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Dade City is adding population, new attractions

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As a new decade begins, the City of Dade City plans to resolve its longstanding stormwater issues, enliven its downtown with more shops and entertainment, add new attractions and to increase residential development.

The Dade City Commission also is expected to vote on the issue of allowing medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits during the first quarter of 2020.

Here is a closer look for what’s in store for 2020, and beyond.

Resolving stormwater issues
Dade City’s downtown streets and sidewalks have been known to be swallowed in at least 6 inches to 7 inches of standing water for days at a time after heavy summer rains.

Much of that should be resolved soon.

Construction is in full swing to fix the downtown flooding and drainage issues — via a $2.3 million stormwater capital improvement project, paid for with a combination of state appropriations, and funding from the Florida Department of Transportation and Dade City.

The project takes underground concrete piping through multiple downtown streets into an existing conveyance system into a reconfigured Irwin Pond, just past U.S. 98 and the CSX railway.

Work has been paused to accommodate the Jan. 25 Kumquat Festival in downtown, but the project completion is expected around mid-year.

Meantime, the city is seeking state appropriations and disaster recovery funding for a another multimillion dollar stormwater project in the Dade Oaks community.

A bike hub/splash park is coming
City staffers recently closed on a $800,000 land purchase that will become the location of a splash park/bike hub to the city’s downtown area — on a 2.23-acre parcel on Church Street, which borders the Hardy Trail and is diagonal from The Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce. (The contract sale price totals $1.3 million, as the property owners have agreed to donate the difference toward the park project.)

A preliminary concept plan for the project calls for a multi-use water splash pad, bike-share shelter, amphitheater, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible playground, open space, a concession area and other amenities. The next step will be developing and finalizing a master plan for the project, with input from residents and city officials, then moving onto a final design and engineered site plan.

According to Dade City Manager Leslie Porter, the project will likely be completed in phases over the next several years, starting with the bike hub, which could break ground this year, in partnership with Pasco County’s tourism office.

Events venue and retail shops
What was once a vacant car dealership in downtown Dade City will soon be a hub for retail and social entertainment, called The Block.

The development, at 14313 Seventh St., involves converting two existing buildings, totaling 21,000 square feet.

The main plaza will have an area for retail spaces, along with a venue to accommodate events, such as weddings, parties and fundraisers. There also are potential plans for a bridal shop and a brewery there, too.

The second building is being turned into a CrossFit gym.

An outdoor patio and bar will run between the two complexes, complete with seats and tables,  and string lights hanging above.

While inclusive to all, it is geared toward the younger-adult demographic, somewhat inspired by the mixed-use Armature Works facility in Tampa Heights.

Expected to open in phases beginning this year, The Block is the brainchild of local realtor and investor Larry Guilford and Melanie Armstrong, owner of Savory Roots Catering and Events.

Dade City will be home to Florida’s first-ever snow park attraction, called Snowcat Ridge. (Courtesy of Point Summit Inc.)

A snow park in Dade City?
Come November, Dade City will be home to a very unique recreation attraction — the state’s first-ever snow park, called Snowcat Ridge.

The one-of-a-kind snow park will feature a 60-foot-tall and 400-foot-long snow tubing hill, where visitors will be able to ride in single, double, or six-person tubes down the hill; a 10,000-square-foot snow play dome to make snowmen and snow castles; and, an Alpine Village serving food and hot cocoa.

For those wondering, snow will be made with technology that can stay in place for an extended period of time, provided the temperature is under 80 degrees.

The project is being developed by Point Summit Inc., which also manages TreeHoppers Aerial Adventure Park and Scream-a-Geddon Horror Park. It will be located at 27839 Saint Joe Road.

Residential development on the rise
Like neighboring Zephyrhills, Dade City anticipates a surge of new rooftops in the coming decade, as the municipality has roughly 4,000 residential unit entitlements — which means they are actively under construction or review.

This year, the city will see 25 single-family homes come online at Countryside, a development situated behind McDonald’s that sits at U.S. 301, while affordable workforce/affordable housing communities Osprey Pointe (110 multi-family units) and Arbours at Hester Lake (80 multi-family units) are expected to begin leasing in the next few months.

Other residential developments on tap include the following:

  • Highland Trails: 1,110 single-family
  • Wickett: 892 single-family, multi-family, assisted living, townhomes
  • Summitview: 812 single-family, townhomes
  • Philmon: 510 single-family
  • Suwanee Lakeside: 302 single-family
  • Abbey Glenn II: 170 single-family

Vote expected on medical marijuana dispensaries
Dade City has had a series of concurrent moratoriums on medical marijuana treatment centers within its municipal limits dating back to 2016, but that could change in the new year.

City commissioners in September directed city staff to draft an amendment to the city’s land development regulations that would permit medical marijuana dispensaries in the general commercial zoning district. That district generally spans U.S. 301/U.S. 98 south and north of town, but avoids much of the city’s historic downtown main street and central business district.

A drafted ordinance is expected to come before the city’s planning board and the city commission sometime during the first quarter of 2020.

Published January 08, 2020

Scream-A-Geddon brings horrors to Dade City

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Scream-A-Geddon puts a scare into any outsider who dares to enter.

Scattered across acres upon acres in the middle of the woods off Saint Joe Road in Dade City, the independent horror park gives its visitors an interactive experience through six distinct attractions.

Scream-a-Geddon is on acres and acres of haunted land at 27839 Saint Joe Road, in Dade City. (Fred Bellet)

At one end of the park, in an attraction called “Deadwoods,” visitors navigate through dark, winding trails, where they encounter the cannibalistic Tate family.

