St. Johns County gets a flurry of ideas in first World Golf Village public comment meeting

ST. AUGUSTINE — St. Johns County citizens came armed with ideas and some cautionary tales Wednesday at the county auditorium during the first of two World Golf Village Public Comment Meetings.

Nearly 100 people attended the meeting. Forty took advantage of the opportunity to voice their opinions and visions of what the county should do with the structures and the land formerly occupied by the World Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, IMAX Theater, the PGA Tour Entertainment building and vacant retail space just off I-95 that were left vacant and to the county by the World Golf Foundation when the Hall of Fame and Museum was closed on Sept. 2 pending a move next year to Pinehurst, N.C.

Before the meeting took place, the county had received more than 4,200 responses to a survey it published on its website and had more than 7,000 visitors to the website set up to give information on the property.

With all of the ideas received so far, County Commissioner Sarah Arnold, who represents District 2, which contains the World Golf Village and its surrounding residential areas, offered one reminder when she opened the public meeting.

"We have one chance to get this right," she said.

Three buildings, 36 acres available

The World Golf Museum is a massive structure of more than 64,000 square feet (about half the area of a Manhattan city block). The IMAX Theater is more than 17,000 square feet and the PGA Tour Entertainment building (which will be vacated early next year when it moves to a building near the Tour's Global Home in Ponte Vedra Beach) is around 32,000 square feet.

The structures occupy 36 acres, including parking, Lake Kelly and access roads.

The area includes the Slammer & Squire golf course, the Renaissance Hotel, the St. Johns County Convention Center, the Murray Brothers Caddyshack Restaurant and the Reverb Church, whose owners and operators plan to remain in business.

Two miles west is the King & Bear golf course, which has a private membership. There are also single-family dwellings, residential and resort condos and a retirement community.

Between the online surveys and the first of the two public meetings, Arnold said she was pleased with the interest the public is showing in the future of the property.

"I'm so encouraged by how our community is engaged and interested in what the county should do with these properties," she said before comments began. "Public engagement is and will continue to be at the forefront of the board of county commissioners."

Arnold also called the property and its structures, "an incredible county asset that will have general impacts on our community for many years."

Ideas came in a flurry

After that, county residents packed a variety of ideas into their two-minute comments. Among them:

∎ Use the Museum building as a middle school, which World Golf Village resident Michelle O'Brien said was needed in a fast-growing area 5 miles from the nearest middle school.

∎ Develop a fine arts center for music, drama and art.

∎ Build a computer and science lab for use by area students. In both cases — an arts center and a computer/science center — residents suggested that they be part of opening a branch of the St. Johns County library.

∎ Around a half-dozen members of the Church of Eleven22 lobbied for the county to sell or otherwise make the Hall of Fame and Museum available for another branch of the church that already has 11 campuses in North Florida and South Georgia. One member of the church pointed out that it had experience in refurbishing buildings, citing the branch on Beach Boulevard near San Pablo that was in an old Walmart.

∎ Another respondent pointed out that there was already a church on the property (Reverb) and that adding a church as large as an Eleven22 branch would cause parking issues for other properties such as the hotel and golf course.

St. Johns County Deputy Attorney Lex Taylor said the land and building would have to be sold to Eleven22 for them to use it as a church.

"We'll consolidate everything out there one way or another," he said. "As soon as the lease is completely vacated the land reverts to the county and the building reverts to the county so we have the option to sell it. They're [Eleven22] contemplating the county selling it to them."

∎ More than one resident wanted the area to add more restaurants other than chain fast-food establishments, and high-end retail such as Apple or Best Buy.

∎ Others urged the county to make sure and work with Troon Golf, which manages both courses, to keep them open, and to take advantage of the fact that the World Golf Foundation left all of the IMAX theater equipment behind.

∎ There were also pleas from residents of the immediate area that the county does not do anything to increase the traffic and congestion at the World Golf Village exit off I-95 and to remember those who have been living there for years. It also was pointed out that a church or school on the property would be nearly 2 miles from International Golf Parkway, with single-lane roads all the way in.

"Not another gas station," Lance Williams said, referring to the huge Buc-ee's complex. "No big box stores. No more traffic and no more condos and apartments."

Nearby residents don't want to be forgotten

"We want the county to make sure they remember the reason we moved there," said Asha Domenech. "There are people who are retired but there are also people who have young kids. We want to make sure what they do benefits both. Something like a library targets both ... make it modern with computer rooms where the kids can work on their school projects but also so people who still like to read books can use it."

Donna Smith said a performing arts center also benefits residents and visitors.

"Even if you had a school associated with [the Village] it could still have a performing arts center," she said. "People from all over can come and enjoy it."

In the middle between residents and tourists is Tera Meeks, executive director of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, who moderated Wednesday's public meeting.

"That's the key line that I walk, always," she said. "Helping us move forward in a way that takes into consideration ... everybody who lives there, the county as a whole and of course our tourists."

Meeks said county officials are pleased with the input they're receiving, both in volume and the different ideas.

"There's definitely a lot of passion about it," she said. "We have a lot of great ideas ... actually more great ideas than we're going to be able to accommodate. It's been a neat process. I really hope that we are able to come up with something that works for us long-term in St. Johns County."

District 5 commissioner Henry Dean pointed out that "between 15,000 to 20,000 residents" live within a 10-mile radius of the World Golf Village.

"What can we do that they want," he said. "It's kind of an exciting opportunity to get everybody's input and then decide the best thing for the community."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: St. Johns County holds first of two comment meetings on World Golf Village