Hugh Culverhouse Jr. gets back $26-million pledge to the University of Alabama

Never miss a Feature: Subscribe to Florida Trend

PHILANTHROPY

• Hugh Culverhouse Jr., the son of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ founding owner, will get back a $26-million pledge he made to the University of Alabama. Culverhouse, 70, had criticized that state for banning nearly all abortions and called on students to boycott the university. The Alabama law, with no exceptions made for rape and incest, bans abortion except if there is a serious health risk to the mother. University of Alabama trustees also voted to remove Culverhouse’s name from what had been the Culverhouse School of Law (photo right).

HEATH CARE

• Moffitt Cancer Center and AdventHealth will jointly open an outpatient cancer center (annex on right in photo) on the campus of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel. It’s scheduled to open fall 2020.
• Tampa General Hospital and Fast Track Urgent Care have teamed up to open 10 urgent care clinics in Tampa Bay, including two in Pinellas County.
• The Lakewood Ranch Medical Center has completed a $28.5-million expansion.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Polk County, home to a 1-million-sq.-ft. Amazon fulfillment center, will now get a 285,000-sq.- ft. air cargo complex that Amazon is building at Lakeland Linder International Airport. The cargo center will create 1,000 jobs, Lakeland officials say, and will cost $100 million to build.
• Benderson Development, the builder of the University Town Center mall near the border of Manatee and Sarasota counties, plans to add office space, hotels, restaurants, apartments and entertainment venues at the mall. Construction could start next year.

EDUCATION

• The University of South Florida St. Petersburg has started construction on a $30-million, 375- bed residence and dining hall.

GOVERNMENT

• The Collier County School Board approved paying $5 million to Zyscovich Architects of Miami to design and oversee construction of a new high school in North Naples.
• Venice’s landmark, 600-foot fishing pier is closed this summer while it undergoes more than $738,000 in repairs. The pier, which should open by this fall, sustained damage during Hurricane Irma in 2017.
• Newly elected Tampa Mayor Jane Castor has created five advisory teams to help her develop strategies to address city challenges, including transportation, workforce development, affordable housing, construction services and sustainability/resiliency.

TECHNOLOGY

• Publix Super Markets, with 800 stores in Florida, plus more than 400 in other states, plans to implement a new mobile pay system using a Publix app. The change will happen in stages, first for shoppers using Apple devices and then Android users.
• The city of Bradenton is working on an app that will allow utility customers to use their phones to pay utility bills and ask questions of city staff.

MANUFACTURING

• Hine Automation in St. Petersburg has nearly doubled its manufacturing space to 12,445 square feet, its fourth expansion since 2009. The company makes automation systems and robotic components for the semiconductor, solar and flat-panel display industries.
• Tampa’s Brew Bus Brewing will open a microbrewery, beer garden and restaurant in Pasco County’s Wesley Chapel community, creating 46 jobs.
  1 2 NEXT »

  Tags: Southwest, Feature