A.G. Gancarski
The Nassau County town of Hilliard will get more than $5 million for a community center that may also come in handy during hurricane season.
The appropriations request from Sen. Aaron Bean, a Republican from Fernandina Beach, stressed the dual-purpose request: a 10,000 square foot multipurpose community center that also would double as a hurricane shelter for the town’s 3,100 residents.
“The building, which would be fully air conditioned, would include a gymnasium and community center. The proposed facility will consist of an indoor basketball court, kitchen, ADA compliant restrooms, and a back-up generator. The design and construction of the building would meet both the requirements for a hurricane/storm shelter, as defined by the ICC 500 Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters and the 7th Edition of the Florida Building Code,” explained the appropriations request.
A total of $5,144,800 will go to the project, all of it from non-recurring funds. That money will cover “architectural and engineering design, bidding and construction observation services, as well as the construction of the proposed facility by a licensed contractor.”
Hilliard will own the facility once built, and it’s expected to get heavy use with basketball and volleyball games. Additionally, non-sports events, including community meetings, family reunions, weddings, bridal showers, educational forums, and other types of meetings are contemplated for the completed space.
The build is expected to take 18 months.
Doug Holder of The Legis Group is the lobbyist on record for this project.
Both The House and Senate get millions in tax revenue to play with near the end of budget negotiations. That money is spread across different projects in what’s known in legislative parlance as the “sprinkle list.”
The release of the list Wednesday night is a sign that budget negotiations are wrapped and that the Legislature will hit its new planned end date of Monday, March 14.
