Fun in the seaside sun
Hollywood, Fla., celebrated the openings of its newly constructed two-story Garfield Street Community Center and 408-space, six-story parking garage this summer. Bordering the Atlantic Ocean, the facilities extend the makeover of Hollywood Beach that began nearly three years ago with renovations to the city’s 2.5-mile oceanfront Broadwalk.
Since the 1930s, residents have been gathering at Hollywood Beach for recreation, including playing paddleball — a sport resembling handball — at six outdoor courts. A nearby community center and park offered additional recreation options for residents and visitors. In recent years, though, the facilities had begun to show their age, and the adjacent surface parking lot had deteriorated.
The city contracted with Tampa, Fla.-based Walker Parking Consultants for primary engineering and consulting services to reconstruct the community center and parking deck. Joseph Kaller and Associates, a local architectural firm, served as the architectural sub-consultant on the project. The team designed the project around the paddleball courts, including an elevated, canopied observation deck in the parking structure where spectators can watch matches. The adjacent two-story community center includes public restrooms, a paddleball pro-shop, a large covered picnic area and an outdoor open walkway with viewing areas for court spectators. The center’s second floor houses a banquet hall, an office, a warming kitchen and a scenic wrap-around balcony.
Tying all of the components together is a brick-paver and landscaped linear palm alley extending from the garage to the newly renovated Charnow Park and beachfront Broadwalk, between the community center and paddleball courts. The city renovated the Broadwalk and Charnow Park — which has four beachfront pavilions, a fountain, playground areas, a tiered-seating trellis area, concrete pavers, a cast-stone seat wall and “wave” walls — in a separate project.
Project:
Garfield Street Community Center and Garage
Jurisdiction:
Hollywood, Fla.
Agencies:
Community Development, and Department of Design and Construction Management
Vendors:
Tampa, Fla.-based Walker Parking Consultants; locally based Joseph Kaller and Associates; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Stiles Construction
Date completed:
July 1, 2008
Cost:
$16.6 million