Neighborhood notebook

By JANE BOKUN and LOGAN MABE

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 17, 2001

Alliance board shows support for history center

TOWN 'N COUNTRY -- The Town 'N Country Alliance, though eager for a senior center, does not want to turn its back on a Tampa Bay History Center in downtown Tampa.

The alliance voted Monday night to draft a letter of support, asking that the County Commission fund the history center. They took the vote after hearing a presentation by George Howell, a local attorney who has been spearheading the cause since the history center's inception in 1989.

The history center, now housed in a 3,000 square foot room in the Tampa Convention Center on Harbour Island, has a historic collection with more than 30,000 artifacts. Backers want a permanent building for it, but they fear that money promised by the county will be diverted elsewhere, perhaps to an Alliance-backed senior center in Town 'N Country.

"We already have a lot of multicultural students who would greatly benefit (from the museum)," said Carlton Lewis, a member of the Alliance. Chairwoman Joyce Smith agreed. "It's important to students to know where their community came from for a strong foundation," she said. "It's also important that we don't have a divide-and-conquer attitude when it comes to the senior center versus the history center."

The County Commission plans to vote on these funding issues Sept. 5.

Northdale puts holiday artifacts up for bid

NORTHDALE -- A month after the Northdale Special Tax District agreed to do away with its holiday decorations, including a lighted menorah and a Christmas tree, the board quietly went through the motions of getting rid of them.

Board member Gary Moore proposed accepting bids on the decorations or donating them to charity if no bids come in. Bids will be taken until the next board meeting in September.

Anyone wanting to purchase a decorative Christmas tree of menorah can call property manager Diane Montgomery at (813) 962-7491 or through e-mail at ndalestd@aol.com.

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