BEACONS

PALM HARBOR — Pinellas County broke ground April 17 on a recreation center at 1500 16th St. that will replace the 1979 Palm Harbor Senior Center and serve as a hardened emergency shelter for North Pinellas.

The 28,457-square-foot facility will cost more than $14 million, funded through the Penny for Pinellas sales tax.

Plans call for a full-size gymnasium for basketball and pickleball, an elevated indoor walking track, multipurpose rooms, dance and arts spaces and a full kitchen. The building is engineered to shelter up to 498 people during a storm and includes backup power.

The design grew out of community surveys conducted in 2016. Erica Lynford, director of Palm Harbor Parks and Recreation, said residents pushed for specific amenities — none more than the elevated track.

“One of the first things was, do we really need a second floor with an elevated track, Erica? And I said, what? You can cut my office out, but you better leave the track,” Lynford said. “So I won that battle.”

Meghan Bingham of Wannemacher Jensen Architects said the footprint accommodates the full community wish list while meeting shelter standards.

“We really were able to pack it all in,” Bingham said. “And then on top of that, making the whole building a storm shelter, something that was going to bring safety and security during a storm event to the North County residents.”

The building is designated a “step-down” shelter, meaning the county can move evacuees there after a storm passes so schools used as initial shelters can reopen.

“Our commitment to the schools is to move out, get those kids back into the school and start those lives again,” said Adam Pedzich of Pinellas County Emergency Management. “But we still have hundreds of families, post-impact, that need that safe place to go, and this new building will allow us to do that.”

Pedzich credited Lynford and her staff for their work during the 2024 hurricane season, when three storms battered the region.

“I’m sure I’m the last phone call Erica wants to get when there’s a storm out there, but she always answers,” he said.

Lynford said the partnership was forged in real time. “Adam was with emergency management, and I was in North Carolina at a family wedding, and we got to do a lot of conversations during those three storms,” she said.

County Commissioner Dave Eggers said keeping the project funded required discipline on a board with heavy demands on Penny for Pinellas dollars.

“When we had to relook this project again, it was a slam dunk,” Eggers said. “We had to continue to recommit the funds because obviously the Penny for Pinellas is very spoken for, so we had to make sure that we kept it protected.”

Eggers said the center will serve an unincorporated community that functions as the third- or fourth-largest population center in Pinellas County.

Construction is expected to take about 18 months, with the department remaining partially operational. The completed gym will seat 400 for public events and meetings.

Lynford noted that while construction is paid for through Penny for Pinellas, 1% of county property tax supports day-to-day operations.

The ceremony closed with a ceremonial turn of the dirt. Eggers thanked residents and staff who pushed the project through.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you did for this community, this county, but for this facility specifically,” he said.

Residents can track construction progress and find information on temporary program relocations at phparksandrec.org.