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PAUL SWIDERA pool, new activities building and large green area are planned at the old City Hall site. It could start next spring.
ST. PETE BEACH - Cresting the bridge on 75th Avenue into the city, drivers have long been treated to a view of parking lots or concrete buildings, but that may soon change with the development of a major city recreation complex.
"I hear such excitement from the community," said Mike Whelan, the city's leisure services director, who unveiled drawings for the revitalized community center that could be open for business in 18 months on the site of the old City Hall.
The opportunity for the complex came about after the city moved its headquarters across 75th Avenue and opened up 2 acres next to an existing gymnasium and community center. With that building as an anchor, the city plans to put a new activities building on the north end and revitalize its popular skate park. To the south will be a public pool, a children's splash pad, a pavilion and bathhouse, and a large green area for events, small concerts or just lounging in the grass. Someday, a waterfront boardwalk may connect the park to the Corey Avenue shopping district.
The new $4.4-million activities building will be 13,000 square feet raised one level, with 10,000 square feet of covered area beneath, Whelan said. Above will be a reconfigurable space that can be a 200-seat theater or four classrooms, as well as variations in between.
The pool is being designed for the public but also for high school and visiting college swim teams, which would generate revenue for the city, Whelan said. There will be six lanes of 75 feet and an area to one side that slopes up to ground level to ease entry for people of all ages. Next to the heated pool will be a bathhouse that connects to a pavilion facing the grassy area for outdoor shows. A playground and splash pad will be on the west. The remaining open green area would be more than an acre, though that amount was frowned upon when Whelan presented the plans to the City Commission, he said.
"What I see here is an attempt to pave over this lot," said Commissioner Ed Ruttencutter, who said he would rather see the entire south part of the property be left open and green. "This clutters it up with something a very small part of the population would ever use."
Ruttencutter pointed to a city survey this year that showed overwhelming support for more open green space in the city. That survey also showed great interest in a public pool, Whelan said.
After required stormwater ponds, the available land would be less than 2 acres. The pool area will occupy less than three-fourths of an acre, meaning the current plan for a 1-acre open park couldn't be very large under any circumstances.
"We're building this for the citizens of St. Pete Beach," Whelan said. "There'll be tourists and so forth, but we're never going to have a giant-sized event there."
Among commissioners, Ruttencutter was alone in resisting the pool and other developments.
"My vision is the complete opposite," Mayor Ward Friszolowski told Ruttencutter. "I see the pool as a green amenity. I see it as the heart of the whole complex. I think this speaks volumes about our city." The other commissioners also endorsed the plan.
The project will go to bid early next year with construction to start in the spring. The cost, estimated at $5.8-million, was also a sticking point for Ruttencutter.
"This thing keeps getting bigger every time we look at it," he said, noting the price tag has grown by half in just a few months. Whelan said the pricing is still fluid and will probably force changes in some aspects of the complex.
The playground, skate park and splash pad will be bid separately to save money. Some elements of the project have already been curbed. Likewise, some money is in grants or already banked from related sources, Whelan said.
The city has $400,000 in grants for the project from the Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program. Another $400,000 has been saved up in the capital improvements fund. Whelan said he is budgeting for $2.4-million to be used from recreation impact fees.
About $800,000, the cost of the pool, will come from general tax revenues, Whelan said, with $1.5-million coming from private fundraising in the community. He said the city is aiming for donations from businesses and wealthy residents, but that he is open to any kind of fundraising that might work. Whelan conceded that the project is expensive but says it will be a jewel at the entrance of the city.
"Those are big numbers and they scare people, but you have to put it in perspective," he said. "We'll do whatever is legal to do that furthers this project, because we think it is a worthy one."