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June 2024 Volume 22, Issue 6
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CELEBRATING 22 YE ARS OF PUBLISHING POSITIVE COMMUNITY NEWS
WIMAUMA’S RECORD-SETTING HIGH SCHOOL CELEBRATES ‘TOPPING OUT’ MILESTONE
By Linda Chion
PRSTD STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID MANASOTA, FL PERMIT #1456
Long before Chair Karen Perez High School UUU and board memin Wimauma welbers Lynn Gray comes its first stuand Patti Rendon, dents, learning has as well as Envision been underway at co-founders Allen the school that “is Greene II, a Sicktwo times larger in les High School size and cost than graduate, and his anything we’ve namesake father, ever built,” accorda graduate of ing to Chris Farkas, Zach Voelker, design technology coordinator at The Tampa Bay Techdeputy superinten- Beck Group, asks for signatures to a photo rendering of nology High. High School UUU in Wimauma. dent of operations The younger for Hillsborough Greene said the County Public Wimauma school Schools. “is by far the “It’s good to be largest and most on a ground-up impactful project” project,” said Chris the company has Hart, a superviworked on for sor with The Beck the county, as he Company, which, reflected on the in partnership with recent passing of Envision, has been Doris Ross Redcontracted to build High School UUU, as it dick, the namesake of the nearby elementais known before its name selection. “A job ry school, whose celebration of life was held of this nature, even if you’ve seen ten other a day later. Reddick died on April 21 at age ones, you’re going to see something here you 97. haven’t seen before.” Reddick was the first African-American Hart celebrated May 1 at the topping-out school board member and chair. Under her ceremony for the $176 million, multibuilding watchful eye, annual minority business allocampus, with 3-story classroom wings, at cations rose “from a meager $1,084 to mil1708 W. Lake Dr. in Wimauma. It sits on an lions” of dollars, according to a 2021 procla87-acre greenfield site that will also house mation issued for her 94th birthday. an elementary and middle school, set to Steve Hurst, a Beck supervisor, reflected open in 2027 and 2028, respectively. They on the value of hands-on work and training will share with the 359,000-square-foot in a field that is witnessing a two-generation high school campus a central energy plant gap in trades experience. that is set to become operational with the School highlights include a 2-story media high school’s opening, in time for the start of center; a 2-story, 3,400-seat gymnasium; the 2025-26 school year. and a 973-seat theater/auditorium and or‘Topping out’ is a ceremony that occurs chestra pit. Also in the plans are an automowhen the final, or highest, structural theme tive lab; JROTC labs; digital, 2D and 3D art is raised into place, what Ryan Toth of The labs; and a lab for EA Sports, a division of Beck Company referred to as “like a Thanks- Electronic Arts that develops and publishes giving dinner.” Feasting on the project’s sports video games. Plans detail 142 classprogress were contractors, skilled trades- rooms and a multisport synthetic turf playpeople and school officials, including board ing field and a 3,500-seat stadium.
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TAMPA ELECTRIC REMOVES TWO MORE CHIMNEYS AT BIG BEND POWER PLANT
By Kelly Wise Valdes The skyline Power Station. of Apollo Beach “The new view is has forever been dramatically differchanged. Tampa ent.” Electric has reTampa Electric’s cently completed goal is to maxidemolition of two mize the use of chimneys at Big recyclable mateBend Power Starials and obsolete tion. Dating back to equipment to rethe 1970s, the powduce construction er plant has been a costs. Some metal familiar landmark will be recycled or in the communisold as scrap; some ty. Originally, the equipment, such as power plant had a The Big Bend Modernization project has been pumps and motors, completed with the removal of two additional total of four chimwill be sold on the 500-foot chimneys. neys, with one havsecondhand maring been removed in ket. 2017. In the past two According to decades, Tampa Cheri Jacobs, media Electric has reduced spokesperson for its use of coal by Tampa Electric, the more than 90 perBig Bend Moderncent and has cut its ization project was carbon footprint in a huge undertaking half. and included demoLongtime Apollo lition of portions of Beach resident Teo the plant that were Leonard will miss no longer needed. the chimneys. This began as a five“Many of us relied year project. Removon the stacks for our ing the chimneys was weather forecast, the first and most depending on how visible phase of that they are blowing dismantlement projwould determine if a ect. The 500-foot-tall chimneys were jet ski day or fishing day,” said Leonard. made of poured reinforced concrete, “Coming in after a day [on] the water, thus requiring a specialized team to dis- the chimneys guided us home. Many of mantle them in pieces. Demolition took us locals will miss all the stacks.” more than a year to complete. Tampa Electric, one of Florida’s largest “The interior of one chimney had investor-owned electric utilities, serves previously been sprayed with a mastic about 840,000 customers in West Cenmaterial,” said Jacobs. “Removing and tral Florida. For more information, visit properly disposing of the material took www.tecoenergy.com. longer than expected.” Now there is one remaining chimney, Big Bend Unit 4, which runs on natural gas or coal and will continue to operate. RIVERVIEW HON MAYOR .............PG 3 Even with the one remaining chimney, MOTORING TAMPA BAY..................PG 5 the change is evident. PINK DOOR BAKERY.......................PG 11 “Big Bend’s chimneys have been landEYE ON BUSINESS.................PGS 25-26 marks in Apollo Beach for decades,” said Allan Williams, director of Big Bend IRON ROCK INS ................................PG 27
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