Lee County backs $50M Greenwell Park community center

Lee County commissioners proposed building a $50 million community center at Mike Greenwell Regional Park in North Fort Myers to replace the aging civic center and surrounding facilities there now. 

They plan to vote on moving forward with plans for the county park, event venue and fairgrounds at their next regular meeting Oct. 6. 

The park’s Lee Civic Center opened in 1978. The arena and grounds at Bayshore Road and State Road 31 are known for hosting the Southwest Florida Ag Expo, concerts, 4-H programs and other events. 

The money to demolish the civic center and build a new facility would come from a pool of federal disaster recovery grant dollars awarded after Hurricane Ian struck four years ago. That pool is now almost empty. 

Since Ian and subsequent hurricanes, the county has poured nearly $2.2 billion in Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery funds into housing, planning, infrastructure and public service projects across the county and its six municipalities, Assistant County Manager Glen Salyer told commissioners at their June 16 meeting. 

After the June meeting, the county had $64,251,833 remaining in its CDBG-DR Infrastructure and Mitigation Program. Salyer said the funds need to be distributed soon to meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development deadlines for CDBG-DR projects. 

Commission Chair Cecil Pendergrass argued for reserving the grant money for the civic center project now because revenue may not be available in coming years. 

“Here we have a county that’s going to be a million people pretty soon, and we only have the Hertz Arena,” he said, referring to the Estero venue known for hosting Florida Everblades hockey games, concerts and other events. 

“Why don’t we have a nice newer facility in Lee County and even just for the eastern part of Lee County with the growth of east Lee County, the growth of Alva and Babcock (Ranch)?” 

Commissioners Trish Petrosky, David Mulicka and Brian Hamman agreed. Commissioner Kevin Ruane was absent. 

“Honestly, this might be our best chance to come up with the money that would be needed to do a massive project at the civic center or at the Greenwell Park,” Hamman said. 

The commissioners voted to direct staff to create a preliminary plan for the community center design and construction costs. The proposal includes a 30,000-square-foot community and agricultural education center and a covered outdoor event platform, according to meeting agenda documents. The complex would support 4-H programs with repairs or replacements for barns, livestock areas and other facilities. 

Planning documents show improvements to a horse stable, parking areas, restrooms, multiuse paths and landscaping, along with support for emergency operations. Some areas of the park, such as existing office and maintenance buildings, would remain unchanged. 

An initial cost breakdown shows $27 million reserved for a central community center building, with the remaining expenses going toward design and permitting, demolition, site work, amenities, a generator and other costs. 

The project meets CDBG-DR objectives that include restoring a regional emergency support facility and boosting its resilience for future disasters, county staff found. 

The commissioners moved forward with the Greenwell Park allocation after considering two other potential options presented by county staff for the remaining $64.3 million in CDBG-DR funds. 

One option would award $16 million to a Buckingham Trails Preserve stormwater drainage project and $10.5 million to Greenwell Park for new outbuildings and amenities, including support for 4-H programs. The remaining $37.8 million would be divided between the county and its six municipalities based on a percentage of estimated storm damage in each area. 

A second option would divide all the remaining funds among the jurisdictions. 

Commissioners preferred the third option for the Greenwell Park community center overhaul. That would reserve $14.3 million across the jurisdictions for potential CDBG-DR-funded projects. 

County commissioners on Oct. 6 also plan to vote on approving a $600,000 grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that would go toward Greenwell Park improvements.