On August 26, Wharton-Smith joined the Seminole Tribe of Florida to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the Lakeland Reservation’s Ruby Tiger Community Center. See photos.
The 35,000 SF community center features a gymnasium, exercise room, game room, culture room, offices, and an outdoor swimming pool. A large mural featuring the tribe’s clans covers an outside wall near the entrance.
A mural in the community center honors Ruby Tiger, who was Tampa’s matriarch. Tiger was crucial in keeping the Tampa tribal members together after they moved off tribal land.
“It was an incredible honor to deliver this project to the Seminole Tribe of Florida,” said Senior Project Manager Steven Gregory. “Building a facility that holds such significance for the tribe means a great deal to us. We’re excited to turn this building over to the community so it can be used for generations to come.”
