News
Rebuilding Paradise
Although not yet finalized, it is looking more and more likely that the existing Paradise Regional Recreation Center in the historic portion of The Villages will be razed and replaced with a new center. In the initial notional plan, these are the key points:
- Maintaining the Spanish architectural style of the current center: Although the shape of the building will be different, the look will feel familiar to residents.
- Consolidating all the existing recreational buildings into one: The library, the meeting spaces, the arts and crafts area, and others will all be in a single building.
- Putting the entire building floor on a single level: This simplifies compliance with ADA and will make navigating the center easier for people with mobility issues.
- Starting with a standard interior Rec Center layout: Using a familiar layout greatly simplifies the budgeting and estimating process and saves thousands of dollars in design effort. The layout will likely be modified to increase the view of Paradise Lake and better suit the unique attributes of the Paradise location, but these are easy to accommodate. Most facilities will also gain square footage because the newer rec centers have become so efficient at space utilization.
- Keeping the existing church as is: Not only will the church remain in place, but efforts will be made so that church members can continue to worship throughout (although the available spaces may get moved around as repaving takes place, and there could be temporary closures for large vehicles).
After the superb job District Government did on the First Responders Rec Center, I am looking forward to seeing the new Paradise.
Karl Arps, Vice President
karl.arps@ gmail.com
(920) 285 – 1382
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