After demolition of the original El Santiago Club restaurant on Enrique Drive in early April, underground infrastructure was updated, the site was stabilized and graded — and signs of new life are visible at the construction site.
The same general contractor responsible for the stellar work at the new Tierra del Sol Recreation Center on San Marino Drive — Mark Cook Builders from Leesburg — is overseeing this project — so residents can likely expect a top-notch outcome.
The concrete foundation outline is in place, guide wires are installed for cinder block placement, and crews are currently at work installing underground electrical cables. Mark Cook’s project superintendent for the new recreation center, Donny James, figures completion, from a construction standpoint, should happen in about six months — but weather and other unforeseen circumstances can, of course, alter such estimates.
Post construction, landscaping and paths must be completed; furniture and appliances must be installed, and everything must be inspected and double checked — likely bringing the opening to late-autumn.
Builders drawings show the new El Santiago Rec Center will replicate the ‘old Florida beach shack’ weathered clapboard exterior appearance of the original building, with a much larger footprint. Residents love that the original restaurant’s cupola was saved intact and will be reused on the new facility. They’re also pleased some of the windows and fixtures from the original structure have been repurposed for local charities.
Beginning in the 1990s when the much smaller Villages offered fewer fun dining choices, the popular “Chef Chuck” at El Santiago Club served up spicy crabmeat dishes, seafood salads and one-pound hamburgers on giant buns (which most people shared). Oversize libations plus whimsical entertainment built a large repeat-customer base, and of course foursomes became regulars for beer or sweet tea and a sandwich after golf.
There was island music on the veranda overlooking the golf course; trivia contests, fun drinking games — and even an annual Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest which brought out lots of bushy white beards. After Chuck’s departure, a new Jamaican-born chef kept the tangy crab concoctions coming and dished up lots of calypso rhythms. Glossy white shutters and a painted white wood plank interior, combined with a strong touch of Key West watering holes, made for a casual ambiance local residents and visitors alike loved.
As patrons walked inside, whether for table service or to a stool by the large bar, they could immediately imagine an ocean-side dining spot. As The Villages grew, with dozens of new restaurants, business at El Santiago trailed off — but many residents were deeply disappointed when their old favorite venue closed.
The building stood padlocked for about two years, until it was purchased by the Amenities Authority Committee, with its plans for a bigger and better facility. After a search for an entrepreneur to open a new restaurant or snack bar at the site proved fruitless, the decision was made for the new construction to become a recreation center.
While no major change will ever please everyone, the new center, when completed, will be yet another new themed facility where residents can enjoy their retirement hours.
