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Pop Warner Team Looks At Alternative Sites

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By KATHY STEELE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 7, 2008

SEMINOLE HEIGHTS - The city's 22nd Street Park remains on the table, but parks and recreation officials are broadening their search for a location for three proposed football fields.

One possibility is MacDugal Park on Sligh Avenue between 12th and 13th streets.

The North East Tampa Pirates, a Pop Warner football team, recently offered to build the fields for free at 22nd Street Park. The Pirates, who have about 300 players ages 5 to 15, have outgrown a field at Temple Crest Community Center.

Two community meetings were held to get input from Seminole Crest residents who live adjacent to 22nd Street Park. Some raised concerns about lighting, traffic and access to the park, located at the dead end of 22nd, off Sligh. The park backs up to several homes on Patterson Street.

"We're trying to see if another site would work," project manager Brad Suder said.

The team hopes to have the fields ready by Aug.1, when football season starts. A meet-and-greet for football and cheerleading will be from 1 to 4 p.m. July 12, likely at MacDugal Park or Temple Crest Community Center, team co-founder Joe Bouchard said.

The team's initial offer was to build practice-only fields at 22nd Street and repair a burned-out concession stand at the park's Eddie Lopez Field, where adults play softball. Bouchard estimated the value of donated work at $40,000.

MacDugal Park would require less work to accommodate existing baseball teams and the Pirates, Bouchard said. The Pirates would remove some old dugouts and paint other buildings. The park has lights and more space for the football fields.

"It would cost us a lot less," he said. "The city doesn't have money to build anything there."
Suder anticipates a decision soon.

"We are focusing on it," he said. "We'll get there."

For information about the Pirates, call (813) 985-0843.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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