Mid-Pinellas Recreational Complex
Update
07/22/22
Voters Will Decide Fate of Recreation Complex in Largo
The Largo City Commission approved the sale of 87 acres to Porter Development, a Clearwater-based developer, that has plans for a recreational facility on the site. The matter now goes to the voters as the commission voted 4-2 to approve the sale at meeting on July 19. The approval results in a referendum on the November ballot. The site, near the intersection of East Bay Drive and Highland Avenue, was previously a landfill.
The planned Largo recreation complex would be a unique mix of indoor and outdoor recreation venues that would be the first of their kind in Pinellas County. It is planned to have amenities for families throughout Largo and the Tampa Bay area while providing an estimated $75 million in economic impact for the city in the first five years.
The complex, repurposing the vacant site of an old city landfill, would include:
170,000-square-foot active recreation center
40 pickleball courts, 16 outdoor and 24 open-air covered
a 10-acre public lagoon, a crystal-clear body of water for kayaking, paddle boarding, and swimming
8 basketball courts
16 volleyball courts
Duck Pin Bowling
Host Multiple Youth Sports
A climbing course
Family arcade
Food & beverage service
“We’re looking to partner with municipalities and activate large blocks of what we would consider dormant property. And we want to do that through indoor and outdoor recreation and entertainment uses,” developer Les Porter told Largo city commissioners during a March work session. “We think the mix of those types of concepts adds to the wellness and quality of life in the surrounding community.”
Porter Development, the company planning the project, understands that traffic could be a concern. A detailed traffic analysis will be completed, and we anticipate bringing a great majority of the vehicles to the property from East Bay Drive. Our main point of ingress/egress will be East Bay Drive and Highland Avenue. We plan on improving the current roadway to accommodate the additional traffic.
