Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 10-7-16 Online Edition

Features
New Andrews Library Set For Groundbreaking In Early Spring, 2017
Another climate-c0ntrolled room in the building will house Sentinel books, photos and other memorabilia connected to the newspaper. Next to this room will be the Center for African American Media, which will not only house the Sentinel, but other African-American media. These sections will be under a separate librarian.
The second floor will house the main library, where you’ll find a collection of books, stacks of tables and chairs, and quiet study space. Another room will house the computers for public access, recording stu- dio and production booth.
The children’s area will also
be special. The closed off area will be able to muffle excess sounds, while providing an area where the children and teens can be creative.
Work on the library will be delayed about 6 months from its original completion date. No date has been set for the closing of the current structure.
Once closed, library services will be available at the Cyrus Greene Center, and during the summer months when schools are closed, the services will be moved to a senior center.
The new library will have a larger staff, extended hours and possibly will be open 7 days a week.
HUD Says ‘No’ To City And THA On Grant For West Tampa Project
The current building will be demolished to make room for a spacious, 2-story structure
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The ‘new’ C. Blythe An- drews, Jr. Branch Public Li- brary is slated for groundbreaking in early spring 2017. The final piece of work that needed to be done was completed on Wednesday when the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners ap- proved the purchase of a home near the current building. The current library is on the corner of 26th Street and E. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Andrew Breidenbaugh,
Director of the Tampa-Hills-
borough County Public Library, shared updated information on the library with Mrs. Gloria A. Andrews, widow of the Sentinel publisher, for whom the library is named, and Kay Andrews, current publisher and daughter of Andrews. Both were pleased with what’s about to happen in East Tampa.
Breidenbaugh shared the first renderings of the struc- ture, which should be com- pleted in 2018. He said the building will have a contempo- rary look with lots of glass and natural light. He explained that the type of glass being used will not be easily shattered.
As compared to the current building, the new structure will have more of street presence to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
There will be iron fencing on the street side of the building. No trees will be cut down. They will provide shade for sitting outside, leading from the patio, which will be a covered area from the 2nd floor overhang. Handicap and bicycle racks will be close to the building’s main entrance. There will be about 108 parking spaces, about 3 times as many spaces as are there now.
Mr. Breidenbaugh said the interior of the building will be like none others. It will have several rooms – including many rooms for meetings. Upon entering the library, there will be the Friends Bookstore and a casual seating area. Near the stairs and elevator, there will be an area to honor Mr. Andrews and the Sentinel.
LEROY MOORE T.H.A. Chief Operating Officer
if they choose to do so. If they don’t we will get the project started with or without HUD.”
Moore said as it stands now, the first two buildings planned for the West Tampa redevelop- ment project won’t be Choice Neighborhood grant funded projects.
“We feel comfortable in being able to secure funding for the first two buildings of the West Tampa project. The rest of the project will have to wait for the funding to be in place.”
The West River plan calls for the demolition of 820 public housing apart- ments at North Boulevard Homes and the Mary Bethune High Rise Apart- ments.
Leaks At ‘The Reed’
A consultant discovered water was leaking into at least 25 apartments at Tampa Hous- ing Authority’s Reed Building.
The building opened a year ago, and preliminary reports in- dicated that water damage had been found on baseboards, door jams, drywall, and window seals. One apartment is sus- pected of possibly having mold.
Leroy Moore, Chief Operat- ing Office for THA, said a con- tractor they recently fired from one of their projects, Siltek, was the contractor for The Reed, and the warranty the agency has to cover repairs will take care of the problem.
“Every new building has problems that need to be taken care of. Water leaks aren’t un- usual.”
Moore said no tenants of The Reed have had to be relo- cated as a result of the problem.
Library renderings completed by Fleischman-Garcia Architects.
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
The City of Tampa, on behalf of the Tampa Housing Authority (THA), has been eliminated from consideration for a $30 million Choice Neighborhood Grant.
THA had been granted the funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- ment (HUD) for its Belmont Heights Estates and Encore Projects, and they felt their chances would be greater in get- ting the funds this year if they partnered with the city, and let them apply for the grant.
Instead, HUD’s finalists for this year’s round of Choice Neighborhoods grants are Boston, Denver, St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., and Camden, N.J.
In its notice to City Hall and the Tampa Housing Authority, HUD said Tampa’s application lacked detail about which mem- bers of the local team would be responsible for different parts of the program. As a result, Tampa’s application was dis- qualified without being consid- ered on its merits.
Getting the grant this year would have been expected to give the Tampa Housing Au- thority and the City of Tampa more ability to raise money for the West River plan. For exam- ple, officials leveraged the $30 million grant at Encore Tampa to bring in another $78 million in funding for a total im- pact of $108 million.
THA Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, Leroy Moore, said the next step is for them to just continue to move forward.
“The demolition process has already been funded and that will commence in February or March of 2017. We are also look- ing at applying for state funding. This, initially, will not be a Choice Neighborhood funded project as the others have.
“Applying again in a year is contingent on whether there is still a Choice program next year. If there is, keep in mind this was a city initiated request and it will be the city reapplying next year
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016