The City of Madeira Beach is redeveloping. It is short of rebirth, but could be called the beginning of Renaissance. Led by a new Walgreens, Chase Bank, Marriott hotel, and a Publix on the mainland, and a rebuilding of the City’s beach access at Archibald Park, a $10.4 million Municipal Complex “downtown” is breaking ground Friday, March 7, at Noon, with the public invited. A 10-month construction schedule predicts completion in January, 2015.
The beautiful new Walgreens is open, with one of the chain’s first Clinics. A greatly expanded, 46,000-square-foot Publix is rising in place of the chain’s oldest operating store at the corner of Duhme Road, with a Pharmacy and Liquor Store. Meanwhile the three-year-old elevated Publix in neighboring Treasure Island is enjoying a spike in business from loyal Publix shoppers willing to island hop. More than $1 million in improvements are being made to Archibald Park, including a complete Snack Shack makeover and takeover by a new concessionaire, United Park Services, with a grand reopening planned in the near future. A 90-room Courtyard Marriott will open later this spring on American Legion Drive, north of McDonalds.
The March 11 Municipal Election will have the Municipal Complex in focus. Mayor Travis Palladeno seeks a second three-year term. He is opposed by Victor Cucaro, owner of a local acupuncture service. District 2 Commissioner Nancy Hodges is opposed by William Wright and District 1 Commissioner Terry Lister was reelected, unopposed. Palladeno and Hodges are both proud of the Commission’s decision to fund the complex; Wright is not opposed but feels officials must be frugal to ensure solvency in the future. Cucaro told the Tampa Bay Times, “The project is a waste that I would try to downsize if elected. With a very shaky economy, it is really a bad idea to put ourselves into a multimillion-dollar project that we don’t need.”
The Municipal Complex provides something for every resident. Situated directly on the waterfront, the new complex offers a new vision of integration and social dynamics. The proposed program and master plan is the result of careful analysis, a multitude of stakeholder meetings with the architect, Wannemacher Jensen Architects, and a strong vision for the City’s future led by City Manager Shane Crawford. Beach, leisure, sports and civic programs rarely coexist in such close proximity. This unique relationship is a great opportunity to create a complex that will attract and serve all generations.
Architect Design Notes
Jason Jensen, principal and project architect, told Paradise News, “Hennessy Construction was selected with a separate RFQ request for Qualification than the design team. To date we’ve done 20 projects with Hennessy. Both of our companies have a long history of successful projects in Tampa Bay and specifically Pinellas County.
“The 5,100-square-foot Recreation Center is located between the Intracoastal and the new multipurpose ‘event lawn’ and park, so it can host activities such as the crowning of the King of the Beach Tournament, movies at the park and musical events. The new sports fields are designed to attract softball, baseball and soccer tournaments. Small courts are surrounded by park and playground areas that further expand the city’s recreation opportunities. Finally, a walking-friendly waterfront park will invite residents to picnic or walk down the waterfront.
“The new City Hall and 8,500-square-foot Fire Station anchor the site and become a city square, a gateway into the park. A boardwalk-like experience with a large covered terrace along the Intracoastal echo Madeira Beach history at Johns Pass. For the Commission chamber, a unique semi-transparent oval space will become an iconic point of reference for the City and a lantern within the park. A large multipurpose room can house everything from card games to wedding receptions. A new City Hall Fitness Center will support the Fire Department, city staff, and the public. It’s a very unique City Hall and municipal complex design that not only supports city business but has amenities that will improve residents’ quality of life.
“The existing City Hall will remain in place until the new building is suitable for occupancy. It will then be demolished for a new parking area. The major site issue was soil that had a low bearing capacity that necessitated a system of piles to be used to support the building, increasing the construction budget. To avoid future flooding, FEMA also requires the new building to be approximately seven feet above the existing building. The design team ensured that the building was easily accessible and that the space below the building could be used to access the water.”
City Management Background
“When we first started looking at just a City Hall project,” Mayor Palladeno recalled for Paradise News, “based on FEMA regulations and city codes we could not fix the existing building. Over the past few years we held several public meetings that led to moving forward with an expanded project to include a new Fire Station & Recreation Center with ballfields designed to attract local and outside tournaments. We did not want to burn our entire healthy reserve on the project, so with bond interest rates very low, we set up a bonding debt services cap of about $300,000 a year.”
Finance Director Vincent Tenaglia explained, “The City received $4.485 million from the bond issue and provided $5.9 million in cash from reserves for the project. The City Commission approved the project in the amount of $10,305,308. The original budgeted expenditure increased from $9.9 million to $10.385 million due to poor soil conditions. The $485,000 difference was not drawn from reserves. It was available in the current budget based on budget savings related to the cost of issuing the bonds, and issuing more bonds than originally planned, as a result of favorable market timing.”Mayor Palladeno added, “As the City’s representative on the County Tourism
Development Council (TDC), I’m looking forward to using our newly expanded sports facilities. With the new Marriott and other property expansions, we’re creating more bed tax dollars for the County and the more we contribute, the more bed tax dollars we can get back for our City infrastructure projects. Another bonus is Duke Energy’s installation of the City’s first underground utility lines for the Archibald Park area.
“Overall size of the new City Hall is slightly smaller, with about 14,200 square feet, but use of space will be more efficient. The new modernized Fire Station is very important and we’ll be able to create more drained space for a picnic area and small dog park. The Recreation Center at the east end includes a catering kitchen and banquet area, plus an event field for oncerts and more. There were not enough regulation-size fields in the County to attract and keep these important sports events and dollars. Our new regulation ballfields are more Little League-friendly and we’ll be able to host lacrosse, soccer, baseball and softball tournaments. Kevin Smith of the Pinellas County Sports Commission guaranteed Madeira Beach up to 41 events a year.” [A deal is already set for a six-team NCAA Division I women’s softball tournament next February.]
City Manager Shane Crawford, who will closely supervise the entire complex construction project, told Paradise News, “The Board had grown tired of ‘kicking the can down the road,’ and their positive action on the Municipal Complex bond issue is the story of a stagnant city becoming alive again. The complex will provide facilities and amenities our citizens have wanted for a long time.
“We were painted into a corner by FEMA regulations that made it impossible to repair the existing City Hall.Couple that with a lack of leadership at City Hall and Board of Commissioner members that were very apprehensive about tackling some high price tag projects, the problem just grew worse and worse. However, good leadership spurs good policy development and this current Board has done an excellent job in accepting their role as policy creators and allowing staff and I to carry out that policy. Although the price tag matches the magnitude of the project, I strongly believe the decision to move forward with the Municipal Complex project was a correct one that will pay many dividends in the future.”
Summing up, Mayor Palladeno emphasized, “The City of Madeira Beach has a progressive, vibrant vision that is sure to attract new visitors and residents for years to come. What we’re doing now will insure the City’s future for the next 60 years and more.”
Story by Steve Traiman
Images courtesy of Wannemacher Jensen Architects & cover photo by Jim Tizzano
Date: March 2014
[Editor’s Note: Thanks to Mayor Travis Palladeno, Jason Jensen, Vincent Tenaglia and Shane Crawford for the excellent comments & Municipal Complex renderings.]
[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via email at straiman@mindspring.com.]