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Putting rumors to rest, VFW to move

The Spring Hill post will move to a bigger, brand-new building, for which plans are being drawn. The old post will be razed for a shopping center.

By BETH N. GRAY
Published June 10, 2006

A move by the VFW from its home at 15166 Spring Hill Drive has been rumored for more than a year. Commander Ed Noll confirmed details of the deal this week.

The organization, one of the largest VFW posts in Florida, is trading its 3.75 acres just east of the Suncoast Parkway for 3.5 acres owned by Holland Springs Industrial Properties Inc. on Anderson-Snow Road, north of the county's recreation complex.

"No money was involved," Noll said of the transaction with Holland Springs, headquartered in Holland, and Enterprise Financial Inc. of Atlanta.

The deal calls for Enterprise to build, at its expense, a new 12,600-square-foot post home for which the veterans are drawing plans. No contractor has been hired.

While the real estate near the parkway likely is more valuable than the Anderson-Snow property, Noll and others involved like the deal.

"The VFW is trading a 50-year-old building for a brand-new facility," said Kindred Powell, who negotiated the contract for Enterprise from the company's Clearwater office.

The new VFW is just a slice of the pie. In addition to getting the current VFW site, Enterprise is under contract to buy 29 adjacent acres from Holland Springs and lease 12 more acres from the Hernando County Airport Authority. The airport property backs the current VFW site, where an access road will be extended off Spring Hill Drive.

County business development director Mike McHugh and airport manager Don Silvernell confirmed the plans.

A 30-year lease with the airport, initiated May 1, 2005, includes two 15-year options, Silvernell said. Enterprise will pay 15.5 cents per square foot per year.

"It figures out to approximately $80,000 per year," the airport official said. "It's wonderful."

Enterprise's Powell said tenant selection for the shopping center is under study.

"We're looking at who's not in Hernando County. And we like to have a theme: entertainment, fashion, grocery, home and home improvement," for example.

A supermarket is a likely anchor, but Powell noted that the closest Publix is less than 2 miles away at Barclay Crossing.

"We hope the preponderance of what we will do is new and will be applauded by the populace," he said. "The earliest to get more specific will be late in the year."

The size of the village-concept center has not been determined, he added.

McHugh, who has perused conceptual plans for the development, said the stores will be in the 50,000- to 60,000-square-foot range. He compared the size to a Sears, Beall's, Belk or Circuit City.

As for the VFW's new post home, Powell announced a tentative groundbreaking for Aug. 3. Completion is projected for early January.

The facility will be 1,300 square feet larger than the current main building. The concrete-block structure with metal roof and tile flooring will include a hall with a bigger stage and the addition of a dressing room for performers, kitchen facilities, a canteen twice the size of the current bar, a rollup window to serve the hall and canteen simultaneously, back-to-back restrooms, three offices, storage space, a vestibule and an outside canopy.

The design has been proposed by Noll and Rich Melinger, commander of the Korean War Veterans chapter that meets at the VFW hall. Melinger is a former draftsman-engineer.

"We will take 99 percent of the furnishings with us," Noll said.

Nonetheless, the post is soliciting cash donations to assist in the move.

Noll said the post might bring back bingo games after a year's hiatus.

"In the back of my mind, I've had bingo, at least one day a week," he said.

Regular bingo players expressed dismay when the post, citing dwindling attendance, discontinued the games.

The hall will be available for rent for parties, reunions and other affairs. The VFW will continue to sponsor dinners.

"All we're going to do is change the address," Noll said.

Beth N. Gray can be reached at graybethn@earthlink.net.

[Last modified June 10, 2006, 08:30:43]