South Gate Community Center faces uncertain future

Seth Johnson is more than fond of the South Gate Community Center in Sarasota — it’s more important to him than a simple acknowledgment of a local asset. 

The neighborhood resident has been part of the South Gate Community Association for three years, and has served as president on the volunteer board for two. He’s grown to appreciate the space, which is used for big events and gatherings, and is well known for its historic South Gate Community House designed by architect Frank Lundy.

It's been a popular venue, but that’s not so much the case anymore. Johnson and the other board members had worked hard to make ends meet, but the pandemic has put the financial future of the community center in jeopardy. 

“We just don't have the budget there to support that property over 12 months,” Johnson said. 

The center’s financial situation has been tight but sustainable since Johnson became involved with the association three years ago.

Local groups would rent the center out for parties and meetings that would help the facility break even. But it didn’t account for other costs that the association didn’t have funds to cover, and Johnson said the association's previous president started looking into what the local community wanted to do with the property.

“If you look back, historically, the bills are getting paid,” Johnson said. “But we're pretty much at zero dollars at the end of the year. If something happens like a hurricane, or, a (tree) limb falls through the ceiling or the roof caves in … there's no contingency fund, there's no budget to start saving up for something like that.”

They started looking at a handful of options that included leasing the property on a more permanent basis, selling it to Sarasota County with the chance of it being turned into a park, or selling the property to a private buyer to use as they see fit. 

“We didn't expect it to be overnight,” Johnson said. “We knew it was a months if not years long process. We were prepared for that, what we weren’t prepared for was COVID.”

Business and income for the center have shriveled up completely since the start of the pandemic in March. The rent is being paid, but Johnson says it’s not sustainable without revenue. While the facility is still in good shape, tree limbs have fallen around the property that the association is unable to pay to have removed at the moment.

The organization has been in the middle of a fundraising campaign to help pay the bills while the pandemic rages on, but it's had only mixed success. It costs $4,000 a month to cover the bare bones necessities for the location, but the campaign launched back in September asking for donations has not reached that number.

Johnson said the association has runway to cover costs through the end of the year, but will have to think about what to do with the property if trends continue into the new year.

“We don't have unlimited funds,” Johnson said. “We will probably be insolvent by the end of the year and unable to pay for any bills or property taxes and so we've got a pretty tough decision to start making.”

Johnson and other volunteers have been in contact with Sarasota County and the Parks Advisory and Recreation Council, which has a lengthy process to approve acquiring a property  through its Neighborhood Parkland Acquisition Program.

The program’s criteria looks at a property’s condition, adjacency to nearby parks, historical and archaeological benefits, and more. Nicole Rissler, Director of Parks for Sarasota County, said PARC has evaluated the property and the next step is to start a work plan to see how the property could be used. She expects the acquisition process to continue into 2021. 

“It's a wonderful location for the community,” Rissler said. “We will continue to be working with the association to try to find the right balance of either an acquisition of the entire property or acquisition of part of the property moving forward.”

As it stands, Johnson is hopeful that the county can pull through and acquire the land, but has prepared for the possibility it can be sold to another interested party, with the funds going back to the community association. There are some groups interested in renting the space, which Johnson thinks can help with paying the rent going into 2021, but the clock is ticking on what to do with the property. 

“It has historical significance,” Johnson said.  “It has a prime location in the middle of a community and it needs a better steward than we can provide.”