- November 16, 2024
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The city of Palm Coast may buy the Palm Coast Yacht Club, off Palm Harbor Parkway, and convert it into a nature center and senior center.
The 7,700-square-foot facility, built in 1992 and appraised at $775,000 by the county property appraiser’s office, would need some redesign and renovation — how much, the city staff isn’t yet sure —but it might be able to fulfill a contractual obligation with the Florida Communities Trust which requires the city to construct a nature center as part of the development of Long Creek through a FCT grant.
It’s also large enough that it may also be able to serve as a senior center, city staff told City Council members at a City Council workshop Oct. 13.
But, Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts said, the decision on whether to buy it will have to be largely a financial one. “The nature center that was originally conceptualized for Long Creek has a cost associated with it. The Yacht Club, which would be an alternative, has a cost associated with it,” Netts said. “Other than the fact that the Yacht Club has potentially other uses — community uses — you have to look at those two values.”
City Manager Jim Landon said city staff believes, at this point, that it would be cheaper to buy and renovate the Yacht Club than to build a new building. And, he said, “A facility that is multipurpose is always better than a single purpose.”
Councilwoman Heidi Shipley noted that the city’s community center is just a few miles away, and Councilman Steve Nobile said he could support buying the facility if it made financial sense for the nature center, but not just because it would have room for a senior center. “It’s really — it’s way out of the way,” he said. “If we just use it as a nature center with additional benefits, and the cost is better, then sure.”
