Longboat revisiting the need for a new rec center

Longboat Key is using $40,000 it put aside in this year’s budget to determine whether it needs a new recreation center at Bayfront Park.

It’s a project that has been discussed for years but was rejected by voters in 2004.

The idea of building a new center is being revisited by town officials because the existing facility is falling behind the town’s needs.

“This (the $40,000) is to hire an architect to review the potential for a new recreation center facility,” Public Works Director Isaac Brownman wrote in an email. “The work will include recreation center programming and size analysis, conceptual layout and design elements, and cost estimates. Some of this work has already been done in the past on this, so this effort will be to update those original concepts and analyses.”

The current 1,350-square-foot building was donated in 1984 to the town by Murray “Murf” Klauber, owner of the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort.

Klauber had purchased the old Far Horizons Resort and donated that resort’s old tennis clubhouse to the town and even paid to have the building moved to its location in Bayfront Park.

“It’s an old wooden building that needs to be redone,” said Mark Richardson, the town’s Streets, Facilities, Parks & Recreation manager. “It’s showing its age.”

In 2003, then-Mayor Jim Brown chaired an advisory committee that recommended a new, $5.9 million rec center on the property, but voters rejected the idea in 2004. 

The town had just finished building a new Town Hall and fire station and voters were worried about too much spending.

In 2011, an architect was hired to combine elements of the 2003 plan with a revised Bayfront Park vision. Public workshops in 2012 led to resident feedback, but commissioners put the plan on hold.

Now with the town partnering with Ringling College of Art and Design on the Longboat Key Arts, Culture and Education Center, which will include a black box theater, town officials are looking again at the idea of building a rec center, albeit a smaller version of the one planned previously.

“All of its electrical work and plumbing is outdated,” said Richardson, adding that the building needs an elevator for seniors who have trouble navigating its stairs.

The recreation center is still a popular destination, regardless of its age,  Richardson said. 

Between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, around 4,300 people came to the center to participate in events, such as fitness classes. By comparison, the center drew 3,300 people a year earlier.

Brown applauds the renewed efforts but worries the project may have to start all over again.

“There is no one here that was here 10 years ago,” said Brown, adding that the town now has a new manager, and new people at the Planning, Zoning and Building Department, as well as Public Works.

“No one has any idea of the hours already put in,” he said. “This needs to be done, but we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

Longboat Key is using $40,000 it put aside in this year’s budget to determine whether it needs a new recreation center at Bayfront Park, a project that has been discussed for years and rejected by voters who did not want to lose adjacent tennis courts.

The idea of building a new center is again being revisited by town officials because the existing facility is not adequate.

 “This (the $40,000) is to hire an architect to review the potential for a new recreation center facility,” Public Works Director Isaac Brownman wrote in an email.  “The work will include recreation center programming and size analysis, conceptual layout and design elements, and cost estimates.  Some of this work has already been done in the past on this, so this effort will be to update those original concepts and analyses.”

The current 1,350-square-foot building was donated in 1984 to the town by Murray “Murf” Klauber, owner of the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort.

Klauber had purchased the old Far Horizons Resort and donated that resort’s old tennis clubhouse to the town and even paid to have the building moved to its current location in Bayfront Park.

“It’s an old wooden building that needs to be redone,” said Mark Richardson, the town’s Streets, Facilities, Parks & Recreation Manager. “It’s showing its age.”

In 2012 there were plans to build an 18,000-square-foot recreation center that would have included a black box theater.  More than 67% of Longboat voters, however, rejected the $5.5 million project.

Now with the town partnering with Ringling College of Art and Design on the Longboat Key Arts, Culture and Education Center – which will include a black box theater – town officials are revisiting the idea of building a rec center, albeit a smaller version of the one planned a decade ago.

“All of its electrical work and plumbing is outdated,” said Richardson, adding that the building needs an elevator for seniors who have trouble navigating its stairs.

Despite being outdated, the recreation center gets used, Richardson said. Between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, around 4,300 people came to the center to participate in events, such as fitness classes. By comparison, the center drew 3,300 people during the same period a year earlier.

Commissioner Jim Brown, who has been vocal in calling for a new facility for Longboat residents for years, said he applauds the renewed efforts to build a recreation. But, he worries that the project may have to start all over again.

“There is no one here that was here 10 years ago,” said Brown, adding that the town now has a new manager, and new people at the Planning, Zoning and Building Department, as well as Public Works.

“No one has any idea of the hours already put in,” he said. “This needs to be done, but we don’t have to re-invent the wheel.”