At another side of the park, parkgoers wreak havoc on flesh-eating zombies from a militarized school bus mounted with 18 paintball guns in the attraction “Zombie Paintball Assault.”

In another unique area, called “Rage 3-D,” visitors wear 3-D glasses, and get up close and personal with crazed clowns and other abnormal creatures, testing their senses, as they make their way through creepy rooms that twist, turn and rotate in the midst of roaring music.

Under a starry twilight sky, a crowd begins to gather as they wait in line to go through the unorthodox entrance of a scary feature called ‘Demon’s Revenge,’ at Scream-a-Geddon on St. Joe Road.

Meanwhile, “Demon’s Revenge,” “Blackpool Prison” and “Infected: Ground Zero” provide their own sets of horrors — all aiming to live up to their frightening names.

Geof Kledzic, the Scream-A-Geddon general manager, is hard-pressed to pick a favorite.

“There’s great scares all over the place, so I love ‘em all,” Kledzic said. “They each have certain things that make them unique.”

Scream-A-Geddon attracted more than 40,000 visitors last year.

Open every night through Nov. 3, Kledzic expects an even bigger turnout this Halloween season.

“Every year it continues to grow,” he said, noting word-of-mouth about the park has drawn people all throughout Tampa Bay and central Florida.

His main selling point of the horror park is that “you can do things (at Scream-A-Geddon) that you can’t get anywhere else.

“Where do you get to take a walk in the woods?

Playing the part of a crazed clown called ‘Boogie-Woogie,’ 18-year old Dakota Loomis, of Zephyrhills, frightened visitors crossing his path in a featured area called ‘Rage 3-D.’ It was among several Scream-a-Geddon horrors.

“Where do you get to ride a militarized school bus and mow down zombies?

“You don’t do that at Busch Gardens or Universal (Studios).

“So, people start sharing that news, and people drive a great distance to come here,” the general manager explained.

Scream-A-Geddon launched in 2015 after its parent company, Indiana-based Point Summit Inc., expanded operations to Florida.

The company also operates Indy Scream Park in Indianapolis, and other adventure parks, including TreeHoppers Aerial Adventure Park, located on the same property as Scream-A-Geddon.

Unlike other horror parks, Kledzic said Scream-A-Geddon prides itself on a format of sending small groups of visitors into an attraction at a time.

In the Rage 3-D room, Laura McCudden of St. Petersburg looks for her husband, Lenny McCudden, during their first Scream-a-Geddon experience.

That’s different from what Kledzic describes as “conga lines” of people, which, he said, too often gives away “the scare.”

Upping the scary meter even more, some Scream-A-Geddon attractions give visitors the option to be touched or grabbed by the frightening characters.

“People love that,” Kledzic said of the interactive offerings. “You cannot get that anyplace else.”

For 26-year-old Lakeland resident Kyndil Rogers, the horror park fares favorably to others she’s visited.

“It’s a lot more interactive,” she said. “Really scary.”

Her friend, 29-year-old Brandon Gonzalez, also of Lakeland, was likewise impressed at how Scream-A-Geddon’s attractions and characters were brought to life.

“Here, it’s more realistic,” he said. “It makes the experience a lot better.”

New Port Richey resident Kirsty Roach expressed similar sentiments during her first-time visit.

“The haunted houses are amazing — like a lot better than (Howl-O-Scream) Busch Gardens. I’d go that far. I think it’s that good,” Roach said.

A crazed prisoner, played by 20-year-old Levi Caruthers, of Zephyrhills, waits for another victim to cross his path. Visitors at Scream-a-Geddon find themselves walking through what one visitor called ‘a funhouse on steroids.’

“I like that not everybody’s piled on top of each other,” she added.

Haunted House enthusiast Eva Dunn and her group of friends made the drive from Apopka to see what Scream-A-Geddon was all about.

She left happily frightened.

Among her favorite stops was “Blackpool Prison.” The attraction is controlled by “the worst of the worst” criminals where the only way to get out alive is through them.

It also offers visitors the option to be grabbed, held back, sent into hidden cells, removed from their group or even forced to remain.

“They grabbed a lot more than I thought,” Dunn said, with glee. “They said, ‘grab,’ and you know we’ve heard that before at other places, but here they actually grab you and it was like, ‘Wow!’ (because) they spin you around and shove you.”

“Demon’s Revenge” was the scariest part of the attraction for Dunn’s friend, Richard Doran, also of Apopka.

She said ‘hello’ to guests as they arrived. When guests departed, Mia Hernandez, 21, of Wesley

He said that’s because it is set up like a maze inside a mental ward with walls that gradually close in.

“It’s really nice. I like how it made you feel like it got smaller and smaller as you went through,” Doran said.

Dunn quickly pointed out her friend screamed the whole way through. “Right in front of my ear!” she said, with a boisterous laugh.

Meanwhile, those seeking a break from loud shrieks and bursts of adrenaline can head to the center of the park, called the “Monster Midway.”

It features carnival games, food and drink trucks, and picnic tables set near a bonfire.

Visitors, however, shouldn’t let their guard down too much.

Roaming throughout the park on any given night are hordes of ghoulish creatures, clowns and zombies, keeping visitors on high alert.

Scream-A-Geddon
What: Tampa Bay’s haunt experience features six terrifying attractions in one location.
Where: 27839 Saint Joe Road, Dade City
When: Every night through Nov. 3. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Who: Recommended for adults and teens, but younger children may attend with parent or guardian.
Cost: Prices start at $28.95. Fast pass and group packages also offered.
Info: Visit ScreamAGeddon.com, or call (813) 452-5412.

Published October 17, 2018