State and county officials are reviewing the plans for the new 4,500-square-foot building in Lealman.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published May 12, 2004
LEALMAN - This community is a little closer to having a new Family Center, whose board members have approved a design and submitted it to state and county officials. If all goes well, groundbreaking on the center could take place in August, with completion early next year.
"It's going to be a pretty building," said Mike Quinlivan, executive director of the Family Center, which provides social service outreach to the Lealman area of unincorporated Pinellas County.
The 4,500-square-foot, one-story building will be covered in stucco. It has two entrances flanked by square columns.
It will be at 4255 56th Ave. N, the site of the Lealman area's former community center. The county condemned the community center building in 2002 because it was unsafe.
At that time, the Lealman chapter of the Disabled American Veterans owned the property, four lots totaling a bit more than half an acre. That group donated the land to the Family Center in September.
The Family Center tore down the old building, one of Lealman's few remaining landmarks, and hired Bessolo Design Group of St. Petersburg to plan its new home.
That design was submitted to county and Swiftmud officials for review. Once it passes muster with them, the Family Center can search for a contractor, Quinlivan said.
