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Advantage Center Land Deal Sealed

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

dlwhite@tampatrib.com

Published: November 5, 2008

RIVERVIEW - With the deed to the property in hand, the all-volunteer board of directors of the Brandon Community Advantage Center is moving ahead with final engineering and design plans for the first phase of the community's new civic center.

The board officially closed on the 4.26-acre property in the 149-acre, neotraditional Winthrop community off Bloomingdale Avenue and Providence Road on Oct. 17 for $750,000.

The community, under development by Valrico residents and civic activists John and Kay Sullivan, includes a shopping district with above-store apartments known as Winthrop Town Centre, houses, townhomes, a pole barn used for outdoor festivals and the Barn Theatre at Winthrop, which is also available for civic functions.

The Brandon Advantage Center, envisioned as a community meeting space, a hall for social functions, a performing arts center, a hurricane shelter and a center for seminars, will be at the southeast corner of the Winthrop property at 6437 Watson Road, across from Symmes Elementary School, where it is accessible from Providence and Bloomingdale.

"The closing of this property is a milestone for us," said Earl Lennard, Brandon Advantage Center chief executive officer. "I think this center is going to be an important aspect of our community life in Brandon, and this is a big accomplishment because it means we can move on to the next steps."

"The people of Brandon, after decades of trying, are one significant step closer to realizing their dream of a public space that adequately reflects their town's substantial growth and significance to the greater Tampa Bay area," said Miller Dowdy, chairman of the board.

Dowdy said the price of the property, selected by county consultants who studied an 80-square-mile area, was based on a series of appraisals - including a September assessment that looked at current market conditions.

The impetus and initial funding for the center came from former state Sen. Tom Lee and state Rep. Trey Traviesa, who supported allocation of $2 million for the project from state coffers. They were reacting to residents' complaints that they had to go outside Brandon to find a place large enough to hold community functions.

At Lee's and Traviesa's urging, the federal government jumped on board, kicking in another $1.4 million, with the condition the center be built to withstand hurricanes and used as an emergency evacuation shelter.

County commissioners also gave their nod to the project this year when they agreed to put $2.5 million in Community Investment Tax funds toward the project.

After waiting for paperwork and signatures, Lennard said the board is eager to get to work pulling permits, overseeing final civil engineering and design plans and matching the work that needs to get done with the dollars available.

Right now, he said, the board hopes to construct a basic structure. He said residents will have to wait for the second phase of construction before they see the bells and whistles they envisioned during a series of meetings with architects in February.

The board will launch a capital campaign to raise money for the second phase, which will include finishing touches to the interior of the building, Lennard said. The total cost of the center is estimated at about $8 million.

"We've been holding off on fundraising until we closed on the property and began pushing some dirt around on the ground," he said. "People need to see progress being made before they get excited about a project."

Lennard said residents can expect to see bulldozers on the site after the first of the year.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524.

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