SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The board of Seminole County commissioners is days away from signing a deal that will bring a new community center to the Midway neighborhood.
The county plans to lease part of the old Midway Elementary School from the school district.
Lula Robinson is one of 1,700 Midway residents, and she knows the community well.
“It is the community I was born and raised in, and I love it,” she said. “There are a lot of things we need done in Midway like sewage and a community center.”
The new community center will be for people or organizations looking to rent space for receptions, birthday parties or group activities. It’s expected to cost about $23,000 a year to operate.
The county is leasing the property from the school district, which is strapped for cash.
“Any multiuse of any of our multi-educational properties is good business,” said board chairman Tina Calderone.
Instead, the county will rehab the entire sewage system to bring it up to code, which will cost roughly 317,000.
Those repairs are mandatory, according to public health officials, but, the district can't afford to make them.
Galileo Charter School leases some of the other buildings at the elementary school and was set to move out because of the outdated sewage system, which means the district would have lost $5,700 a month in rent, but now the school and that income will stay.
The Midway area used to have a community center, but the roof collapsed in 2007 and caused so much damage it had to be demolished.
WFTV
