Civic center's best days are once again ahead
By C.T. BOWENS, Editor of Editorials
Published February 5, 2008
The sign on the front door is indicative of the inactivity inside. The sheet of paper tells visitors to the civic association clubhouse that the Crime Watch meeting, scheduled for 14 months ago, moved to a nearby library branch.
The rear of the structure is just as vacant. Grass and weeds grow through shuffleboard courts and someone affixed a "no trespassing" sign to the building.
The dormancy actually started in 2004 at the TAT Civic Association clubhouse, a sprawling 7,500-square-foot structure of meeting space, a game room, library, kitchen, craft room, utilities, storage and offices. The building isn't particularly pretty. It has mustard-colored cinder block walls accented by Pepto-Bismol doors. But, it is functional. Or at least was.
Situated near the westernmost point of Darlington Road, this was the well-known home to spaghetti dinners, flea markets, bingo and dances. Something was going on seven days a week. Politicians couldn't skip an invite there, not with hundreds showing up for the pasta the first Saturday of every month. County commissioners, state legislators, the sheriff and even retired U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis stopped by. The group did 400 meals on a good night, but they still talk about the time they served 600 dinners in three hours.
It was the centerpiece of the Tahitian Homes, Aloha Gardens and Tiki Village neighborhoods - known collectively as TAT -in Holiday. Multiple swimming pools with bathhouses, shuffleboard courts and the large hall helped lure retirees to the buy the modest two-bedroom, one-car garage homes that dominate the streets and fueled the county's Nixon-era building boom.
Eventually, the builder shuttered the structure and it fell into disrepair. The civic group borrowed money to buy and remodel it in 1991, 20 years after it opened. That's when the spaghetti dinners, chicken barbecues, raffles and assorted other fundraisers started in earnest. They even started renting out the place for weddings and private parties. They paid off the debt in July 2004 and planned a mortgage-burning celebration.
"Then Frances joined the party," deadpanned Bruce Zemke, the civic association treasurer.
Frances, as in Tropical Storm Frances, blew through Labor Day weekend in 2004, just six weeks after they retired the debt. Hurricane Jeanne followed three weeks later. The 70 mph winds from Frances stripped the waterproof membrane from the building's roof and the downpour from the two storms made its way inside. The resulting water damage left the place in ruins.
An adjuster put the loss at close to half a million dollars. Citizens Property Insurance Corp. thought less than $380,000 was a more appropriate figure. The civic association sued over the difference and the haggling finally paid off with a settlement check six weeks ago.
The influx of cash is helping to turn the dormant structure back into what the civic group hopes will rival its original heyday. Monday, electricians worked inside the building. The ventilation ducts hang from overhead and the frames are up for the interior walls that will separate the multiple rooms. The civic group says the soon-to-be finished drywall stage will be followed by new lighting, ceiling installation, finished electrical and plumbing work, completing the kitchen and installing vinyl tile flooring. Idyllic blue paint will replace the yellow on the exterior walls and a new TAT Civic Association sign will adorn the exterior.
Organizers hope the restarted renovations will generate some community excitement and help rebuild membership. There are 2,207 homes in the three neighborhoods, but a membership list of just 120 people. It is a common dilemma. The formerly robust civic associations have a hard time attracting new, younger members as the demographics of west Pasco change.
"Everyone wants to come home from work, have a beer and stay home in front of the television," lamented Jim Turtle, president of the TAT Civic Association.
Some neighborhoods have given up their clubhouses. The one in Embassy Hills, for instance, became a charter school. TAT's officers say that is not an option for them.
"We're not doing that here," Turtle pledges. "We're getting back into this building."