In April, an incident that involved the Playhouse resulted in the temporary closure of our facility. A semi-truck backed into the Lightning Room afterhours causing structural damage. GiGi’s Playhouse Tampa was issued an order to vacate by the Fire Marshal, shutting down operations at our home location. New Beginnings Christian Church (4100 South Manhattan Ave, Tampa, FL 33611) has graciously allowed us to utilize their facility for all programmatic needs.
The loss of access to our Playhouse and its effects have been felt far and wide. Staff and Board Members have been diligently working with all parties involved to ensure the fastest route to re-entry. To ensure the building is safe for our participants and families, this entails a long process of coordination with the City of Tampa and contractors.
At this time, structural engineers are assessing the integrity of the building. In addition to this, permits are being sought to lift the vacate order and to commence construction repairs. Once these two items are finalized, we will then be given a timeline regarding re-entry.
How our community can help us right now…
- Register for and attend summer programming.
- Respond to courtesy confirmation texts from our Program Coordinator.
- Cancel attendance online if you cannot attend a program that you registered for.
- Refrain from calling the Playhouse and in lieu opt to send an email.
Office staff are still available during office hours to assist. The best method of contact is email as phone calls may result in a delayed response – tampa@gigisplayhouse.org.
