- April 24, 2024
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Every week, the 50 to 80 local residents who play pickleball at Nova Community Center take their place on the waiting list. The kids on the city's basketball team are limited to the amount of practice time they can get on one of the only two courts available. And on any given Saturday, the parking lots of both the Nova Center and the South Ormond Neighborhood Center are packed full.
"The facilities we have are completely utilized beyond capacity," said the Director of Leisure Services, Robert Carolin. "We're in a constant battle of who's going to be able to use the gym."
Alleviating the crowds of the city's two community centers is motivating officials to create a third one: the West Ormond Beach Community Center.
Currently, a feasibility study underway to determine the likelihood of constructing a center on a property adjacent to Pathways Elementary School. Zone 3 City Commissioner Rick Boehm originally proposed the idea two years ago, but it was just this past December that the city paid Zev Cohen and Associates $49,887 to start the study.
A joint meeting between the Leisure Service Advisory Board and the Quality of Life Advisory Board was held March 8 to discuss constructing the center on the vacant land, 2200 Airport Road, owned by the Volusia County School Board.
"There was 100% interest," said Dwight DuRant, president of Zev Cohen. "I would say a vast majority of the comments were positive, but there were some concerns as there are with most projects. From a personal standpoint, the major recreational are either central or east in the city, and there's a void in the western side."
DuRant said the feasibility study will take a few more months to complete before they can present it to the city commission. Public hearings will be held to learn what kind of facilities residents would want — though the purpose of the new center wouldn't be entirely recreational.
"We learned with Hurricane Matthew that the police station, which is our emergency command center, is only rated at category two plan center for disaster," said Commissioner Boehm. "It's too close to the river, and the people who were manning it were sleeping on the floor because there wasn't enough space. We're talking about building a community center and a emergency command center that's rated higher and further away for the ocean and river."
Boehm also said the new facility could be used as an event center, which Ormond Beach currently does not have. While he hopes they will build one in the future, the West Ormond Community Center could encourage people to host big events in Ormond, instead of other neighboring cities.
There are high hopes for that 19-acre lot, but Boehm believes it's very possible that the center will happen.
"It's a big project," he said, "but the time has come."
