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Chamber, Historical Society see shared space in future

Their goal: Build a community center to house both groups.

By CASEY CORA
Published November 29, 2006

For now, the plan exists only as a rough diagram, but a committee of community leaders is hoping to turn that blueprint into a new community center.

The proposed site plan shows a new 9,130-square-foot, two-story building at 8400 113th St. N that would replace the existing Chamber of Commerce building and become headquarters for the city's Historical Society.

The plans also call for a small gift shop, a conference room and exhibit space for the Historical Society, which formed in early 2005.

Estimates of the cost of the building weren't available, but city documents say the project, if approved by the City Council, would be funded by a portion of the $9.5-million the city could receive if voters approve an extension of the Penny for Pinellas sales tax in March.

"The whole thing is hinging on the Penny for Pinellas project," said Michael Bryan, a member of the Historical Society and the city's library director.

Bryan said the idea was born after members of the Chamber of Commerce and Historical Society discovered their respective organizations were both looking for new homes.

Seven members from each group formed a joint committee to discuss the possibility of sharing space, he said.

"It very quickly became clear that all parties would best be served if we could meet a series of goals and parameters," said James Olliver, a committee member and chamber of commerce treasurer.

Olliver said those goals include showcasing Seminole's rich community pride. Seminole has a "wonderful sense of itself" and a "real sense of community," he said.

A shared center would be a natural extension of that, he said.

Olliver echoed Bryan's hopes that a home for the Historical Society would bolster interest in the group, which has roughly 40 to 50 members.

With no proper channels for receiving and preserving artifacts, the society is "between a rock and a hard place," he said. "We'd like to get artifacts, but we have no place to put them."

Casey Cora can be reached at 727 580-1542 or at ccora@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 28, 2006, 21:05:38]