EUSTIS, Fla. — The words “think big” were uttered about a dozen times in a two-hour span inside Eustis City Hall Tuesday as leaders gathered to make decisions on a project they’ve talked about for years: revamping the city’s downtown.
The renewed effort, however, is taking on a different form. Where past discussions have centered around three vacant blocks where a hospital used to stand, the city’s new leadership – in place for just five weeks – is encouraging a new approach.
The new push focuses on everything that it will take to bring people downtown, from 16 bike and walking trails snaking into different neighborhoods to a revitalized waterfront with a longer seawall and more dock space to encourage visitors.
There will also be work to upgrade the bandshell, renovate or relocate the community center and relocate the swimming pool, splitting it into two different facilities in different sections of the city.
Interim City Manager Rick Gierok said better development opportunities would come for the three blocks once the city drove more people toward local shops and restaurants.
“If it doesn’t have the backing, it doesn’t have the planning, and in turn, we don’t have the occupancy. It really does nothing for our city,” Gierok, who rose through the city’s development ranks over the past 16 years, explained.
Aside from Gierok, who took over five weeks ago, the city also brought in Dr. Richard Levey, a well-known consultant for local governments who helped develop Orlando’s Lake Nona as a member of Tavistock.
Levey was the one to constantly remind commissioners they needed to broaden their focus – while focusing on their long-term goals.
He also said the city had run out of room to plan and talk, and residents expected to see decisions made and shovels hitting the dirt.
He projected the total costs of the projects to approach $35 million, which the city would pay for over 20 or 30 years through a line of credit that would be ready to use as ideas came to fruition.
Commissioners signaled a willingness to take on debt to jumpstart some of the projects after years of what they contended was a financial approach that was too conservative.
“We would have the ideas, not necessarily kept the focus on those ideas, and really not had the financial game plan to follow through,” Gierok said. Now we’re looking at the big picture, what we can do, how we’re going to get there… we’re gaining a lot of ground very quickly.”
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