Ten-year-old Luke Pendergrast used to enjoy playing on the swings and slides at South Beach Community Center in Melbourne Beach.
But now Luke says he and many of his friends are aging out of the park’s playground equipment. If there were more facilities and activities for that “tween” age, and for teens too young to drive, that would make a huge difference to families at the remote south end of our county.
“I would definitely come down here and meet friends here,” Luke said, looking around the park on a recent afternoon. “It’s like, why even come down here if there’s nothing to do?”
As a possible solution, Luke is lobbying for a skateboard park at SBCC. And, he pointed out, since the slides get hot in the summer, a splash pad would be nice, too.
Luke’s a fifth-grader at Gemini Elementary. His plea to make SBCC more tween- and teen-friendly is part of an effort to earn a Boy Scout merit badge for communications. It started after a petition drive attempt by a family friend petered out.
Youth soccer coach and firefighter Gus Forero, said he gathered signatures from the community and submitted them to the SBCC office about 18 months ago but never heard back. He thinks the community as a whole would still support the idea. “I know the people want it,” Forero said.
Luke’s mom, Shelle Pendergrast, said she’d also like to see more organized events for young people at the park’s community center building. January offerings include Zumba and yoga classes, pickleball, mah-jongg, a 40 and over basketball league, and bridge. There are homeschool activities, and a kid’s night out is scheduled in February.
Steve Kimball, recreation superintendent for South Area Parks, said citizens are always welcome to suggest improvements to park employees, or to present ideas to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. But Kimball pointed out that park improvements take time and money.
“Some of the hurdles to funding capital improvements are availability of funds and the priority of the improvement compared to other budget requirements,” he said. “Additionally, the cost of operating and maintaining a park improvement over time must be factored in.”
Kimball said things like security and basic operations take first priority in the budget. The county also considers how many people any capital improvements would serve. He said the SBCC does not have any major capital improvements planned at this time.
“Our efforts at the park right now are focused on increased programming to try to get more people into the community center. We’re looking at additional programs and special events to bring people into the park,” he said, adding that future events might include a kite festival or movie nights.
Luke said he knows it’s important for kids to get at least an hour of outside time a day, and he thinks they shouldn’t be “stuck in the house all day playing video games.”
Luke has big ambitions for the future: He wants to be CEO of Ford Motor Co., and for the past few years has been corresponding as a pen pal with the current CEO. So he’s not scared off by the idea of talking to powerful people to get things done.
Regarding all those petitions residents signed in 2016, Luke’s friend Forero said he didn’t follow up much after he submitted them, but he might now that Luke is taking up the cause.
“He’s kind of inspired me,” Forero said. “A kid doing that is awesome.”
Article by: Jan Wesner Childs