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Center plans just need one last touch: a roof
The City Council is mostly satisfied with the design for a recreation complex, but it wants to top it off just right.
By ALEX LEARY
Published February 23, 2005
NEW PORT RICHEY - From 25 feet on down, everyone agrees: The design for the $9.5-million recreation complex is vastly improved. Now if only the roof would come around.
City Council members got a look at revised drawings for the complex Tuesday night and were generally impressed, though they instructed the architect to rework the roofing again.
"It doesn't fit anything we have here," council member Ginny Miller said. She said the shell shape is too "alien" and called for a more elegant sweep, to the agreement of other council members.
But architect Robert Bitterli left Tuesday with a measure of optimism, telling the council, "We're getting there."
The new concept attempts to incorporate the city's varied architecture and natural surroundings. There are more arches, more windows, more color: The blue-tinted glass reflects the river flowing through the city, and the light green roofing is inspired, in part, by the Cafe Grand.
Tile replaces brick and trees play a greater role in the landscape.
"It looks real lively . . . like somewhere people want to go," council member Matthew McCaffery said.
"It's a place that incites your curiosity," council member Tom Finn said.
Bitterli of Harper Partners Inc. in St. Petersburg will revisit that design and report back to the city in two weeks.
The 35,000-square-foot building - roughly equivalent to a small supermarket - would include two gyms, three multipurpose rooms, a fitness center, running track, and more. An outdoor pool would have separate areas for diving, laps and children.
"It'll be a showcase," said Bob Consalvo, the city's parks and recreation director.
The current building on Van Buren Street was built in 1969, with a pool added later.
If all goes as planned, construction would begin in August and the new complex would replace the old one in the summer of 2006. Consalvo said it could cost $107,000 annually to operate but bring in $130,000 in revenue.
[Last modified February 23, 2005, 00:35:16]
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