- April 25, 2024
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Local officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for the Palm Coast Community Center renovation Feb. 14. (Photos by Jonathan Simmons)
Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland addressed the audience at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Community Center expansion and renovation.
Construction had already started on the community center renovation by the time the city held its official groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 14.
"Buildings ... house our ambitions, they house our development, they house our leisure times," city of Palm Coast Video Production Coordinator Tom Hansen said. "In this case, this structure has done all of the above."
Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland remembers watching the city celebrate at the Palm Coast Community Center after the vote for the city's incorporation. She remembers her father being sworn in a ceremony at the center as one of the city's first council members.
On Feb. 14, she gathered with other local officials for a groundbreaking ceremony for the center's renovation and expansion, and the crowd watched as workers in excavators knocked down the old walls that had encompassed so many of the city's most important moments, so new ones could be erected in their place.
"There's a lot of fond memories I have of this location," Holland said. "I watched him get sworn in here, I watched the city celebrate the vote when it became incorporated, I brought my children here for many Easter egg hunts that were housed back here over the years, and all three of my children attended summer camp here."
She gave attendees a bit of history: The Community Center at the intersection of Palm Coast Parkway and Clubhouse Drive was constructed in 1977 for $235,000, and, in its early years, housed the community's YMCA. In 1980, the Community Center became the community's first polling place.
As the city's population rose after its incorporation, the city outgrew the space. Proposals to simply add a few new rooms on the old building were scrapped because it would have needed other major renovations, including ones to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Our organizations, clubs and those who rented the space needed more room," Holland said. "We'd reached capacity." The building has long been a place that brings people together, she said.
"I think it's appropriate that we're having this recognition today on Valentine's Day, because the Community Center really is the heart of our community," she said. "It really demonstrates how people come together — different walks of life, different diverse backgrounds and all ages utilize this facility."
The expanded Community Center will be 21,232 square feet — about three times the size it is now — and cost $7,997,500, with a guaranteed maximum price of $7,830,036 for the construction. It's expected to be mostly complete in January 2018 and ready for use in March 2018. Work had already begun in early February, before the groundbreaking.
Palm Coast City Councilman Steve Nobile said he was excited to see the project finally begin after so much planning and preparation.
"I like to see when we do something and the end-user is going to be the resident," he said. "We want to give them a quality space to meet. I think this is going to be a shining star in this area."
Holland point out that the city is paying for the center's construction with money from sales tax, and urged people to shop local, "because every time you shop in Palm Coast, the money stays here, and we're able to take those dollars and translate them into projects such as this."
Former Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts, who was succeeded by Holland this past November after he'd served the maximum number of terms allowed under city ordinance, attended the ceremony and watched the building he'd led so many City Council meetings in come down.
He said the city's needs when the Community Center was built were much different than its needs today, and minor changes wouldn't have been sensible.
"We talked at great length about trying to retrofit this," he said. "Nothing made sense. This is going to be triple the space. I think it's great." He said he did feel for the community groups that would be displaced during the reconstruction.
"Nothing comes without a little but of pain, but it's going to be worth it," he said.
For details and photos as the project progresses, see palmcoastgov.com/communitycenter.
