Digital Boca Raton was pleased to have the opportunity to spend a few moments with Briann Harms, learning about the latest news with respect to the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District. Here’s our interview:

DBR: So, I recall hearing at the Boca Hoops Championships last Fall that plans are in place for a second field house at Sugar Sand Park. Any insights you can share?

BH: Yes. The board selected an architect. We set aside in our budget for the design phase $250,000. So, hopefully over the next year we’ll see some designs come out. And then we’ll move forward from there as far as budgeting how much it would cost to actually build.

DBR: And my understanding is that it’s to go on the plot of land right next to the current field house?

BH: That’s what they’re evaluating first. They’ll look at the logistics and how it would impact the community center, the field house, and then decide from there. That’s one of the tasks the designer will have.

DBR: What’s the update on the Science Playground and how are things progressing there?

BH: It’s underway.

DBR: It’s sat for a long time?

BH: It did sit for a long time. We had to go out to bid a second time because the bids all came in over. So that delayed things just a little bit. The guys are doing a really awesome job. If you follow Sugar Sand’s Facebook page, they’ve been posting updates and photos. We go out there every week or once every couple of weeks and take pictures.

DBR: And how will it be different?

BH: It’s going to be completely accessible; getting rid of the wood, replacing it with composite structure. The surface out there now is a rubber where the water feature is and then the rest is mulch. It’ll all be a completely accessible, rubberized surfacing.

There are going to be ramps all the way up to the third level.

DBR: So where you had to crawl under something in the past you won’t be able to do that?

BH: There’ll still be some areas to crawl for little kids, but there will be an opportunity for anybody with any ability to get up to the very top from the ground.

DBR: And what’s the rough timeframe?

BH: Fall of 2016.

DBR: This is sort of from left field, but I remember years ago a discussion about an ice rink at Sugar Sand. Did that ever get any traction?

BH: That did not get any traction. There are not any plans that I have seen or heard the board discuss.

DBR: What’s going on relative to the Tennis and Aquatics Center on St. Andrews and the old Chuck’s Steakhouse building?

BH: We’re getting ready to go to the site plan approval process with the city. Our architects’ design was just presented to us. They’re going to meet with the homeowners association over there to see if they approve the exterior features of the building, the colors and design. And if they approve it, then they’ll come back to the board, but the site plan itself is going to go, hopefully, to Planning and Zoning this month with the city to get approval. We would love to start construction on this in 2017 at the latest.

DBR: And what gets used over there a lot?

BH: The tennis and the swimming. The swimming pool has accessibility features, so it’s used by a different group of people, but there are some passionate swimmers in the community who go there everyday. And they’re looking forward to getting some of the pool features fixed up, including the locker rooms, bathrooms, changing areas, and accessibility throughout. The restrooms were built before ADA compliancy was required.

DBR: And the building itself will be another community center?

BH: It’s not a community center necessarily because it won’t have the classes and programming. There will be community rooms because right now there are no rooms for the tennis center and the aquatics. When they run their summer camps the kids are outside all day or underneath overhangs when it’s raining and lightning. So they’ll have classrooms now for that. They’ll have areas for them to eat and they’ll have areas for CPR training. They also have a Mantis program at the swim center. It won’t necessarily be running like a community center, but there will be those spaces for the community to use.

DBR: There’s not going to be a restaurant?

BH: No.

BH: And then the district offices will be relocating over there. Our offices will probably be smaller to accommodate a bigger meeting space for the public. But we’ll be moving over there because Sugar Sand Park’s, community center has grown so big that they need more space for community center programming.

DNR: Thanks Briann