The Flagler County Tourist Development Council today approved a $357,000 grant to Palm Coast to pay for half the cost of a $715,000 field-lighting project at Indian Trails Sports Complex. The grant helps speed up a project that had been slated for 2028.
It is the fourth time since 2011 that the tourism council has awarded a grant for lighting improvements at the sports complex, where the city hosts dozens of regional tournaments, drawing thousands of visitors to the city and the county. The city’s grant application lists 165 events since 2011. Grants in 2011, 2014 and 2018 were for $150,000 each.
This time the grant was unexpected. It became possible when Flagler Beach reneged on a $745,000 grant the TDC awarded in 2024 to underwrite the city’s so-called Beachwalk expansion. That project included rebuilding the area around the pier’s A-frame and the boardwalk. The city realized that the timeline and the mounting bills made the project unaffordable.
That opened the door to Flagler Beach City Manager Dale Martin suggesting that the money be shifted to Palm Coast. Theresa Pontieri, the Palm Coast council member who sits on the TDC board, welcomed the possibility, and the TDC board signaled when it last met in February that the shift would be a formality. So it was.
The project is for three soccer fields (fields six, seven and eight) to be lit with LED lights.
“This is obviously something that’s really important for the city, but also for tourists,” Pontieri said at today’s TDC meeting. “Just really excited that we can expand in a pretty affordable way too, because I think that the cost actually went down. So thank you all for considering this. And what’s good about this project is that they will work on it over the summer, when the kids are not in school, and it’ll be done by the fall.”
The city is estimating the lights will generate 500 additional hotel room bookings per year, at an average of $170 a booking the first year. The fields would be used by local residents year-round, and by visitors nine months of the year.
Palm Coast also was granted $739,000 from the tourism council in 2022 for its Southern Recreation Center. Today’s grant brings total TDC grants for Palm Coast to $1.6 million.
celia pugliese says
Does the sport complex generate revenue besides the mentioned hotel rooms occupancy..? Even the benefits to the hospitality industry and restaurants need to be properly documented. Hoping TDC is doing that.
See, all sports amenities and parks take taxpayers funds (grants are taxpayers funds as well) to sustain and all amenities are very important for the city residents so then stop other potential Charles Gambaro’s in the future proposing to sell our historical amenity Palm Harbor Golf Course or any other amenity. Is a very promising the suggestion of Protect Palm Coast leader Dennis McDonald in the case of the PHGC to create a perpetual covenant designation as sport course public use only not to be ever sold or leased. What is needed is a better management of our amenities and sports courses and their revenues and expenditures and workers performance better accounted or monitored like City Dennis Redican done with PHGC.
Richard Dumpe says
All that money, and they couldn’t be bothered to change the bigoted name of the complex?
anon says
I hope and pray that those lights will have the top COVERED so that there will be little to NO light POLLUTION! Ugh. Palm Coast has gorgeous night skies but is slowly ruining it, turning the city into another Jacksonville, or Miami.