By Jamye Durrance, Staff writer of Hometown News | View Source

Plans to convert the old New Smyrna Beach High School into a multi-purpose research center are moving ahead.

At their meeting Tuesday, the city commission passed a resolution that will be sent to the County Council showing their support for the project.

Brett Boston, executive director of the Florida Wildlife Foundation, said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has begun the permitting process with the city. The Florida Wildlife Foundation is a branch of the Wildlife Commission, which handles projects such as this.

“It’s moving pretty good,” he said.

The city’s development services department said they have not yet seen anything to do with permitting on that site but will be working closely with the Wildlife Commission to move the process along.

The 22-acre property located just off the North Causeway will be converted into research labs, classrooms, and offices for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission as well as the Marine Discovery Center. Plans also include a fish hatchery, kayak launches, trails, a visitor center, and meeting spaces.

The Commission received title to the property from Volusia County Schools in May.

Both Mr. Boston and Vice Mayor Randy Richenberg were involved in recent discussions about a proposed marine research facility in Ponce Inlet and its effects on the New Smyrna Beach site.

Mr. Richenberg said he didn’t think there is much conflict between the two sites and everyone involved is committed to working together.

“We can do more collectively than individually,” he said. “Through collaboration we will be able to provide more opportunities.”

Furthermore, the proposed Ponce Inlet site is handled by the county while the New Smyrna Beach site is a state project.

Mr. Boston said the biggest problems at the site right now are vandals and the Florida weather.

“We’ve had frequent visitors to the site who want to spray paint and steal things,” Mr. Boston said.

He said he hopes that Wildlife Commission Law Enforcement can get moved onto the property soon to thwart the vandals.

“It would help us out a lot,” he said. “It would give us a presence.”

Vice Mayor Randy Richenberg said it has been “frustrating” that because of complications on who owns the land, law enforcement could not get on the property.

Florida’s humid and rainy weather is also wreaking havoc at the site with moisture seeping in, adding more to the site’s move-in to-do list.

The faster people can get inside the site, the quicker painting and other touch-ups can get done.

“By 2009, we want to get folks in the buildings,” Mr. Boston said. He admitted that may be somewhat optimistic.

Plans for the site include demolishing some buildings and renovating others.

Mr. Boston said the estimated cost is $20 million with the money “coming from everywhere,” including grants and funds from the state and federal levels.

The plans are to keep the money coming in.

“(Getting more grant funding) will be a lifelong attack,” Mr. Boston said.

Mr. Boston stresses that the project won’t just be for researchers but it will be for the community.

Mr. Richenberg agreed and said the center could provide more jobs in new fields for the area.

“You see all these opportunities,” he said. “That’s important. That’s really big.”

Local high schools and colleges will be partners in the new site.

“It will be exciting to get the kids back in there,” Mr. Boston said.

Residents can use the meeting spaces, kayak launches and trails. Additionally, plans include moving the Marine Discovery Center onto the site.

The Artist’s Workshop and the historical society will have spaces on the site, making the center more diverse than the proposed Ponce Inlet site.

“The scope of the Wildlife Commission project is much more than a fish hatchery …. it will have research, general public education, historical and archaeological research and art,” Mr. Richenberg said.

The site’s close proximity to the Indian River, Mosquito Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean will provide plenty of opportunities for research and preservation in the area.

“There’s a unique ecosystem in that whole area,” Mr. Boston said. “It’s a great location, right on the coast. There are a lot of wins involved.”

Mr. Richenberg said the site will be an especially important one in New Smyrna Beach’s history.

“It will be the most significant contribution to this area in quite awhile,” he said. “It’s a slow process, but it’s going to be something.”