Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 9-27-19

Local Letter To The Editor
Councilman Gudes’ Vision For East Tampa Cultural Center
If you travel my Dis- trict on any given day, after school, you will find our recreation centers filled with children. You will find kids outside in the corner parking lots, going over step routines. You will find kids on the corners of basketball courts, practicing dance and cheer, trying not to disturb the active basket- ball games in progress.
What you won’t find are kids learning ballet, tap, dance, gymnastics, etc., in an environmen- tally controlled location. And this is what I hope to change.
If you travel to the Wayne C. Papy Center or the New Tampa Recre- ation Center, you will find that both centers have waiting lists over 2 years, with possibly over 1,000 children waiting to participate. And unless you have adequate trans- portation, it will be al- most impossible to get your children to these centers on a regular basis. Which is how the cultural enrichment cen- ter was born.
Our seniors, the life- line of our community, have been asking for a senior center for over a decade. Many of our sen- iors try to travel to Barksdale Park to partic- ipate in their activities, but it can be cumber- some for those not able to travel so far. Others attend activities at com-
munity centers, but get displaced once the kids get out of school. So cre- ating dedicated space for our seniors was also a priority.
Here is my vision for Al Barnes Park.
When you walk through the front doors, similar to Barksdale, you enter a foyer with a re- ceptionist desk on the right and a kitchen/snack bar on the left. Straight ahead is a multipurpose room, with a stage, that can be sec- tioned off into multiple rooms. This room can be used for meetings, events, performances, etc. To the left of the multipurpose room is the Senior Side.
The Senior Side has a dance room to the left of the multipurpose room. This room can be used for line dancing, Zumba, exercise, etc. The sen- iors will always have preference for schedul- ing events in this room. When it is not in use, it can be used for the youth. Beyond the dance room is a communal area for the seniors where they can hang out, play games, watch televi- sion, surf the internet, read, etc. Beyond this room will be space for shuffle board, Bingo, restrooms and other in- door and outdoor activi- ties.
To the right of the multipurpose room is
the youth side. The youth side also has 2 rooms for dance. Be- yond the dance room is a gymnastics gymnasium. There is a multipurpose for various indoor activi- ties, an art studio, and a recording studio/music room for creating beats and recording live music. There will be other rooms and indoor and outdoor space for activi- ties for the youth.
This Center will serve as a place of cultural en- richment for all of East Tampa. Dance, gymnas- tics, possibly martial arts, music, those are all things that help develop the minds of our youth and can lead to college scholarships. For far too long, our focus has been on sports as a means of helping students from a more financially hum- bling background to at- tend college. However, the arts can be the same and we need to explore all avenues for our chil- dren.
Although the Center will be located in Jack- son Heights, this Center will serve as a place of enrichment for ALL of East Tampa. It will be the first of its kind here in East Tampa and I hope it is the beginning of more development to this part of town.
Tampa City Councilman Orlando Gudes (District 5)
City To Provide Education On Use Of Roundabouts
On Saturday, September 28th, members of the commu- nity are invited to join Tampa Police at the intersection of N. 40th Street and E. Yukon. The purpose of the gathering is to educate members of the community on the use of roundabouts.
The City of Tampa is teaming up with “What’s Really Happening” talk show host Michelle B. Patty and her co-hosts, King Cobra and J. John- son, to host a two-segment outreach initiative on round- abouts.
Transportation Director Jean Duncan is scheduled to appear on the popular call- in radio show to explain how roundabouts work, why they are needed and to address community concerns. This episode airs live on Septem- ber28at9a.m.onWTMP 1150AM and 97.5 FM.
During the one-hour seg- ment, Ms. Patty will encour- age community members, to participate in the second part of the outreach initiative
which involves an interactive safety demonstration with the Tampa Police Depart- ment.
Residents will be able to meet with officers at the 40th Street and Yukon Street roundabout from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. to learn how to prop- erly navigate through these circular intersections.
The city plans to install three new roundabouts to im- prove roadway safety along 34th Street. Statistics show a significant number of crashes in the two-mile segment from Columbus Drive to Hillsbor- ough Avenue with more than a dozen resulting in severe or fatal injury.
In addition to traffic calm- ing, the safety improvement project includes enhanced street lighting, ADA accessi- ble sidewalks, roadway paving and aesthetic land- scaping. The construction is slated to begin in 2020.
There are currently more than 25 roundabouts and traffic circles within the city’s limits.
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019