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Bowen: Herculean effort needed to reopen park and pool

 
Published Jan. 29, 2015

The swimming pool at the former Hercules Aquatic Center in Zephyrhills is still empty. Unless you count trash and rainwater.

Consider that a public service announcement and a reminder of a wasted asset.

It's worth keeping the Hercules site in mind because Pasco County is about to embark on a long-term parks and recreation master plan, the details of which will be presented to commissioners in a March 3 workshop. (See related story on this page.) But in an October preview, consultants reported that telephone interviews and mail surveys of 621 people revealed the public's top two priorities: taking better care of existing facilities, and adding water facilities and programs — splash parks, swimming pools, water fitness and swimming lessons.

So, what about that Hercules Aquatic Center? The county shuttered it in a cost-savings maneuver in 2011 and returned the 16-acre property to its previous owner, the Pasco School District.

I toured the site more than a year ago and found it to be a public embarrassment. An overgrown exercise trail. The junior Olympic-size swimming pool empty except for rainwater, mildewed deck furniture and the red plastic floats used to separate the swim lanes. A vandalized bathhouse and knocked-over barbecue grills completed the setting.

It hasn't improved since.

"It's gotten worse,'' said Ray Gadd, the School District's deputy superintendent. "We've had more vandalism.''

Meanwhile, the city of Zephyrhills is opening a skate park Saturday, a quarter-million-dollar investment that is expected to draw skateboard enthusiasts from Tampa and Lakeland. The rebuilt park at Krusen Field replaces the original asphalt skate park that opened more than a decade ago with some assistance from Pasco County.

Even as city officials prepare to snip the grand-opening ribbon, they're already thinking about the next park — Hercules. This month, the City Council gave preliminary approval to the School District to rezone 2.5 acres of the property that sits on the corner of CR 54 and U.S. 301. An appraisal has put the value at $1.5 million, money the district could use in its capital construction budget. Gadd said the district is willing to turn over the rest of the land to the city for its use as long as overflow parking is available for events held next door at Zephyrhills High School.

The city, however, has come up with a convoluted alternative to try to preserve the corner of the park from commercial development and instead use it as a gateway to the city. Under this plan, the city would buy the land from the School District using a federal Community Development Block Grant and the proceeds from selling a separate piece of the park.

It's based on a lot of what if's, and some council members aren't eager to become real estate speculators. Not to mention, it means a $1.5 million investment for 2.5 acres for aesthetics instead of, say, using the grant to actually improve the park facilities.

So, here's a different idea. The city could let the School District sell the corner, get title to the remaining 13 acres and approach Pasco County about a jointly funded park and swimming pool.

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It allows both the city and county to expand their recreational offerings and would let the county reverse its regrettable decision to close the pool. It also responds directly to the public's two top priorities in the county park master plan — to take better care of what we already have and to provide more pools and water recreation.

And, here's why Pasco County should consider financially contributing to a reopened park and pool in Zephyrhills — the city isn't greedy.

Through the end of the 2014 fiscal year, the Zephyrhills Community Redevelopment Agency had taken just $563,000 from the county via property taxes attributed to higher values within the city's modest redevelopment district.

That's not an annual allocation. That's the total amount since city redevelopment started in 1998.

Contrast that to the west side municipal governments of New Port Richey and Port Richey, which declared their entire cities blighted more than a dozen years ago. That designation means all of the new property tax revenue attributed to higher real estate values goes to cities' coffers, not the county's.

The result? Through the end of the last fiscal year, Pasco County had cut checks totaling nearly $20 million to New Port Richey and Port Richey.

"Wow,'' said Zephyrhills City Manager Steve Spina.

Wow, indeed. It's also worth noting that one of New Port Richey's largest redevelopment investments has been a $14 million overhaul of its swimming pool and recreation center.

Maybe a repaired and jointly operated swimming pool and park in Zephyrhills will be one way for Pasco County to provide a little wow to its east-side residents, too.