By Chris Wilson

After a group of west Gainesville citizens had made a presentation to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), a debate has suddenly been sparked over whether to build a proposed recreation center in the Tower Rd. area or at Jonesville Park, located at the intersection of C.R. 241 and NW 32nd Ave.

The Tower Rd.Site
The concerned citizens who made their pitch to the board at the April 22 public hearing are proposing that the county purchase the church and property located on the northwest corner of the Tower Rd. and SW 24th Ave.intersection. The 4,000-square-foot building and 3-acre parcel of property currently is for sale by Mitchell Realty Services.

In December, the BOCC denied a Comprehensive Plan amendment that would have allowed for the property to be developed with an additional 10,000 square feet of office and retail space and 12-14 residential units. At that time, the BOCC decided the impact upon the traffic on already-over-capacity roads would be too great. The BOCC previously had approved an additional 37,000 square feet of retail space on the southeast corner, adjacent to the current site of Walgreens.

The center is being proposed as a “passive”?recreation center for activities such as club meetings, scout meetings, senior activities and music recitals.

“We’re coming to you now, because we don’t want it to wait any longer,” said resident Alison Law. “The property is for sale now.”

“We desperately need it,”?says Law. “The (Tower Rd. branch) library is booked solid. I know because I’ve tried to book a lot of things in there. Everybody struggles for meeting space, including homeowners’ associations, clubs, classes, music teachers.”

Law, who says she will commit one-year of her time as a volunteer to get the proposed center running, says several of the area’s subdivisions are larger than the county’s small cities combined. In addition, she cites Alachua County’s Health and Human Services statistics that show the area has more households (more than 14,000) with an annual income less than $25,000 compared to East Gainesville, which has a little more than 10,000 households in that category. “People think that we are all Haile Plantation and that we are all rich,”?says Law. “That is not so.”

Residents cited that a large number of residents live within walking and biking distance of the site, which also is on the Regional Transit System Route 75. “It may be a wise use to balance the intense uses that were recently approved for the adjacent Tower/24 activity center,” says area resident Rob Cubert.

Cubert cited a recently approved $1.5-million appropriation to animal services as possibly adequate to purchase the land and building. He also cited the amount of money that property owners in the area pay toward the Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) for recreation as a possibility of funding operation costs of the center. “It seems equitable to allocate some of the MSTU revenue to this facility, so that these citizens can more directly receive benefits that they are paying for,”?says Cubert.

“There is a community center planned for Kanapaha Park,” says Alachua County parks superintendent Robert Avery.

“I think we need to be realistic about what it would take to not only acquire, but to renovate and operate a facility like that,”?says commissioner Mike Byerly. “We’re not going to be able to buy it and move in and start holding classes. It’s going to take a substantial investment.” Byerly argued that it may be more cost effective to build a new facility on land already owned by the county, such as Kanapaha Park.

Commissioner Paula Delaney argued that most of the west Gainesville area voted in favor of the property tax Amendment 1, which she believes sends the message that homeowners in the area feel like they’re paying enough for these types of uses.

Kanapaha vs. Jonesville
The debate ended with a motion for the county manager Randall Reid to investigate the financial feasibility of purchasing the Tower/24 site and renovating the current structure or putting a similar structure at Kanapaha Park. Another alternative the county will investigate is purchasing universal insurance to allow citizen groups to meet in the public schools.

However, county commissioners also began a debate over whether a facility is more needed in Jonesville or in the Tower Rd. area.

“The multi-purpose building that’s going to happen in Jonesville will be a reality,” says commissioner Lee Pinkoson. “And, what was addressed about 100,000 people (using the site) is a little more regional in nature. Some of what you’re proposing with the events could probably take place at that multi-purpose facility because it’s going to be much bigger in scope.”

Commissioner Byerly says he believes a center is more needed in the Tower Rd. vicinity because of the concentration of population in the area. “I think there are higher priorities closer in to the established communities that we’ve already built that are being passed over as we go further and further west,”?says Byerly.

Byerly says the logical source for funding the proposed Tower Rd. project would come from other recreation initiatives around the county, such as the projects at Jonesville Park.

“If we’re going to build two community centers in the western part of the county, why are we starting in Jonesville rather than in the other (area) where a far greater portion of the population resides and lives within walking distance?” says Byerly. “I think it’s a good question and one that needs to be looked into.”

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut cited the fact that Jonesville Park is receiving a large portion of funding for its projects from private citizens and groups. The baseball/softball fields are being paid for, in part, by the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville and the proposed tennis center has received a donation by David Porter and his company Jonesville Tennis, LLC. The Alachua County Library District also is committed to building a Jonesville branch that would share space with a county recreation facility at Jonesville Park, although that project still could be years away.

While the Tower Rd. group says it has some help lined up from the local YMCA and other recreation sources, the group, unlike the Jonesville projects, does not yet have any commitment in terms of dollars and cents.

According to county manager Reid, the county has not reached the point?on any of the Jonesville projects where some of that money could not be re-allocated to a project in southwest Gainesville.

“I’m not in favor of changing anything that we’re doing in Jonesville,” says Pinkoson. “I think we’ve made a commitment to a number of different groups. It will serve a number of different areas, including Newberry, Alachua, Archer and the western part of Gainesville.”

We want to know what you think. Would you prefer to see further development of Jonesville Park or would you rather see that money allocated to a recreation or community center in the Tower Rd. area? Click here. Please include your name, phone number and address.