This morning in Tampa, Mayor Pam Iorio, Congresswoman Kathy Castor, and Tampa Housing Authority chairman Jerome Ryans were among the officials who spoke in near ecstatic terms today, a day after learning that the Obama administration had awarded $38 million to Hillsborough County – with $28 million going directly into funding the long delayed plan to redevelop the former Central Park housing complex into a mixed-use affordable housing project.
The funds come by way of the controversial $787 billion stimulus plan passed by Congress and signed by President Obama last winter, and will be used to build a village of apartments, offices and stores. Bank of America is the private entity involved in the public/private project.
Central Park Village was razed in 2007. There were approximately 1,300 residents who lived in around 380 apartments, all of whom were relocated to other public housing facilities. In a message to those former residents, THA director Ryans said, “If you want to come back, you can come back.”
This article appears in Jan 13-19, 2010.
