Tampa senior center gets a facelift
Staff writer
The hundred-year-old Tampa Senior Center soon will appear much younger, thanks to renovations made by the Tampa Pride committee.
After the committee helped repair the town’s baseball field last year, members turned their attention to the senior center.
Although it is called a senior center, the red-brick building is really more of a community hall; it is the site of meetings, bridal showers, birthday parties, class reunions, dances, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
But age has not been kind to the building.
“There were a lot of cosmetic problems,” Tampa Pride board member Catarina Rziha said. “Our ceiling tiles were sagging, had cracks, stains. Our walls had cracks, dings, and were discolored. The floor is a hundred-year-old oak floor. It was banged up, and needed a good cleaning.”
Rziha and the rest of the committee began discussing renovation six months ago. After setting a $35,000 budget, raising money, and getting the go-ahead from Tampa’s city council, they began work four weeks ago.
“We’re in the final stages.” Rhiza said. “We’re hoping to be done with the project at the end of April.”
Money was raised by private donors, the Tampa Foundation, and Tampa Pride.
A match granting by Marion Community Foundation doubled the funds.
Rziha recruited Lika Cobb, a designer and owner of McPherson boutique La Belle, to help “beautify” the senior center.
“She graciously agreed to come in and look at our building,” Rziha said. “She’s worked on older buildings before, and thought this project was doable and she’s been here every day since.”
The team has altered the layout slightly, creating a kids’ play corner and moving a section holding Tampa school memorabilia — old class photos and trophies — closer to the door. It was previously “smushed in the back,” Rhiza said.
With new light green walls and a black ceiling dotted with tile lights and small chandeliers, the space is brighter than before. The color palette feels almost festive.
“It’s a cosmetic facelift,” Rhiza said. “It’s beautification, not a structural thing.”
Some improvements, such as improved bathrooms and a redone exterior, will not be completed under the guise of this project.
But with a start like this, it’s easy to see the old center last a hundred years more.
“It’s been a labor of love for us,” Tampa Pride board member Kristina Kraemer said.