• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Videos
    • Featured Video
    • Foodie Friday
    • Monthly ReCap
  • Online E-Editions
    • This Week’s E-Editions
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
  • Social Media
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
  • Advertising
  • Local Jobs
  • Puzzles & Games
  • Circulation Request

The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

       

Click to join our weekly e-newsletter

  • Home
  • News
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills/East Pasco
    • Business Digest
    • Senior Parks
    • Nature Notes
    • Featured Stories
    • Photos of the Week
    • Reasons To Smile
  • Sports
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills and East Pasco
    • Check This Out
  • Education
  • Pets/Wildlife
  • Health
    • Health Events
    • Health News
  • What’s Happening
  • Sponsored Content
    • Closer Look
  • Homes
  • Obits
  • Public Notices
    • Browse Notices
    • Place Notices

Tommytown facelift finished

February 16, 2011 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Section of Dade City gets upgrades to roads, sewers

By Kyle LoJacono

Margareta Della Penna has lived in Tommytown with her husband Marcus for nearly 30 years and they remember what the old area looked like not that long ago.

The area of Tommytown along Lock Street has newly paved roads, a new sidewalk and a fresh appearance. (Photos by Kyle LoJacono)

“Worst road,” Della Penna remembered. “Holes, gaps and very bumpy. Our son (Sal) and his friends would come home with cuts on their legs because they would fall trying to skateboard on the road. … There wasn’t a sidewalk for them. Just dirt.”

Della Penna said Sal always had at least one, and usually three or four, bandages on his legs because of the falls. Sal is now 28 years old, but if he ever gets the desire to pull out his old skateboard, he will have a much smoother ride.

That is because Pasco County completed an improvement project in the Dade City community on Feb. 8. The nearly $8.5 million project, paid for by a federal loan, followed a smaller but similar project to help the impoverished east Pasco County community.

The job included adding sidewalks along Lock Street, also known as Calle De Milagros, between 14th and 21st streets while repaving the road, adding seven miles of roadways and putting in additional storm water and sewer infrastructure. It also removed 15 run-down houses.

Pasco commissioner Ted Schrader, who represents most of east Pasco, said the county did the project to make the area look better in hopes the residents would continue with improvements to their own property. Schrader said that mission is being accomplished.

“We’re seeing people keeping their land much nicer and renovating their houses,” Schrader said. “I’m seeing a lot more pride in the community’s appearance.”

Della Penna is among those.

“It does give us more pride,” Della Penna said. “We’ve always liked living here, but it wasn’t nice to look at. With the old buildings down and the new roads, it is much nicer. We got three new bushes and want to put in some trees.”

Amalie Rodriquez lives near Della Penna and has plans for her house as well.

“New paint,” Rodriquez said. “I want new paint. We have some neighbors who just had theirs painted and I want the house to look good too.”

Rodriquez said it is also a relief to not have the dirt from the old, unpaved road constantly flying in the air.

Tommytown was established in the 1940s, mainly as an area for the workers of a now closed citrus packing plant, according to community activist Margarita Romo. Today, the area is home to mostly migrant workers who labor in the orange groves and various fruit and vegetable fields in the area.

While the community’s appearance has been upgrade, many in the area cannot afford to use the new sewer lines.

Charlene Daprile, Pasco assistant manager for community development, said state money was originally going to be used to pay the impact fees for Tommytown property owners. However, budget cuts have changed those plans since the project started in 2002.

Daprile said a homeowner pays about $5,000 per year for those impact fees. She said the county is working with federal housing services to secure funding so the residents of Tommytown can enjoy all the improvements.

“It would be a shame to have new lines that were too expensive for the residents to use,” Daprile said. “We’re still working on it.”

Additionally, Daprile said the original federal loan was for $13.6 million. The remaining money will be used for improvements to the Lacoochee, Kent Grove, Gulf Highlands and Moon Lake communities in Pasco.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email
  • Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Sponsored Content

New Community Garden Arrives at Del Webb Bexley 

March 28, 2023 By Kelli Carmack

Exciting things are happening at Del Webb Bexley, the 55+ active adult residential community just off Sunlake Boulevard, … [Read More...] about New Community Garden Arrives at Del Webb Bexley 

TPA-Parkview-Myrtle

Imagine More at Mattamy Homes’ Area Communities

March 28, 2023 By Kelli Carmack

With every new home community, Mattamy Homes demonstrates their dedication to thoughtful details and meaningful value … [Read More...] about Imagine More at Mattamy Homes’ Area Communities

More Posts from this Category

What’s Happening

04/01/2023 – Bunny Hop Eggstravaganza

The Land O’ Lakes Recreation Complex, 3032 Collier Parkway, will host a Bunny Hop Eggstravaganza on April 1 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be bounce houses, games, music, food trucks, and scheduled egg scrambles. The event will be at the outside football fields and basketball court. Registration is required to participate in the egg scrambles. The cost is $3 per child. Children ages 2 to 10 can register with their age division and time frame at Secure.rec1.com/FL/pasco-county-fl/catalog. For questions, call 813-929-1220. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Bunny Hop Eggstravaganza

04/01/2023 – Cacti and Things

Kessler’s Cacti and Things will host its annual Spring Plant Sale on April 1 and April 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, at Bearss Grove, 14316 Lake Magdalene Blvd., in Tampa. The event features thousands of plant varieties, and an assortment of specimen and collector’s plants. For information, email . For questions and directions, call 813-264-5614. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Cacti and Things

04/01/2023 – Dade City Art Walk

The Downtown Dade City Art Walk will take place April 1 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be more than 20 art locations for guests to meet the artists and shop local artwork, as well as a little Pre-Casso Exhibit for young aspiring artists. There will be an opening ceremony at 5 p.m., along with a map distribution, at Florida Cracker Lunch on Limoges. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Dade City Art Walk

04/01/2023 – Easter Bash

Hope City Church, 5513 School Road in Land O’ Lakes, will host an Easter Bash on April 1, for the whole family. Admission is free. For information, call 813-948-7555. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Easter Bash

04/01/2023 – Food Truck Festival

An International Food Truck Festival will take place on April 1 and April 2 at the Tampa Premium Outlets, 2300 Grand Cypress Drive in Lutz, with more than 70 food trucks, tents and trailers, to benefit local charities. Admission is $5. For more information, call 727-674-1464. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Food Truck Festival

04/01/2023 – Historical Association

The Zephyrhills Historical Association will meet on April 1 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Zephyrhills Public Library, 5347 Eighth St. Participants can discover and discuss historical events, places and people of Zephyrhills and Pasco County. For information, call 813-780-0064. … [Read More...] about 04/01/2023 – Historical Association

More of What's Happening

Archives

 

 

Where to pick up The Laker and Lutz News

Copyright © 2023 Community News Publications Inc.

   
%d bloggers like this: