By PENNY FLETCHER
No sooner will the newly remodeled Summerfield clubhouse finally reopen its doors next week than plans for a new building with new amenities are in the works.
Bob Abruzzese, president of the Summerfield board of directors, said the board will begin planning the new expansion with a target date of three to five years. It was the first public announcement of the project.
“This will be a totally separate stand-alone building to offer more amenities,” said Ron Midkiff, director of South Cove at Summerfield Homeowners Association. Among the planned amenities are racquetball, a banquet room, a sauna, new offices and possibly a food court.
“We would like to have a massage room to rent out, for a fee, of course,” Abruzzese said, “but something that’s easily available to residents who would like to have that feature.”
But back from the future, the expanded weight rooms, new Wi-Fi room and other renovations to the clubhouse will be available for Summerfield’s 7,000 residents to use on Monday, March 17. The clubhouse originally was to reopen last November for residents of the southeast Riverview community.
“We had to deal with some unexpected upgrades,” said Abruzzese. “But it turned out even better than expected because of them.”
The $250,000 project was paid for by reserves saved from dues, and no loans were needed, he said. “We also will not have to raise dues this year,” he said.
Except for the full-size gymnasium, the entire interior of the clubhouse has been redone from the floors up. Tile floors have been laid, and interior walls knocked out to enlarge both the weight room and the cardio room.
“This enabled the weight equipment to be spread out to give people more room, but no new weight-room items had to be purchased,” said Summerfield’s community manager, Abi James. “It just looks like we have more because of the way it’s arranged. People have more room to move around.”
In the cardio room, however, equipment was added so that now there are four treadmills, three elliptical machines and four stationary bikes, said Midkiff.
Both the men’s and women’s restrooms have also been completely redone, from new pipes, stalls and toilets to decorative mirrors, sinks, counters and flooring.
Hanging lamps and comfortable chairs add a final touch to the Wi-Fi room.
As for the clubhouse’s exterior, that was repainted four years ago and did not need any work, Abruzzese said.
When the remodeled facility reopens for use March 17, clubhouse hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. There will be Grand Opening festivities at the clubhouse for residents on Saturday, March 22, from noon to 3 p.m.
Summerfield was the first of the many developments built along the U.S. 301 corridor from Sun City Center north to Bloomingdale Avenue. First built in 1984 on what was then cattle land, Summerfield has become the busiest development because of its location at the intersection of Big Bend Road and U.S. 301. In the last 10 years, two elementary schools and four plazas have also been built within and adjacent to its borders.