LEESBURG — The city will build a new modern community center at Venetian Gardens as part of its ongoing renovations of the 65-acre park and its quest to restore the Lake Harris site to its former glory as a favorite destination for area residents.
The new one-story multipurpose facility will replace the city’s current aging community center with preliminary plans calling for a 20,000-plus-square-foot building with a covered entry, lobby, grand ballroom, catering kitchen, outdoor covered porch and restrooms.
Estimated cost of the new center is $3.7 million, with an additional $1.5 million for parking and landscaping, according to an April 24 City Commission agenda.
“We’re still in the early planning stages with this,” said Derek Hudson, the city’s public information officer. “We want to have a center that will serve the community in the best way possible, so plans could change to reflect that.”
The new center will be built southwest of the site of the existing center, which will be demolished to make room for parking, with the ballroom facing Martin Luther King Island.
“It’ll be pretty impressive when it goes up,” City Commissioner Elise Dennison said.
The city has already completed several major projects at the park, constructed during the Depression as a federal public works program, including a complete revamping of Kids Korner at Rogers Park, including new playground equipment, along with the construction of a new popular splash pad, along with restrooms and a large community pavilion.
The new playground, which opened a year ago, and the water park, which opened in early May, has already made waves among residents, especially with young families.
“We’re finally getting rid of the old rundown, uncared for stuff and giving the people of Leesburg an opportunity to use the park,” said Dennison, an early proponent of the splash pad.
Meanwhile, enhancements totaling $2.49 million for the Ski Beach park area are underway, including a boat ramp and docks, walkways, decorative fencing and lighting, along with a paved road, picnic area, restrooms and a new pedestrian bridge connecting Rogers Park to other islands. Construction should be completed by fall.
Once the new center’s plans are complete, the city’s aging pool, built decades ago, will be demolished to make way for even more parking along Dozier Circle, which also will be redeveloped into a public and commercial mixed-used area, Hudson said.
“We’d like to have a couple of restaurants come in,” he said.
A new swimming-pool complex is also in the planning stage, but its location hasn’t been determined yet,
“We’re considering several sites,” Hudson said. Estimated cost for the pool, bath house and parking is nearly $3.5 million, according to the agenda.
Dennison said construction on the new Community Center likely will begin in March or April.
“When everything’s done, it will be quite something,” she said. “We’re looking to bring a lot more of the community down to Venetian Gardens.”
An earlier version of this article misstated the proposed location of the new community center.
