- December 18, 2024
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After seven years and several drafts, Manatee County will break ground in late January or early February on the Athletic and Aquatics Center at Premier Sports Campus North.
The park was officially rebranded, too. The original 127-acre campus (Premier Sports Campus) that was purchased from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch in 2017 is now Premier Sports Campus South.
The additional 111 acres the county purchased from SMR to the north, where the Athletic and Aquatic Center will be located, is now Premier Sports Campus North.
Commissioners on Dec 12 approved the execution of a contract with Tandem Construction Dec. 10 to build the athletic center and a rezone that allows for the construction of a public center.
The final step is to break ground, which is anticipated to happen in late January or early February.
The agreement with Tandem sets the maximum price for all costs and services at $44,228,316.60 with a construction schedule of 567 calendar days.
“We can’t wait to put a shovel in the ground,” said Molly White, Manatee County’s director of Sports and Leisure Services. “The World Pickleball Tour will be at G.T. Bray this weekend, and they’re chomping at the bit to get more tournaments in the area.”
While 24 new pickleball courts, 14 of which will be shaded, will be attractive to tournament organizers, the courts won’t regularly be occupied by tournaments.
“We’re going to cater to the residents first,” said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “What we don’t want to see is bringing in so much business that the residents don’t have enough court play or aquatic center use.”
Falcione described finding the balance as an art. However, in this case, a major distinction lies within the funding of each campus.
The purchase of the south campus was mainly funded through the tourism tax. Construction on the north campus is being funded through the infrastructure sales tax, which is paid by residents, and impact fees, which are paid by builders.
Falcione said that distinction makes the Premier Sports Campus North “the residents’ venue.”
Area soccer clubs, such as the Chargers and Braden River, use the south campus, too. However, that campus generates between $40 to $45 million in economic impact for the county, much of it coming from out-of-town business.
Falcione said Premier Sports Campus North will not bring in “the magnitude” of business that Premier Sports Campus South attracts from soccer and lacrosse.
He speculated that between the pools and pickleball courts, that campus would bring in more like $12 million in economic impact a year.
East County swim clubs have complained about having to drive to Sarasota or the west side of Manatee County for training and meets. This facility is expected to meet the community need for swim lanes and a place for exercise classes.
Prior plans included a third 25-meter pool with the ability to host diving competitions that would have attracted more competitions. However, staff members asked commissioners to remove the 25-meter pool in December 2023 because it was the only way to stay within the county's $39 million budget.
Tom Yarger estimated the cost of an additional 25-meter pool at about $4.5 million. But once that was removed from the equation, restrooms and locker rooms were scaled down, too.
Falcione mentioned the possibility of a partnership with Sarasota County because there’s an aquatic center in South Sarasota, but said this facility was designed to “target a narrow aquatics segment.”
“At the end of the day, I’m a community servant,” Falcione said. “If we can stimulate the economy while, at the same time, enhancing the quality of life for the residents who live here, then I’ve met my objective as a tourism director.”
The construction will take about 18 months to complete, so the county is planning on a completion date during summer 2026.
In the meantime, a job-site camera will be mounted on the Lakewood Ranch Library when the work kicks off. A link will be added to the county’s website, so the public can keep up with the progress in real time.
Construction at Premier Sports Campus South is due to be complete by the end of the month. Improvements include the addition of two synthetic turf fields and two 2,500-square-foot locker rooms.
What won’t be included is a 6,500-square-foot event tent, which was intended to provide an air conditioned space that could diversify the campus’s rental uses to include non-sporting events, such as weddings.
The $1,126,405 tent, which was paid entirely by funds from the tourism tax, was going to be a savings to the county because it could be used for indoor space without having to construct an actual building, which would have cost at least three times more.
However, the tent had to be custom ordered from Germany and took two years to fabricate.
When ordered, county building officials and the fire marshal signed off on the tent because it met the code requirements.
By the time it arrived, Information Outreach Manager Bill Logan said that type of framed tent was no longer considered a permanent structure under the state building codes.
“That’s what happens every time a hurricane comes through the state of Florida,” Falcione said. “The codes are always being reevaluated.”
At 6,500 square feet, to put the tent up and take it down again costs about $10,000. The tent is so specialized that it’s not something county staff can handle themselves.
But Falcione said he never gives up, so while it’s too early to say what exactly will happen with the tent, he is looking to monetize it.
Plus, not all was lost because the groundwork was laid. The county went forward with pouring the concrete pad and installing all the necessary utilities.
The cost of $320,000 won’t go to waste, according to county officials. Restrooms will be built around the pad, which will require electricity and sewer lines.
Falcione also said the pad could handle a one-story block structure in the future if the county sees fit.
For now, Logan said the pad allows for the use of temporary tents, food trucks and other special event-related requests.
Monetizing the tent will likely involve a public-private partnership to have an expert market it and rent it. Falcione is still working out the details of what he can and can’t do with the county’s procurement office and attorney’s office.
“We pride ourselves on creativity,” he said. “Am I frustrated? Of course, I am, but you control the controllables and look at how you can shift gears.”
