TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

One For The Books

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharp speaks during the Town 'N Country Commons grand opening Wednesday, December 3.

ADVERTISEMENT

By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: December 10, 2008

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Michael Duncan walked into the children's wing at the new Town 'N Country Regional Library and gazed up and down at the shelves of books.

A few minutes later, the 4-year-old was seated at a round, child-sized table, reading "Iggy Peck, Architect." Around him, adults made themselves at home as well. They sent e-mail from the public computers, browsed the stacks for books to check out and looked for purchases at the Friends of the Library bookstore.

The community had lost its local library, West Gate Regional, in May 2007, when it was torn down to make room for the new one. West Gate moved to temporary quarters in an office park at Waters Avenue and Anderson Road, and that one closed in October to prepare for the move.

Last week, Town 'N Country opened the doors to a 32,887-square-foot library, more than twice as big as the one it replaced. It has a teen lounge, stocked with comic books and magazines, that the Town 'N Country Youth Council helped design; private rooms for tutoring; and computers for adults and children.

"This whole room looks like the size of the library before," said Carmen Wood, looking around the children's wing. She said she couldn't wait to bring her grandchildren.

The library sprawls over the second floor of the Town 'N Country Commons, the centerpiece of a project dreamed up eight years ago in the Town 'N Country Community Plan.

The plan recommended 10 goals for the community, including developing town centers, such as the commons. It also addressed efforts to improve the look of the main roads, strengthen code enforcement, deal with traffic congestion and speeding, and make the area easier to navigate for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Accomplishments include the Northwest Transfer Center that the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority opened last summer at Waters and Sheldon with a shelter, restrooms and a park-and-ride lot for bus commuters. Bicycle lanes, new traffic signals, additional sidewalks and the Waters Avenue senior zone have also been completed.

But the commons is the showstopper. Neighborhood activist Carlton Lewis said residents were adamant early in the planning that the commons be more than a plain box. They wanted a signature piece with dramatic architecture, such as a courthouse.

"We wanted something majestic," Lewis said. "This is a crown jewel of our community."

The $11 million facility includes more than 45,000 square feet, anchored with the library. A Head Start center fills one wing, and a senior service wing encompasses the other. Children giggled in the Head Start playground, while seniors poked their heads in rooms with a pool table, fitness equipment and a flat-screen television.

The center will offer wellness seminars, fitness programs, classes on cooking and art, and dementia day care.

Shimberg Gardens will open next door in the spring or summer, Town 'N Country Garden Circle member Rob Gamester said. The garden, which will cover half of the 8-acre commons property, will feature a gazebo, Florida-friendly plants and butterfly garden.

"This is a revitalization of Town 'N Country," Gamester said.

Past and present county commissioners, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and community leaders unveiled the county-funded commons at a ceremony Dec. 3. Commissioner Jim Norman said the county supported the project, but the residents made sure it got done.

"This would never have been here unless y'all had the pride and love for Town 'N Country like you do," Norman told the crowd of about 100.

Martha Thompson came to the ceremony out of curiosity because she attended the dedication of the first library. Thompson moved to Town 'N Country in 1962, when Hillsborough Avenue was a two-lane road and didn't think at the time that the sleepy area would grow to need more space.

"It didn't seem small at the time because the neighborhood was small," Thompson said.

That changed over the years, and West Gate became inadequate. Castor, who oversaw some of the community plan's implementation as a county commissioner, said residents held the commission's feet to the fire to make sure they got better services.

"This community outgrew that little West Gate library very quickly," Castor said. "It was not serving the community like it should."

She told residents they should be proud of the new building.

"This is really the blood, sweat and tears of the folks who live in this community," she said.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT