Multi-Purpose Arena/Equestrian Center

More than four years ago, Mayor Chris Craft had the vision to suggest that the Saddle Club could be provided a permanent, traffic-safe exhibition space for their events on ten acres along Pleasant Avenue through applying for a Florida Communities Trust Grant at the State level. Surrounding this site could be seventy-seven acres of wildlife refuge providing habitat for endangered species while giving Lake Helen residents a “Central Park” panoramic vista even if Prevatt Avenue was eventually filled with subdivisions.

The owner of the seventy-seven acres would not agree to the State appraisal offer, so the land awaits residential development but the ten acre site for an equestrian center envisioned by Mayor Craft is now owned by the citizens of Lake Helen.

Recently the Lake Helen City Commission approved by a three to two vote an application to the Volusia County ECHO Program for grant assistance to build a multi-purpose open-air roofed exhibition arena with three hundred seats for equestrian and other livestock events, musical events, produce and flea markets, and other occasional public assembly events as the City deemed important for our community.
The West Volusia Saddle Club would be the regularly scheduled tenant with monthly competition events interspersed with small group training practices and meetings.

Other horse and cattle exhibitions have been discussed. Local antique, flea market and produce vendors have expressed interest in a monthly sales venture. The Florida Friends of Folk said they might consider regular events of bluegrass and folk music for a small appreciative audience.

Boy Scouts would like to have multi-troop events locally, but maximum public seating capacity in Lake Helen is in Hopkins Hall with one hundred and twenty-five folding chairs.

Every year the Miss Lake Helen/Cassadaga Contest overflows Hopkins Hall and relatives and neighbors are outside looking in the crowded windows to try and see their favorite nervous young girl compete.

Besides the regulation size roofed arena, the complex will feature fenced warm-up areas as well as thirty-six temporary stalls so horses can be properly covered outside their trailers while awaiting their competitions.

Ticket booths, concessions, bathrooms, first aid and police sub-station will all be in small cubicles under the arena seating area.
A large portable folding wooden stage has been donated to the City by Billy Collins of Pyramax Studios. After its successful debut as the July 4th stage at Blake Park in year 2000, our Public Works thinks it could be utilized very effectively for temporary stage events in the exhibition arena.

Perhaps the most exciting structure on the ten acre grassy meadow will be the “trailhead facility”, the covered shelter area at the far southeast corner of the property from which hikers, wildlife observers, bicyclists and horse riders can depart toward Cassadaga for a four mile round trip adventure to Lake Macy and Lake Colby areas for lake access fishing, wildlife and canoeing opportunities.
Heading out toward the east along the Ohio Avenue right of way, the Cross-Volusia Trail is planned in co-operation with Volusia County to follow the abandoned railroad berm all the way to New Smyrna Beach!

Designed as a primitive mulch and crushed shell trail on the built-up railroad bed through Deep Creek Swamp and on through dry upland areas near Samsula, rustic lean-to shelters will be erected every two miles or so for wet and tired travelers.

This Cross-Volusia Trail will also connect to equestrian facilities and bicycle and hiking routes along coastal Volusia County and be access to the Florida Greenways Trail System throughout the State.

The multi-purpose arena and Cross-Volusia Trailhead offers all kinds of recreation and entertainment possibilities for our citizens as well as offering some new opportunities for our small downtown retail stores located nearby.

The healthy outdoors recreation and animal husbandry characteristics of this project reflect the deeply appreciated rural roots of our independent, self-reliant country people.

Many challenges present themselves as we tender this grant application, besides the contest to win these grant monies when other towns and non-profits have submitted worthy grant proposals.

The technical engineering is formidable- designing a 125 ft. by 225 ft. free span roof structure that will comply with newly revised hurricane wind codes. City staff and volunteers have been seeking advice from steel beam building contractors as well as visiting similar exhibition areas in the state.

Our grant proposal is predicated on the belief that our townspeople will volunteer, as they have so often before, to make this dream a reality. Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, cement specialists, roofers, painters, equipment operators, cooks, babysitters, gardeners, musicians, sweepers, and animal specialists, it will take us all.

Our community minded helpers have come out before to improve our town. Little League volunteers just finished installing poles and overhead lights at the ball field. Ralph Curry and others installed hedges at Hopkins Hall. Jimmy Martin and his foliage business laborers helped Public Works lay sod at City Hall. Oscar Brock, Jim Morris, Betty Doherty and Joan Duffy all worked inside City Hall restoring woodwork and cleaning. Rick Basso and his Formaster cement technicians installed handicapped ramps while Cookie and ABC Excavating cleared away broken concrete sidewalk. The Parks and Rec committee working with contractor Lou Benton and other craftsmen is about to begin bathroom construction at Lake Macy.

These are just a few names of the many that help daily to make our town what we all want it to be.

Most serious of the challenges to the arena project is the opposition expressed by some of the neighbors close to this arena site.

They have perfectly valid, reasonable issues with traffic congestion, noise, litter and behavior during major events at this arena which, although located at the remote edge of a ten acre site on Pleasant Avenue, might bring intrusion to their sense of peace and quiet which we all value and respect here in our community.

Our City Commission, in approving the general concept and grant proposal, has mandated that we will have a public workshop with neighbors to hear and resolve their concerns prior to its consideration as a development plan for review by our citizen volunteers on the Planning and Land Development Regulatory Commission.

Public hearings on the specific site plan will also be held prior to final consideration plan by our City Commission.
We have promised the adjoining neighbors plenty of input into site plan development to address traffic flow, noise, lights, parking and landscaping, and we intend to keep that pledge.

It’s not easy to have trust and faith in an uncertain future as we all learned this last tragic September, but we must earn each other’s respect as we tread down this path for a better Lake Helen.

So, look at the rough draft of the site plan and preliminary elevations of the proposed arena building and join us in fulfilling the vision evolving for over four years.

Comments and volunteer registration can be handled by City Hall staff at 228-2121. We look forward to hearing from you!