WINTER HAVEN -- Now that city officials have decided that the Dome should be orange, they want recommendations on what to do with the much-maligned building.
Bob Gernert of the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce led several concerned citizens in coming up with suggestions for commissioners on Tuesday, and those ideas ranged from a Winter Haven baseball archive to a sports complex. While the citizens who attended the meeting at city hall had differing ideas about uses for the Dome, they agreed that something needed to be done with it.
The only question now is how?
The Dome is not rentable for many months of the year because it lacks air conditioning. The 35-year-old building has acoustic problems and lighting issues. Its bathrooms are not up to code and the offices need to be renovated.
At a city commissioner meeting in June, Director of Public Works Dale Smith told city officials that it would cost approximately $500,000 to make the Dome rentable, with air conditioning alone costing $175,000.
At Tuesday's informal meeting, Director of Leisure Services Bob Sheffield said that he had done a preliminary budget on how much it would cost to maintain the Dome if and when air conditioning is installed.
Currently, it costs approximately $35,000 to maintain the Dome with just the basics being paid, but with air conditioning the budget would have to be increased to $150,000. That price includes the air conditioning raising the utility bills, sewage, and the creation of a custodial position to keep up the facility.
But Sheffield also pointed out that several groups have approached the city for their events, including Fleetwood Mobile Homes, who wants to use the facility about three times a year, bringing in revenue of about $15,000. Car groups also want to use the facility for car shows for an additional revenue of $15,000.
Commissioners decided to paint the Dome a pastel orange color at Monday night's city commission meeting after city officials met with representatives from Sherwin-Williams.
Gernert said the paint company is offering the city $16,000 of roof coating at no cost.
The Dome was last painted in 1995, when the firm contracted by the city to paint the 22,000-square-foot roof to resemble a baseball painted the stitches the wrong way, an error that is still visible through the white paint used to correct it.
The landmark on Cypress Gardens Boulevard was previously orange, keeping with the building's history as the Citrus Dome and home to the Florida Citrus Showcase.
