The Northeast News & Tribune
University Area Wins Development Award
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Published: April 5, 2008
Updated:
UNIVERSITY AREA - The University Area Community Plan, the North 22nd Main Street Plan and government and nonprofit agencies working to improve the area have been named a first-place award winner by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
The award is in the development category for the 16th annual Future of the Region competition. The award was presented at a luncheon March 28 at the Quorum Hotel.
The award honors the University Area Community Development Corp., the USF Area Community Civic Association and the Hillsborough County commissioners.
Manny Pumariega, executive director of the regional planning council, said an independent panel of judges looks for innovative programs that are cost-effective, have the ability to continue and provide regional benefits.
Pumariega said the University Area rated particularly high in regional benefits because it is surrounded by other entities, including the University of South Florida, University Mall and hospitals.
"Part of our need is to revitalize the inner core to try to maintain more compact development," he said.
A news release, which quotes from the awards presentation at the luncheon, states: "The University Area Community Plan outlines a comprehensive vision for revitalization of Tampa's most poverty-stricken area."
It continues that the plan is "systematically executed by strategic public/private partnerships ... changing an economically and socially vulnerable 'Suitcase City' into a stable, sustainable community."
The community plan, written by the Florida Center for Community Design, was adopted in 1997 and updated in 2001. It outlines plans to create jobs; provide housing, transportation and social services; and build schools and recreation centers.
The North 22nd Main Street project is one aspect of the community plan. It calls for combined business and residential buildings along the street, bus bays, green spaces, improved lighting and wide sidewalks. Work has begun on the first phase, from Fletcher Avenue to Bearss Avenue. A second phase, from University Mall to Fletcher Avenue, will begin after the first phase is finished next year.
Julian Garcia, executive director of the development corporation, said the recognition "was nice for all the people who have worked here so long to put the plan together and for all the people implementing the plan."
He said the award will assist the corporation in seeking grants, "as it shows we have been recognized regionally."
At a recent meeting of the University Area Enterprise Zone Development Agency, agency Chairman Tom Locke praised the direction of the community.
"All the things Julian Garcia and I had hoped to happen are beginning to happen," Locke told the agency that works to encourage business redevelopment.
Forty-three applications were received for the various award categories. The other Hillsborough County first-place winner was in the public education category: An Ecotourism Guide to Southshore: What a Difference a Bay Makes.
Joe Smith, chairman of the Tampa Bay Partnership's Transportation Initiative, was awarded the Herman W. Goldner Award for Regional Leadership for contributions to the advancement of regionalism.
Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 986-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com.
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