Skills Center recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its $14 million Youth center in Hillsborough County named Skills Center Collaborative. This project has been in the works for about 15 years and according to the CEO, Celeste Roberts, the event represented a major milestone in her vision of reshaping the lives of youths in East Tampa through various Skills Center programs.
The ground breaking event for the Skills Center Collaborative facility was attended by Mayor Jane Castor, U.S. Rep Kathy Castor, several other elected officials, supporters and donors. Roberts addressed the gathering and expressed her heartfelt gratitude for their support and well wishes. She announced that the 55,000-square-foot facility would be opened next year in a former skating rink, which has been vacant for decades, at 5107 N 22nd Street in the Belmont Heights neighborhood.
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Skills Center Collaborative project received Public and Private Financial support worth up to $9 million
Development plans for the 55,000-square-foot Skills Center Collaborative facility will cover three gymnasiums, an esports venue, a job training and education space, a health and nutrition demonstration kitchen, coworking office spaces, and an event arena. This new Youth Center is scheduled to open by fall 2022, and has received support from both the city and private donors. Financial support of about $1.5 million will be provided by Tampa and Hillsborough County, while several private donors have offered several millions towards this course. Developers and state officials are enthusiastic about this new development and it is expected that  the new Youth Center will provide about 180 jobs and produce an economic impact of more than $25 million over the next five years.
Some private donors that made the largest donations for the Skills Center Collaborative facility include The Forever Young Foundation, The Tampa Bay Lightning, Bloomin’ Brands, The Toronto Raptors and The NBA. Tampa Bay Lightning’s $100,000 check was presented by VP Elizabeth Frazier, for developing the Skills Center’s new field hockey space. Also Chris Ward, a former professional athlete and vice president of the Skills center, showed off a check of $350,000, from the Toronto Raptors basketball team. According to Bobbi Davis, the chair of the resource development committee, up to $9 million has been raised to develop this project and the capital campaign still needs about $5 million more to go.Â
