The pool of the Surfside Community Center has been closed since pool patrons received an electrical shock last summer. File photo by Mitchell Zachs/MagicalPhotos.com.

Some residents are even using the term “Surfside Beach Club” to describe the future Community Center. 

By Evan Berkowitz

The Surfside Town Commission voted unanimously to begin its search for an architectural firm to design its new community center, during its Dec. 12 meeting.

Plans to rebuild or renovate the current Surfside Community Center at 9301 Collins Ave. have been formally studied and informally discussed for years, becoming an important topic of interest at the town’s recent charrette about its future. Some town leaders are now considering using more land around Town Hall, which sits directly across the street, for public recreational facilities. This could leave the oceanfront property on the east side of Collins Avenue exclusively for beach and pool activities. Some residents are even using the term “Surfside Beach Club” to describe the future Community Center.

Before his election approximately eight months ago, Commissioner Marc Imberman served on the town’s Parks and Recreation Committee. He said since then, his vision for the community center “has evolved” from wanting to renovate the old structure to building a brand new one. At the meeting, Imberman voiced his support for using the eastside exclusively for beach or pool functions. He would put the library, and other use ideas currently under consideration — gyms, dance rooms, tennis courts, banquet hall, meeting room, museum space for traveling exhibits, etc. — on town-owned parcels on the west side of Collins.

One idea from the charrette was to have a two-story building on the oceanfront and perhaps a three-story structure on the west side of Collins with a view of the Atlantic Ocean from its top floor. Imberman said the parking lot across from Town Hall on 93^rd Street might be a possible location for the building. To accommodate parking, the town could extend its existing smaller parking lot on Collins Avenue, which is adjacent to land the town already owns. Surfside also owns the property south of the current community center and it too could be used for public purposes, Imberman said, though he stressed that his ideas were among many being weighed.

How much should the town allocate toward a new community center? Imberman said the town should first determine the “ideal scenario” for a community center and worry about the money later. “I prefer to have vision … first, and then find out what that would mean in dollars,” he said.

The commissioner said Surfside has already received some state funds for a new community center. “Whatever the final cost would be, we’re looking to offset that by grants as much as possible,” Imberman told the SunPost.

At the meeting, Commissioner Mark Blumstein was concerned that the official request for architectural services was “too limiting” in scope. He favored hiring a firm or firms that could both design and then actually construct. The current request for proposals doesn’t solicit a design/build-type situation, Blumstein said. Noting the town’s desire to have its community pool, which has been closed for almost six months, operable again, he said he favors a firm that could perhaps do work in increments, or phased construction, thus speeding up the process. The RFP’s wording also does not speak of the possibility of multiple structures being built on the west side of Collins Avenue.

Vice Mayor Howard S. Weinberg said Surfside was probably going to live with its new center for the next 50 years. “It’s all about smart planning,” he said. He disagreed with Blumstein, saying that limiting the architectural firm search to “design/build groups” would not allow the best firms, many of which do not build, to be considered.

As far as getting the project done as soon as possible, Weinberg noted that, at the behest of Town Manager W.D. Higginbotham, the town would probably be hiring a full-time project manager. The vice mayor said this individual could be relied upon to “crack the whip” to “get this done.”

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