Category: Tampa Bay

Maybe it’s a security reach, but is Tampa actually luckier than most major, high-commerce cities when it comes to transportation? TIA has almost no international flights; the cargo container business is still negligible at the port and Amtrak does little more than token business at Union Station. International flights, cargo containers and passenger trains are three prime terrorist targets.

And while we’re reaching for that half-full security glass, let’s not forget the GOP convention-coronation that should have come here. Security wise, it’s a blessing in disguise that Jeb Bush never pushed for Tampa as if it were Miami and that Karl Rove stayed overly enamored of New York’s Sept.11 symbolism. Now the Big Apple has another Big Target — and 9/11 ironically conjures up a certain commission hearing more than George W. Bush’s, bull-horned finest hour at ground zero.

For Licensed Practical Nurse Pat Medina, there’s no such thing as “another day at the office.” They don’t happen when your life’s work is geriatrics, and Medina’s has been that for the last 30 years.

“The day that this becomes a ‘job,’ is the day you need to be some place else,” she says. “Regardless of what your certificate says, the key is what your heart says. This is something you have to love. It’s not enough to just like it.”

For the last five years, Medina has loved being the administrator for At Home With Friends, a 30-resident, assisted living facility (ALF) in South Tampa.

At Home is a compact, tidy place where 29 seniors — 28 women and 1 man — reside in a mix of private and semi-private rooms. If you come by during a formal activity period, you may walk in on anything from light exercise and current-events discussion to bingo and even karaoke. Call it senior life in the steadfast lane — just east of the busy intersection of Bay-to-Bay Boulevard and South Dale Mabry Highway.

Average resident age is mid-80s. The oldest is 98; until last year, that figure was 104. The residents vary in their mobility and their dementia. There are vacant stares — as well as smiles of acknowledgment.

“I never see just ‘old people,’ says Medina, a 50-something with an easy smile and a heartfelt laugh. “I see 29 different personalities. And you can’t take things personally. A sense of humor helps.

“Sure, there is a lot of dementia (but no Alzheimer’s cases),” notes Medina, “but that doesn’t make me sad. In any situation, there is always some good. Getting a hug in return makes it worthwhile.”

There is also a sense of education, she says, in being privy to those who embody history.

“I learn from them,” explains Medina. “They’ve all lived through the Depression and several can tell you about the old days of Ybor City. One lady was in Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed. It can be fascinating to listen to.”

What Medina doesn’t do is dwell on the reality that At Home, not unlike Florida’s other 2,300 ALFs, has the ultimate turnover.

“We know we’re going to lose everyone,” she admits, “so we make the best of it. Yes, a part of us goes too, because we consider ourselves the ‘other family,’ but you reflect on what you gave them when they were with you. Our aim — and our philosophy — is to ‘Make today better.’ We want today to be the best today they can have.

“That’s what I would want for myself,” underscores Medina. “You just want people to care. To take the time and care. The older you get, the more you appreciate how much a little bit of time means. It’s precious.”

To that end, she has a short list of reminders to her staff of eight of what can make a day, maybe a final day, special and meaningful.

“A touch means so much,” emphasizes Medina. “So does a compliment — ‘Your-hair- looks-so-nice-today’ type of thing. That little extra attention can seem so big to people.”

Medina says that a key to a successful residential experience is working in concert with families to ease the transition from biological to the “extended” ALF family. Among the first things that Medina requests are objects of familiarity that can be transferred in advance of a new resident. Things like family photos and some favorite outfits to await their owner’s arrival. A quilt will be on the bed to further warm up the room.

Medina’s also oversees a staff that is uniformed in tan pants and flowery tops — to avoid any undue institutional ambience. But jeans are out; too generationally informal.

“I tell family members, ‘Give me two weeks,'” says Medina. “‘And we’ll know them.'” Indeed, Medina will personally befriend them and introduce and integrate them into their new “family.” Whatever it takes.

“But families need a lot of reassurance,” Medina stresses. “It’s hard on them. They feel guilty. But, really, we can give their mom or dad the sort of stimulation they need.”

She also offers another piece of advice to families of residents. Don’t get too literal or too precise with time; it can lead to needless anxiety.

“For example, don’t say you’re coming by at ‘noon,'” points out Medina. “Say ‘after lunch.’ Otherwise, they might start to worry about why you’re not here at 12 noon. If there’s a doctor’s appointment, don’t tell them too far in advance. They get anxious and ask about it every day.”

But even when they do, says Medina, it changes nothing. She still loves what she does.

“We’re not ‘babysitting,’ she says emphatically. “It’s about an environment that promotes stimulation and giving love. Our residents depend on us, and we’re their lifeline to their families.

“Never for a moment do I forget: we’re all going to be there too.”

CLEARWATER — The year was 1973.

The Watergate plot was thickening and gas lines were lengthening. Vietnam saw a cease-fire, and the world bid adieu to Pablo Picasso and JRR Tolkien. David Halberstam’s “The Best and Brightest” was a best seller; “The Godfather” earned an Oscar; and Secretariat won the Triple Crown.

And Clearwater Mall opened.

