Saint Leo’s student government donates $10,000 to effort
By B.C. Manion
A new playground may not sound like such a huge deal.
After all, what’s so important about a few swings, a slide and some spring horses?
By itself, it may not be a lot – but the playground is symbolic of a bigger effort going on in the Dade Oaks community to reclaim the neighborhood for the people who live there, said Pasco County Sheriff’s Cpl. Mary Guyer, also known as Officer Friendly.
The playground project comes on the heels of an effort to revitalize the Dade Oaks Community Center, which was once so bad that parents wouldn’t let their children use the restrooms there, Guyer said.
The refurbished center offers a safe place for children to play pool and ping-pong, watch movies and use computers. It also has a full kitchen and is used as a substation for Pasco County deputies, Guyer said.
The community center revitalization was a boost for the neighborhood, said Lisa Drevermann, a Dade Oaks resident for two years.
“It’s a totally different atmosphere that it was when I came in. It makes you feel a lot safer,” Drevermann said.
She’s looking forward to having a playground where she can take her children. She has a 4-year-old daughter, Lily Clemons and a 1-year-old son, Liam Clemons.
Crystal Wilson, another Dade Oaks resident, said her four children are excited about getting a new playground.
“Now the kids will be able to play around here,” Wilson said.
Guyer said the neighborhood’s kids are long overdue for a safe outdoor place to play.
Equipment for the playground is expected to arrive in time for installation in August, Guyer said.
Meanwhile, a concrete block wall – more than 6 feet tall – will be built to keep out the drug dealers, Guyer said.
“It’s a known drug area,” the law enforcement officer said. The drug dealers have worn a path to a spot where they’ve taken out a section of chain link fence so they can cut through.
The wall will go up and the playground will be set up on a 50-by-54-foot plot of ground where the drug dealers used to cut through, Guyer said.
Wilson said she’s glad a wall will be erected.
“They put the fence up four different times,” Wilson said. She hopes the wall will put an end to the parade of drug dealers who “walk in and out, all hours of the night.”
Saint Leo University was instrumental in the community center revitalization and also is playing a key role in the playground project, Guyer said.
“They were involved since Day 1,” she said.
Ana Di Donato, assistant vice president for student services at Saint Leo University, said students from the university’s Servant Leadership class got involved with the community center project and once they got to know the neighborhood kids, they wanted to continue helping them.
Amanda Cassar, president of the Student Government Union, and Jessica Cannon, who sits on the student government board, told Di Donato that the children in the neighborhood need a playground.
The student government executive board voted to devote $10,000 of its budget for playground equipment.
Guyer sees the playground as another step in the right direction for Dade Oaks.
“It’s the rebirth of this community,” Guyer said.
