The Amenity Authority Committee has voted to expedite a $1.28 million replacement of the “failing” heating and air conditioning system at La Hacienda Recreation Center.
“The system is struggling. It’s past its life expectancy,” Herschel Wiley of District Property Management told members of the AAC during a meeting Wednesday at Savannah Center.
The low bidder for the project was Cortez Heat & Air Inc.
The members of the AAC had many concerns about the project, which will necessitate a 90-day closure at La Hacienda Recreation Center. They wanted assurances that La Hacienda Recreation Center would not be closed at the same time as Paradise Recreation Center, which is to be torn down and rebuilt. Wiley and other members of District staff promised the recreation centers will not be closed at the same time.
AAC Chairman Donna Kempa noted that the La Hacienda Recreation Center is slated for a total renovation in the 2026-27 fiscal year. She questioned whether the heating and air conditioning system work could be incorporated into the renovation project. She was told the heating and air conditioning system is in danger of failing and needs to be addressed sooner than 2026-27. Wiley said La Hacienda Recreation Center will be renovated and will not see the type of demolition and rebuilding that is planned for Paradise Recreation Center.
AAC member Don Deakin, the longest-serving member of the committee which oversees amenities north of County Road 466, said he is worried that the money for the heating and air conditioning system could be wasted if it turns out La Hacienda needs to be demolished and rebuilt.
“We have approved things before and we got burned. I don’t want to see it happen again,” Deakin said.
The AAC voted 5-1 to move ahead with the replacement of the heating and air conditioning system, with Deakin casting the lone dissenting vote.
