Historic Tampa Heights church to become community center

By LENORA LAKE Special Correspondent

Published: December 30, 2013 | Updated: January 8, 2014 at 09:28 AM

TAMPA HEIGHTS An abandoned historical church soon will be filled with about 150 teens learning about cooking, computers, financial literacy, art and more.

Major reconstruction is expected to start soon on the Tampa Heights Youth and Community Center, which should open its doors in June at 2005 N. Lamar St., a low-income area just north of downtown Tampa.

The Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association has worked more than three years to get to this stage. During this time, executive director Patrick Sneed and the nonprofits board has been securing a lease, raising funds for the supplies, seeking grants and organizing volunteers.

We have the money approved to go ahead with the construction, Sneed said recently, adding that grants from the Sears Foundation and Hillsborough County government will total $100,000 of the $650,000 project. Most of the funds have been raised.

The plan calls for the 10,000-square-foot former Old Faith Temple Church to have an open community room and separate rooms for art, cooking, computers and business education as well as offices and a conference room. Local businesses, including the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union, MIT Computers and the Columbia Restaurant Group are sponsoring the various rooms.

Richard Gonzmart of the Columbia Restaurant Group is donating a commercial kitchen to the facility, which is near the groups new Ulele Restaurant, currently under construction. Keith Sedita, managing partner of Ulele, is a junior civic association board member.

We want to come into Tampa Heights and make a difference. We want to change the statistics and improve the future, Sedita said.

The kitchen will provide training for students who may wish to enter the culinary field. They also would be able to work at the center, which will be available for rentals and catering, Sedita said.

Read more:
Historic Tampa Heights church to become community center