A First for Lacoochee: A Community Center

Florida Senator Bill Nelson, in the middle, and HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Ed Jennings, Jr., behind the Senator, celebrate with local dignitaries the opening of the community center. Photo by Richard Riley

Community centers and paved roads are nearly granted in most societies; not so for rural Lacoochee, Florida, one of the poorest populations in the state. This is why, when a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the end of January, more than 300 persons, including federal, state and local officials braved a downpour and attended smiling.

They celebrated the opening doors of a 16,000-square-foot center with a health clinic, a Boys & Girls club with structured afterschool program, a gymnasium, a sheriff's substation, a library, a computer lab and space for job training, and even a stage for performances. It was also the return of hope for economic development and progress to the area. HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Ed Jennings Jr. joined FL Senator Bill Nelson and Billy Brown, Executive Vice-President of the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative for the occasion.

Throughout the past five years, HUD has funded several aspects of this remarkable transformation. From the original $50,000 for a study of critical needs, and $300,000 in Community Development Block Grant for the community center, to a $3.5 million loan to Pasco County for infrastructure improvements in the area, it is a combined effort. A welcome addition is the construction of sidewalks along US 301. This job is being performed by the Florida Department of Transportation, in association with the Pasco Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson and HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Ed Jennings Jr., are greeted by the beneficiaries of the new afterschool program in Lacoochee. Photo by Richard Riley

Also, homes are more desirable now. Pasco County Community Development has funded the construction of multiple Habitat for Humanity houses in the neighborhood using HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization and HOME funds. Fortunately, The Lacoochee-Trilby area in Central Florida is not so remote anymore.

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