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Neighborhood Report

Neighborhood briefs

Briefs and news of note.

By MEAGHAN FORBES and ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published August 11, 2006

Wheel-A-Thon fundraiser to be held Wednesday

TAMPA - Join organizers of the second annual Wheel-A-Thon for a kickoff fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Sweet Tomatoes.

The "Fun-Raiser Night" will benefit Freedom Playground Foundation. Sweet Tomatoes will donate 15 percent of all sales between 5 and 8 p.m. to the organization. Participants must present a flier and purchase a meal and a drink to qualify.

Fliers are available on the Web at www.freedomplayground.org, under Resources. Sweet Tomatoes is at 1902 N Dale Mabry Highway. For more information, call 254-3804.

Police project reduces crime over summer

DOWNTOWN - Tampa Police Department's Operation Triple Play ended last weekend with better results than last summer.

The operation targeted the Westshore business district, Davis Islands/Hyde Park and Hillsborough Avenue, areas that often experience a spike in crime during the summer. Police officers saturated the neighborhoods three times a day for three months.

The campaign resulted in a 23 percent decrease in crime over the same time period last year.

Proposals on armory to be presented Saturday

NORTH HYDE PARK - Officials with the Department of Military Affairs, which owns the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory on Howard Avenue, will review proposals for redeveloping the site at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Camp Blanding in Starke.

A review committee made up of armory and city officials recently selected as its top choice a proposal by Heritage Square LLC for a hotel, spa, park and cultural arts center.

The military board will consider the committee's recommendations as part of its review of all the proposals. The board's selection will be presented to the City Council at a later date.

Developer's plans change for Clarion Hotel site

BEACH PARK - Neighbors prepared to protest a developer's plan to tear down the 250-room Clarion Hotel at 5303 W Kennedy Blvd. and construct a 250-unit condominium building. But they didn't need to.

A lawyer for the property owner and Clarion franchisee, Van Tampa Plaza Hotel Inc., asked the City Council at a July 27 hearing to deny the application.

Van Tampa attorney Truett Gardner later said the property's owner has decided to sell the hotel to a developer who wants to construct 168 condominiums and 160 hotel rooms on the site. The property is already zoned for that combination.

Beach Park Homeowners Association president Emmy Purcell Reynolds said the new developer's plan should have less impact on the neighborhood.

Florida Orchestra names new director of marketing

DOWNTOWN - The Florida Orchestra recently appointed Sherry Powell as the new director of marketing and communications.

Powell, a 1979 University of South Florida graduate , has been director of marketing for the Florida State Fair Authority in Tampa since 1997.

She held marketing positions with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Dallas Ballet, and had a consulting business in Tampa that represented many entertainment clients.

She succeeds Janette Hickin, who retired after being the orchestra's marketing director for 10 years.

[Last modified August 10, 2006, 08:11:35]