Community

TECO’s Polk 2 team builds playground for community in Mulberry

The team from the Polk 2 Combined-Cycle Project at Loyce Harpe Park.
The team from the Polk 2 Combined-Cycle Project at Loyce Harpe Park.

When it comes to doing good things in the community, this team from the Polk 2 Combined-Cycle Project isn’t playing around – they’ll leave that to a generation of children who will reap the benefits of their work.

The team, including members from Robins & Morton, Black & Veatch and Tampa Electric, spent Oct. 24 in Mulberry, Fla., on a community event and teambuilding exercise to install a new play area at Loyce Harpe Park. The park receives about 100,000 visitors each year, according to Ameé Bailey, senior planner with Polk County’s Parks and Natural Resource Division. The 35 volunteers doubled the size of the play area with new merry-go-rounds, slides, jungle gyms and more – a significant portion covered by permanent canopies that provide shade. New fencing and mulch added to the site’s fresh look.

From left: Vessie Tenorio (with Robins & Morton); TECO's Hector Gonzalez and Chris Tuggle; and also with Robins & Morton, Jason Denesha.
From left: Vessie Tenorio (with Robins & Morton); TECO’s Hector Gonzalez and Chris Tuggle; and also with Robins & Morton, Jason Denesha.

“This shows why public-private partnerships are so important,” Bailey said of the enhanced playground. “Without TECO, it might have been another five years before this got done.”

Activity committee members included team lead Chris Tuggle, senior engineer; Glenn Morse, planner-estimator; and Karl Fabel, supervisor of generation, representing the Polk 2 Combined Cycle Project’s Construction Management team. Joining them on the committee were Lindsey Dowling and Adam Luguire, both from Robins & Morton, the project’s general contractor.

“It was a great project for us because it brought our team together in a unique way, and even better, it gave us the opportunity to do something for the community,” Tuggle said. “Hopefully, parents and their kids will enjoy this play area for years to come, and it’s because of the hard work by this team of Tampa Electric, Polk County and terrific contractors Robins & Morton and Black & Veatch that it was possible.”

TECO's Jeff Butts, left, and Steve McKee, from Black & Veatch, dig in.
TECO’s Jeff Butts, left, and Steve McKee, from Black & Veatch, dig in.

 

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