Two Sections, 36 Pages of Community News
Brandon/Winthrop
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O’Reilly’s Parts, Christian Bros Auto And 16-Building Executive Park Now Underway
By Brian Bokor
Lit hia
CVS
approved project for this site and will be the least intensive of the three approved uses. The first project (1989) was to be named 'Royal Oaks Plaza' with Food Lion as the anchor along with a drug store, bank, restaurant, gas station and retail complex. The land then sat idle for 28 years until the Royal Oaks Senior Community Assisted Living Facility was approved in 2017. This was to be a two-story (35 ft.) facility containing up to 160 beds, but before construction plans were submitted McCullagh & Scott acquired the project and submitted plans for the executive park, which were approved. A dedicated left-turn lane on Bell Shoals Rd. will be added to improve traffic flow. Developers are mandated to replace all trees removed inch-for-inch on-site…and if the land necessary is not available on-site, funds are contributed to the Hillsborough County Tree fund, which plants the trees on equivalent conservation land. McCullagh & Scott, in business for over 30 years, will be developing this project. Specializing in churches (such as Arise Assembly of God, 1st Presbyterian of Brandon and FishHawk Fellowship), it also has built several local businesses, including Camp Bow Wow in Riverview, Ace Hardware (Lithia and Riverview), both Providence Lakes and Bloomingdale Executive Parks and even a salsa plant in Seffner. For information, call 621-7777 or visit https://mccullaghandscott.com.
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Behind the CVS Pharmacy (southwest corner of Lumsden Road, Lithia Pinecrest Ave. and Bell Shoals Rd), development has begun on Bell Shoals Executive Park—an eight-acre project encompassing 16 freestanding buildings (all one story, 28 ft. in height) and adding 61,500 sq. ft. of professional office space to the Brandon area (available summer 2020). According to David Lennon, Vice President at McCullagh & Scott, "The goal of this park is high-end professionals.” That includes lawyers, doctors, engineering firms, CPAs and other professional designations. No retail stores have been included in the park, which will keep the majority of traffic between the typical business hours of 8 a.m.-6 p.m. The new O'Reilly's Auto Parts and Christian Brothers Auto Repair under construction on Lumsden Rd. are not part of Bell Shoals Executive Park but are also underway. The executive park is the third
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Bell Shoals Rd. Drone imaging by Cody Hurst
Development has begun on Bell Shoals Executive Park at the southwest corner of Lumsden Rd., Lithia Pinecrest Ave. and Bell Shoals Rd.
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C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
Community Rallies To Help Fire Damaged McLane Middle School
By Kate Quesada
One of lying together. Our theme this Brandon’s oldest year is ‘Striving for Greatness,’ schools suffered and we will have a wonderful a fire last month year thanks to all of the comthat left seven munity support.” teachers scramAccording to Hillsborough bling in the County Public School’s Media weeks before Outreach, Tanya Arja, a decithe start of the sion has not been made as to academic year. what to do with the conMcLane Middle demned building. School was “Our focus since the fire struck by lighthas been makning in July, ing sure causing the seventh grade buildMcLane Middle ing, which held seven classrooms, is ready for stuto be condemned. dents on the According to Eric Seidel, first day,” said Public Information Officer with Arja. “We’ll now Hillsborough County Fire Rescue work with the (HCFR), the lightning struck the insurance comcenter building, causing a twopany to assess alarm fire. cost and deter“Firefighters arrived to find mine the next flames shooting through the roof of steps.” the two-story classroom building in McLane McLane Middle School in the middle of the school,” said Middle School Brandon was struck by lightning Seidel. “It took crews around 30 is located at last month, causing a fire that destroyed the school’s seventh 306 N. Knights minutes to get the flames under grade building. control, using both aerial and Ave. in ground attacks; however, hotspots contin- Brandon and can be reached at 744ued to arise, which required use of both 8100. water and foam to extinguish.” HCFR crews prevented the flames In This from spreading to any other surrounding Issue buildings and there were no injuries. However, teachers and administrators had their work cut out for them movTRASH DAY GOING TO BE DUMPED ..PG 3 ing the seven affected classrooms and rounding up supplies to replace items BEHIND THE SCENES TOURS..............PG 9 destroyed in the fire before welcoming DRIVER’S ED ELECTRIC CAR .............PG 10 back students. “It is heartbreaking, but we are Viking OSPREY OBSERVER INTERNS ...........PG 14 strong,” said Principal Dina Langston. NEW FLORIDA LAWS........................PG 18 Community members, parents and teachers from other local schools have EYE ON BUSINESS .....................PGS 25‐26 come together to help McLane teachers SPORTS CONNECTION......................PG 28 prepare for the school year. “We are extremely grateful to everyCHALKLINES .....................................PG 32 one who has reached out, offering to help READ MORE LOCAL NEWS ONLINE with school supplies and offering to set up classrooms,” said Langston. “We are ralwww.ospreyobserver.com
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ECRWSS EDDM Osprey Observer 2109 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. Valrico, FL 33596
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August 2019 Volume 14, Issue 8 Ph: 657-2418
CRAB, CRAWFISH, CALAMARI & LOBSTER
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There are currently 250 schools and over 206,000 students in Hillsborough County. Staying alert, keeping crosswalks clear, remaining patient and obeying traffic signs will help reduce the total number of injuries this school year. See the full article on page 22.
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