County Proposes Closing Some Rec Centers, Building New One in FishHawk

With budget cuts looming, the county parks department is proposing closing some recreation centers and building a new one in FishHawk Ranch.

Tough economic times is forcing the county to take a new look at how it funds its park system and whether it can continue to offer all the programs and services it currently has.

Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Director Mark Thornton has  put together a nine-page proposal of ways to continue funding the parks system.

Among the cuts the county is considering is to do away with the after-school programs at county parks and consolidate recreation centers, according to parks communications director Kemly Jiménez Green.

"We currently have 42 centers and there's been discussion about maybe consolidating them into 12 centers," she said. "This is just a proposal. They haven't determined which centers they would close."

In the strategic plan, Thornton suggests maintaining the Northdale, All People's and University Center rec centers, expanding Westchase, Town 'n Country, Thonotosassa, Brandon, Gardenville and Ruskin, and building new centers in Keystone, Progress Village and FishHawk Ranch.

That would bring the total square footage of programmed space from 242,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet, and each of the remaining centers would be within a five to 15-minute drive of residents.

However, Thornton acknowledged that the parks advisory board had some concerns about shifting from a neighborhood level of service to a regional approach.

Also under consideration is a proposal to stop offering after-school care at  local parks. Each school day, hundreds of children throughout the county take advantage of the county's low-cost after-school care programs.

"These are just ideas and the director will be taking them to the public to ask for input and get other ideas from residents," she said.

Also a part of the proposed strategic plan, Thornton is proposing having local businesses maintain parks and sports fields, currently maintained by the parks department and various baseball, football and soccer leagues.

"Some of these leagues are struggling to keep up with the maintenance costs," said Jimenez Green. "So we're considering contracting the work out to local businesses at a lower cost."

Naming rights is another proposal in the strategic plan. Thornton has proposed selling naming rights for parks and fields along with sponsorships.

Thornton will host a series of public meetings to present the contents of his strategic plan at various locations around the county including at the Brandon Recreation Center, 502 E. Sadie St., Brandon, June 9 at 6:30 p.m. A meeting also is scheduled for the Riverview Civic Center, 11020 Park Drive, Riverview, June 22 at 6:30 p.m.

 Other meetings include  

June 1: Northdale Recreation Center, 15550 Spring Pine Drive in Tampa

June 7: Gardenville Recreation Center, 6219 Symmes Road in Gibsonton

June 8: Winston Recreation Center, 7605 Destin Drive in Tampa

June 14: Thonotosassa Recreation Center, 10132 Skewlee Road in Thonotosassa

June 15: University Area Recreation Center, 14015 N. 22nd St. in Tampa ·        

June 16: All People’s Life Center, 6105 East Sligh Ave. in Tampa

June 20: Westchase Recreation Center, 9791 Westchase Drive in Tampa

June 21: Town ‘N Country Recreation Center, 6039 Hanley Road in Tampa

June 23: Ruskin Recreation Center, 901 6th St. S.E. in Ruskin 
 
Other proposals in the plan include

• Establishing additional partnerships with community organizations to extend limited resources
• Improving technology to allow online registration, payments and easy access of information 

Jimenez Green said closing parks entirely is not among the proposals.

She said, as the parks department has grown from just a few recreation centers and small sports complexes to an extensive park system encompassing 70,000 acres with 50 sports facilities, 180 parks and 42 staffed community centers, it has become increasingly difficult for the county to keep up with funding needs.

As a result of declining budgets, the parks department has implemented a number of changes over the past five years, including implementing park users' fees and increasing the cost of summer camp and after-school programs.

The result, according to Jimenez Green has been a reduction in attendance in the summer camps and after-school programs so there's no longer enough revenue to sustain the programs.

To see the entire strategic plan, visit http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/parks/strategic/.

For more information about the strategic plan, call Rina Rojas, Parks, Recreation and Conservation, at 813-635-3501.