NORTH PORT, Fla. — After a temporary closure on Saturday, Warm Mineral Springs Park has opened up for normal operations.
Park officials said a well pump failure disrupted the water supply to the restrooms and an admin building at the park. Maintenance staff were deployed immediately and quickly replaced the failed pump with a new one to return the water supply to the facility.
While that issue was solved, the future of the historic park continues to hang in the balance after a partnership deal to restore it fell through. Now city officials are trying to get creative to figure out other problems after deciding to demolish the park structures.
"If they're not going to demolish, if they're going to restore, hopefully, whatever upgrade, at least a little bit, that's good news," 75-year-old Ludmila Bryskina, a tourist from Minnesota, said.
North Port city leaders recently voted 5-0 to work on restoring the park to keep it open to tourists.
Tourists like Bryskina have requests they wish would be available at least when they return.
"Clean toilets, there is a little place where you can buy, you know, some merchandise and have basic food, something like a cafeteria," Bryskina suggested.
However, finding funding to carry out such restoration has not been that simple. A planned public-private partnership arrangement with a developer that would have cost around $18 million did not materialize.
City officials have also blamed a lack of borrowing authority for limiting options to pay for long-term restorations to the buildings on the property.
"They are in terrible shape. One of the main problems is we want to restore Warm Mineral Springs to its full luster, but we don't know how to pay for it. That has always been the bottom line," North Port Mayor Alice White said.
City staff are also unable to find insurance coverage including for flooding.
"They will have to wait until the buildings are actually restored and then we need to know to what level of restoration that has to be done in order to get the price for insurance," White said.
An initial estimate of $9 million from park impact fees is being set aside as a possible funding source for the restoration.
"Would people be OK using that money? Which of course could be used for other important projects in the city to start restoring these buildings and then we get another Iand and everything's gone and we don't have insurance that's the reality," White said.
"It's like a chain of 'Where is the egg?' and 'Where is the chicken?' If they upgrade then more people come but they can't upgrade because not enough people come and they don't generate enough money. I don't know the solution to that but the solution should be found. The money should be found or borrowed or raised, and this place should not close," Bryskina said.
City staff will continue working on costs and insurance options which city leaders hope to have a joint stakeholders meeting about with county and state officials.
In the meantime, they are hoping citizens approve a ballot referendum in November to allow the city to borrow money for public infrastructure projects.