The City of Tampa continues to make progress on its recovery from last year's hurricanes, with five more Parks and Recreation facilities poised to open by the end of May.
"Storm clean-up or reconstruction touched nearly all of the City’s parks and facilities, as Helene’s flooding was followed by Milton’s winds," Mayor Jane Castor said. "In total – we are talking an estimated $8.4 million in damages to our Parks and Recreation facilities alone."
The DeSoto Community Center - the most recent to reopen, on March 3 - needed a new HVAC unit after its previous one was submerged by Helene. Because of the age of the building, the unit had to be retrofitted, adding to the recovery time and complexity.
The next one to reopen: The Kwane Doster Community Center is on track to welcome Port Tampa families by the end of this month.
"We thank the community for its patience and thank Parks and Recreation and Facilities staffs for the diligent and detailed work that has brought us to this point," Parks and Recreation Director Tony Mulkey said. "We are very eager to have all of our Parks and Recreation facilities safely open to the public."
The storms flooded buildings, submerged HVAC units, downed light poles, trees, fences, signs, baseball/softball backstops, trellises, and shade structures, ripped off shingles and aluminum roofing, and more. The damage was the most extensive and expensive in the City's history.