It was amid considerable fanfare on what used to be the Seville Peacock Farm. It was anchored by retail giants Gayfers, Ivys, Burdines and Montgomery Ward. It was at the mega intersection of U.S. 19 and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard (Rt. 60). It was riding the enclosed-mall wave sweeping the country.

Eventually, however, the malling of America would leave losers in its wake. Prominent among them: Clearwater Mall. Bigger, better and newer is never good news for the prototypes. Barely five miles to the north on U.S. 19 would come Countryside Mall. It would eclipse Clearwater Mall. Big time. Other enclosed retail outlets — from Pinellas Park to Citrus Park — also ate into its regional base. Over time, Clearwater Mall lost cachet, customers and tenants. It never made it into the new millennium.

Enter the Sembler Co., the St. Petersburg-based developer of shopping centers.

“I had seen Clearwater Mall grow tired over the years,” recalls Greg Sembler, company vice chairman. “It had obviously had its day, and Countryside had become a great (Westfield) Shoppingtown.”

But Sembler also saw opportunity. A reincarnated Clearwater Mall could find a new niche, he sensed, because there was a post enclosed-mall trend afoot: the open-air, “power center” malls.

Open-air malls are cheaper to operate — with big savings in common-area overhead. They are also more convenient — with customers driving right up to a store instead of parking in the hinterlands and hoofing it from there. And “big box” anchors act as discount magnets to price-conscious shoppers.

“The enclosed mall is kind of dead,” states Sembler. “Very few are being built now, because the economics are very, very difficult. Even the major mall developers are looking at open-air designs.”

According to Patrick Berman, retail specialist with Cushman & Wakefield real estate company, the new Clearwater Mall “has hit the trend right on the money. It can capture the vast majority of consumers. They can save time and money, and you can hardly beat that.

“Sembler is the premier developer in this market,” adds Berman. “They took a huge dinosaur and gave it new life. It’s not your father’s Clearwater Mall.”

In partnership with the New Plan Excel Realty Trust of New York, which has since bought out Sembler’s interest, the Sembler Co. presided over the old mall’s razing and 18 months of rebuilding. The $100-million retail center celebrated its grand re-opening last November. It already has sparked a rejuvenation of nearby restaurants.

The catalyst, says Sembler, was signing up the “highest and best” of the targeted “big box” categories: Costco, SuperTarget and Lowe’s.

“The traffic counts got them excited,” says Sembler. “It wasn’t a tough sell. Once we put together the big three, our job was a lot easier.” SuperTarget, at 185,000 square feet, is the largest tenant in the 796,000-square-foot mall.

By the beginning of the year, the new mall’s space was approximately 99 per cent leased. Most leases are in the 5-to-15-year range. All but four of the 54 spaces are accounted for with a tenant mix ranging from the “upscale discounters” to Borders, Petsmart, Michael’s and Linens n Things to nail and tanning salons.

Among those celebrating the return of Clearwater Mall is Ralph Stone, Clearwater’s assistant city manager. Prominent, boarded-up spaces at the city’s biggest intersection sends all the wrong signals. It also means a big hit in taxable real estate value.

“There was a lot of concern and rumors about what the future would bring,” admits Stone. “Everything from apartments to storage. So we were thrilled to have Sembler step in. They did a first class job — not just on recruiting tenants — but in delivering aesthetics and landscaping. They made it a nicer place than some others might have. They live here too.”

Other Sembler Scenarios

The Sembler Co. is not your typical mall developer. Its stock and trade has been strip center development. Moreover, its chairman is based in Rome. Mel Sembler is U.S. ambassador to Italy.

The Clearwater deal has encouraged Sembler to look elsewhere for additional open-air opportunities. The company is currently in the preliminary stages of developing the 1.2-million- square-foot Winter Garden Mall as well as smaller open-air developments in South Hillsborough County (near Big Bend Road and I-75) and (a SuperTarget Center) in Kissimmee.

The current issue of “Travel + Leisure” magazine rates 25 major U.S. destinations in a variety of categories relevant to travelers. Among other things, it lists each area’s best and worst rankings. The Tampa-St. Petersburg market’s best facet: weather (4); its worst: cultural events (22).

Nice weather, frankly, seems a rather lukewarm commendation. And while the Tampa Bay Area may not be the cultural Mecca that, uh, Nashville (4) is, it seems to have been short shrifted on the arts. Downtown St. Petersburg alone would guarantee a higher cultural ranking. Makes you wonder if the magazine bothered to investigate or did T+L just mail this one in?

It’s long been axiomatic that Tampa’s waterfront was the city’s most underutilized asset. It was a good place to build a parking garage or a beer-can shaped office tower.

That attitude, mercifully, no longer prevails. The new art museum will incorporate a waterfront park and several eyesore, ad-hoc parking lots will morph into vista-enhancing green spaces.

But making a better-looking postcard is not the end. “We need to do a better job of connecting this river to the lives of people in Tampa,” recently stated Mayor Pam Iorio.

