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LARGO — It has been one year since the city celebrated the grand opening of its state-of-the-art community center on Alternate Keene Road, and if you frequently visit the $10.5 million center, you've noticed that two more construction projects are reaching completion nearby.
First, the city is putting the finishing touches on Avenue of the Palms, a new east-west street between two buildings at the Palms of Largo. It links Lake Avenue and Alternate Keene Road.
Several years ago, when the center was still in the planning stages, city officials recognized there would be a need to create an easy path to the traffic signal at Lake Avenue and East Bay Drive, said Carol Stricklin, the community development director for Largo.
"We knew that when people exit the community center, some would want to turn left onto Bay Drive,'' she said. "And you cannot do that on Alternate Keene.''
So in 2010, the Goodman Group, which owns the Palms of Largo and donated the land for the community center, gave the city an easement to build the street.
"(Avenue of the Palms) now provides a way to get people over to Lake and to the signal there easily,'' said Stricklin. "This alleviates the traffic problem.
With its 6-foot-wide sidewalks, Avenue of the Palms also will be a part of the city's urban trail system, Stricklin said.
Renovations to the nearby Highland Recreation Complex, to be completed next year, will provide a new entrance to that facility at Lake Avenue. Avenue of the Palms then will become a direct route between the recreation center and the community center.
"Ultimately, with an urban trail system, our goal is for people to be able to go between the area's centers, including the parks like Central Park and Eagle Lake Park, as well as Highland Recreation Center and the community center," Stricklin said. "A lot of thought went into the design of Avenue of the Palms, with its extra-wide sidewalks, so this is a good example of our long-range plan.''
Warren Ankerberg, the director of the community center, said he has enjoyed watching the progress of the road project.
"The new road is great,'' Ankerberg said. "We have so many seniors driving to and from the community center. Now that it is easier for people to get over to the traffic light, it's much safer.''
A second construction project along Alternate Keene Road will serve the residents of the Palms of Largo. The Palms will soon have "the Plaza,'' said Gary Solomonson, the vice president of sales, marketing and new development for the Goodman Group.
The Palms, an intergenerational residential community on 95 acres, already includes six buildings, each specializing in a certain level of assisted living care, as well as a separate apartment development for independent living called Imperial Palms.
However, it lacks a "town center," said Solomonson.
"Over the years we've been busy with other projects at the Palms of Largo, and now we are finally able to build this. We have always wanted a destination center, a place for coffee and ice cream,'' he said.
The $3.2 million project includes a restaurant for residents and employees of the Palms, a gazebo for celebrations, a decorative fountain and several kiosks for marketing and administration needs.
"If you look at the history of this country, in small towns like the one I grew up in in Minnesota, there was always a place that you could walk to, a local cafe perhaps,'' Solomonson said. "We want our residents to have that hometown feel.''
Piper Castillo can be reached at (727) 445-4163 or pcastillo@tampabay.com. To write a letter to the editor, go to tampabay.com/letters.
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