo for $3.3-million, the Rev. Steve Casselli said.

When the site became available, the church had $700,000 earmarked for a building fund. Church members donated another $2-million in December, and a bank financed the rest of the deal, Casselli said.

Developers had planned to build a 132-unit apartment complex on the site, a former landfill. But the City Council rejected the developer's rezoning application last year. Council members and the Gandy Civic Association expressed concerns about traffic and congestion.

Holy Trinity was founded as a home Bible study. Seven years ago, the church held its first worship service at Palma Ceia Baptist Church, which has been the home of the 250-member congregation ever since.

The congregation plans to form a building committee, but it's too soon to tell when construction will start, Casselli said.

"We'd like to do it sooner rather than later, but I have a feeling it may take a little while," he said.

[Last modified April 6, 2006, 14:26:52]