To that end, the city is partnering with the West Riverfront Neighborhood Association and the nonprofit Stewards Foundation of Tampa to develop the riverfront Tampa Water Sports Center. The city will provide the land just north of Tampa Prep for the 25,000-square-foot center, which will include a two-story boathouse. And thanks to Stewards, which will raise $2 million for the project, it will help accommodate crew teams — from northern universities as well as nearby high schools and the University of Tampa — plus provide for community-based kayaking, canoeing and water-safety programs.

And thanks to this progressive partnership, Tampa will further cement its reputation as an attractive winter get-away/rowing venue for Northern crews that is worth millions in economic impact. It will also give a lot more local kids an opportunity to participate in rowing — one of the country’s fastest-growing sports — by converting the Hillsborough River into a wide-awake zone of community participation.

Those wishing to contribute by purchasing naming rights, can contact Stewards’ Vice President of Development, Fundraising and Contributions Denny Antrim at 205-4013. Already Bright House Networks is paying five figures to put its name on an observation deck. What’s available ranges from canoes ($1,000) and 8-person shells (approximately $35,000) to the entire sports center ($750,000).

Kudos to the Florida Aquarium for its well-received new attraction, the 2.2-acre, $1.9-million Explore A Shore water park. It’s a place for kids to have fun, while their parents sip a pina colada in the Caribbean Cantina.

It’s also the latest gambit in a strategy that has evolved since the aquarium’s opening in 1995. Back then, the experience was all about education, a well-intended, even noble pursuit.

That educational experience, however, works best within the context of flat-out fun. It’s what you do when you’re in the entertainment sector. It’s what you do when you want to continue growing the business and keep reducing the city’s subsidy.

Well done. Again.

By all accounts, the accolades and congratulations were well earned by Mellissa Alonso, the Valrico Elementary reading resource teacher who was named Hillsborough County’s Teacher of the Year. Good teachers can’t get enough recognition and reward. There’s no pedestal big enough for those fighting the good fight on America’s educational front lines.

But here’s a suggestion. Make one fundamental change in the award. Give out two of them. One for secondary and one for elementary.

As it now stands, the Teacher of the Year Award goes to a single recipient selected from the ranks of all teachers. For example, the 10 finalists this year were a mix of two high school, three middle and five elementary teachers.

It’s really not appropriate to name one overall winner when there’s not consistent criteria or comparable skills evaluated. Secondary teachers, for example, are much more subject-oriented than their elementary counterparts. The methodology of instruction is inherently dissimilar. And classroom management is a whole different dynamic with more mature — or at least bigger — students.

All great teachers have obvious traits in common. They love their work; they’re effective communicators; they’re adept motivators. But to be comparing, say, an outstanding 12th grade physics teacher with a gifted first grade instructor is neither fair nor valid.

First, the good news — as was emblazoned in the recent headline: “Violent Crimes Decline in 2003.” The number of reported violent crimes in Tampa dropped nearly 9 percent last year. For stat buffs and those who live in the abstract, that also calculates to 10.8 crimes per 100 people — a not insignificant decline from 11.3.

Now, for some context. While robberies were down, rapes and homicides were, well, up.

I was scanning the Tribune the other day, looking at the regional briefs on page 2 of the Metro section. I noticed an item with the headline “Black History Takes Many Forms In Classes.” It mentioned the various ways that students were learning about black history. Among them: Anderson Elementary students reading literature by black Americans and studying Martin Luther King Jr. And in physical education classes, a basketball unit included lessons on Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal.

Say what? Learning about Dr. King, Ralph Bunche, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes or Harriet Tubman is one thing. An important thing. But Chamberlain and O’Neal? Including sports figures — in a culture already saturated with them — is more than redundant. It also plays to a stereotype that doesn’t need to be officially reinforced by the school system.

Here’s a better suggestion. If gym teachers must be utilized in such a fashion, then have them prepare something on the life of Arthur Ashe. Not only did he overcome long odds to become one of the world’s great tennis players, but he had a social conscience and always comported himself with class and dignity — however quaintly uncool those qualities may seem today.

Ashe also had a message that should resonate with any serious educator. Let’s stop telling our black children that the way out of the ghetto is through sports, said Ashe, who knew that almost no one can make a living by playing a game. Those that do have a larger-than-life presence in American culture that totally skews their actual numbers.

Kids need to be told that — and that their ticket out is in school.

*President Bush has raised more than $11 million in Florida since June for his re-election campaign. His war chest is expected to approach $200 million by November.

Put into context, this will be approximately twice as much as his Democratic opponent will raise. But no more than George Steinbrenner’s New York Yankee payroll this season.

*Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco was part of that presidential party of seven that dined at Bern’s Steak House two Sundays ago. According to Greco, the president seemed like he enjoyed getting away from the office, and there wasn’t a lot of shoptalk.

“I’m still sort of taken aback, I guess, that the most powerful person in the world can be so informal and wanting to talk about the quail crop in Texas and stocking a lake with bass,” said Greco. “He’s a warm, nice man.

“I don’t know how they do it,” he added. “It can’t be an easy way to live. Everywhere the president and Mrs. Bush go, they have all those armed guards. They were only a few feet away at dinner. I think it’s harder on Laura Bush. The president gets immersed in the job. But she sees him when he’s down and hears the criticism and the belittling. I made it a point when we were leaving to thank her for her contribution.”