- April 25, 2024
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Joey Scudiero, 12, is tired of only being able to play in a small space behind his friend's house.
The middle-schooler, who is active in baseball and football, spoke in favor of a proposed community center in West Ormond Beach at a public input meeting April 6. With the nearest community center over five miles away from the 18,000 people who live around 2200 Airport Road, the city hired Zev Cohen and Associates in December to conduct a feasibility study on that property.
"There is absolutely nothing for kids on the west side of the school to do anything."
Elbert Adams, who has lived in the area for 16 years
Dwight DuRant, president of Zev Cohen, and Mark Karet, director of landscaping, conducted the public meeting at Pathways Elementary School, which is adjacent to the proposed center's location.
"I have a bunch of my friends in my neighborhood," Scudiero said. "We love to play outside and play sports. We’d be able to come here and play actual sports rather then just in someone's backyard."
While Scudiero was the only child who attended the meeting, along with his younger brother and father, he wasn't the only person who wanted the West Ormond Beach Community Center to be built close to home.
"There is absolutely nothing for kids on the west side of the school to do anything," said Elbert Adams, who has lived in the area for 16 years. "I’d like to to see a track installed, because obesity is a problem, and we need these things for children to exercise."
The goal of the meeting was for people to provide Zev Cohen with ideas for what they'd like to see in the community center. One main idea was for the facility to cater to the crowd next door: elementary school students.
The lot is currently owned by the Volusia County School Board, and Director of Planning Saralee Morrissey said she had worked with DuRant to update the initial sketch so Pathways could have more access to the facilities. According to Pathways Principal Jason Watson, the school currently doesn't have the ideal amount of space for physical education classes and there is no building specifically for indoor sports when it rains.
"Obviously I have a self-centered point of view because we want full access to the facility for the kids," Watson said with a smile. "I want the front gates locked so during the day we could use it exclusively."
Watson said his only concern would be having no one at the school after-hours and having to worry about people going on the property.
Not all the attendees were in favor of the center. People who lived near the proposed facility in neighborhoods like Hunter's Ridge and Breakaway Trails voiced concerns about the traffic, light pollution and noise that could come with the facility's proposed baseball fields.
"You couldn’t pick a worse location to put a community center if you tried," said Shawn O'Sullivan. "You see all the traffic jams that get cars backed up all the way to I-95 during pick-up. You sit through three or four lights getting onto Granada. It's not acceptable to residents of this area."
The proposed center could also become the new location for Ormond's Emergency Operations Center. It's currently at the Ormond Beach Police Department, and Durant said the proposed community center would provide more safe space for people during emergencies.
DuRant wanted to make it clear that nothing has been approved just yet. The company is still in the early stages of the feasibility study, which will take two or three more months to complete.
See the Ormond Beach Observer's other story about WOBCC here.
"You couldn’t pick a worse location to put a community center if you tried."
Shawn O'Sullivan
