Editorial
Winter Haven News Chief, 9/12/01

Winter Haven city commissioners made the right decision Monday night in voting to lease the Baseball Dome to the Florida Citrus Showcase for next January's 77th Citrus Festival.

The festival is a Winter Haven tradition -- a part of the city's citrus heritage -- and it belongs here. In addition to the economic benefits for nearby businesses, the festival guarantees the city at least $20,000 annually and last year paid another $35,000 to the police and fire departments for their work during the event.

But more importantly, the commission's decision to limit the lease to one year signals that the board intends to take a more thoughtful approach in its quest to find the best use for the Dome. The city's own consultants have advised against any long-term commitments involving the Dome for the time being -- one of the reasons that the Gold's Gym lease was rejected last month.

Commissioners now are free to consider uses for the Dome that will be consistent with other long-term planning initiatives under way in the city, such as the Visioning process and the two community redevelopment agencies. In the meantime, the city can continue to lease the facility to the Citrus Festival and other worthy events, generate income and make improvements to the building.

As for the new paint job, that can't come soon enough. The color hardly seems critical at this point -- anything will be an improvement. And the estimated $40,000 price tag is quite modest compared to the $500,000 plus interest the city could have spent to renovate the facility for Gold's Gym.

Editorial

Winter Haven city commissioners made the right decision Monday night in voting to lease the Baseball Dome to the Florida Citrus Showcase for next January's 77th Citrus Festival.

The festival is a Winter Haven tradition -- a part of the city's citrus heritage -- and it belongs here. In addition to the economic benefits for nearby businesses, the festival guarantees the city at least $20,000 annually and last year paid another $35,000 to the police and fire departments for their work during the event.

But more importantly, the commission's decision to limit the lease to one year signals that the board intends to take a more thoughtful approach in its quest to find the best use for the Dome. The city's own consultants have advised against any long-term commitments involving the Dome for the time being -- one of the reasons that the Gold's Gym lease was rejected last month.

Commissioners now are free to consider uses for the Dome that will be consistent with other long-term planning initiatives under way in the city, such as the Visioning process and the two community redevelopment agencies. In the meantime, the city can continue to lease the facility to the Citrus Festival and other worthy events, generate income and make improvements to the building.

As for the new paint job, that can't come soon enough. The color hardly seems critical at this point -- anything will be an improvement. And the estimated $40,000 price tag is quite modest compared to the $500,000 plus interest the city could have spent to renovate the facility for Gold's Gym.