The playground area and portions of the parking lot at Holland Park will close the first half of next week, from May 6 to May 8, to accommodate the continuing $3 million reconstruction of the splash pad at the park.
The closure, the city said today, is required to operate concrete pouring equipment safely over the playground area. The playground will reopen on May 8 after construction equipment is repositioned.
The right section of the parking area will also be temporarily closed, with detour signs in place past the dog park to access the sports fields and other facilities. (The small dog park, incidentally, remains closed until at least May 27.)
Earlier this winter the whole concrete flooring of the pad was removed, turning what had been the pad’s bluish surface into an excavation zone. New piping was installed. No sea sculptures–including a whale, a giant squid and dolphins–were harmed during construction. The serenely blue surface was deceptive, of course: the pad, which had cost the city $5.1 million, only briefly functioned when it opened in the spring of 2021.
A city-issued release today attributed the closure in the fall of 2001 to “safety concerns due to wear and tear.” But it was a lot more serious than that, since the pad hadn’t had time to wear and tear: it tore because numerous defects emerged in its filtration system and its pad designs, pooling water where it shouldn’t, uprooting padding and causing other issues that posed risks to users.
The city sued the pad contractors in late 2022, and hired Saboungi Construction, the only bidder, to carry out the reconstruction. In the court case, the list of defendants has grown to 14, reflecting the numerous sub-contractors who had a hand in the project–and the complexity of the case. The city is seeking to assign blame on specific contractors for specific allegations, while the contractors are either pointing the finger elsewhere or seeking to be removed from the case.
The reconstruction project is expected to be completed at the end of July. The legal case is set for docket sounding–the last step before trial–on Sept. 3. Circuit Judge Chris France, who has presided over the proceedings, will hear pro-trial motions on July 11. The city is hoping to recoup all supplemental costs of reconstruction and legal bills, which have accumulated.
For those looking for a playground close to Holland Park, the closest is at the Palm Coast Community Center at 305 Palm Coast Parkway.
