Bay Oaks to rebid gym floor replacement
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council was expected to address a gym floor replacement plan at Bay Oaks Recreational Center last Monday, but approval for that capital improvement project will have to wait.
Citing bids that were too costly, Town Parks & Recreational officials decided to pull the request from Council’s agenda and will rebid the work soon.
Bay Oaks gym floor is on its 13th year of use. The average lifespan of a gym floor has been reported to be 10 years.
When asked if the current gym floor still has some life in it, Town Parks & Recreation Director Randy Norton replied “not much”
“It has a few dead spots in it,” he said
Town officials had recently put the gym floor project out to bid and received three qualified bids. Naples-based Athletic Resources Inc. provided the lowest bid, while SSE & Associates of New Smyrna Beach ($184,900) and Trident Surfacing of Miami ($189,950) were the others to qualify. Norton said he and other members of his staff checked out a floor that Athletic Resources Inc. had replaced and were not overly happy with the results.
Funds for such a project were provided five years ago. In 2009, Beach government “inherited” Bay Oaks Recreation Center, when County officials gave Town officials an ultimatum to purchase it or it may be closed. At that time, Lee County provided the Town with capital improvement funding to replace three aging assets: the roof; the air conditioning units; and the gym floor.
According to Norton, both the air conditioning and roof are doing just fine.
A gym floor project is expected to take roughly three months from start to finish with entire removal and replacement. The fall/winter project would have held a Jan. 16, 2015 timeline for completion of the project.
The gym floor at Bay Oaks Recreational Center is still holding strong by appearance, but officials cite that it will need to be replaced in the near future “prior to being so worn it becomes a hazard.”
The project work would have involved removal and replacement of the gymnasium surface at the facility, which currently has approximately 14,400 square foot of 8 millimeter rubber surface with a moisture mitigation slip screen underneath. The new surface was expected to be consisted of a new 8 mm rubber surface with a moisture mitigation screen and a wood-look base floor color with green/blue accents.
A wood surface may now be considered instead of rubber.
“We are not sold on that, but it is being considered,” said Norton.
Whichever business is chosen during the rebid, it will also be required to repaint markings on the surface of the floor, including black lines for two basketball courts, white lines for two volleyball courts, yellow lines for six pickle ball courts, red lines for one wiffle ball field, four volleyball sleeves, two logos and “Larry Costello Court” printed on the baseline of the right court.
Since the center will need to be closed down during the entire project, the project timeline after tourism season may be better suited.
“We hope to begin it in late spring,” said Norton.
Bay Oaks Recreational Center opened on Oct. 23, 1986. Prior to 2009, it was owned by Lee County and operated by its parks and recreation department in cooperation with the Town of Fort Myers Beach once Estero Island incorporated in late Decemeber 1995.
According to County policy, when a park/center is built in an outlined area and that area becomes incorporated, then County officials move to give/sell that park/center to that community. After a few years of maintaining the property, County officials entered a five-year interlocal agreement with Town officials. After that time, County officials were ready to sell the property, but Town officials were unprepared. The eventual deal occurred later in 2009.
Bay Oaks ready for craft beer festival
A planned benefit craft beer festival at Bay Oaks Recreational Campus is moving along in the planning stages.
The Fort Myers Beach Craft Beer Festival is slated to be held at the 2731 Oak Street location for Saturday, Nov. 15, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. The main sponsor is Suncoast Beverage Sales. Other sponsors include Fish-Tale Marina and contributors Fat Point Brewing, Old Soul Brewing, Naples Beach Brewery, Big Top Brewing Company, Fort Myers Brewing Company, Red White & Brew Beverage and Point Ybel Brewing Company.
Cost of tickets is $30 per person over the age of 21 for 16 four-ounce samples. You can purchase tickets online at www.eventbrite.com .
The fundraiser is for Bay Oaks youth and teen programs. Live entertainment will be provided by Railhead.
Bay Oaks to host Candy Cane Hunt
Bay Oaks Recreational Campus will host a prize-filled Candy Cane Hunt for are youth on Dec. 12, at 6 p.m.
All elementary school and middle school age children are invited to participate in this event. Search for bags of candy canes throughout the campus. Some of the canes will be filled with tickets to be redeemed for tablets, headphones and more.
For more information, call 765-4222.