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Pavilion construction at Tarpon beach to begin soon

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST

People have been heading to nearby Sunset Beach in Tarpon Springs while the causeway at Fred Howard Park, popular with Pasco County residents, has been closed so its bridges could be replaced.

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: October 17, 2009

TARPON SPRINGS - Construction of a pavilion on Sunset Beach will finally move forward in the next few months.

The construction bids on the open-air concert pavilion at the municipal beach at the western end of Gulf Road will be opened this month and brought to the City Commission for approval sometime in November, according to City Manager Mark LeCouris.

The plans call for the construction of a 1,100-square-foot pavilion with covered stage and lighting and sound system after the last of the city's Music on the Beach concerts for 2009. Blues band Lil' Pearl & the Big Boys will perform from 7 - 9 p.m. Nov. 5 at Sunset Beach.

The city has received $80,000 from the state to build the pavilion, but the construction project has been on hold because of a dispute over who owns the Sunset Beach property. Some Florida officials had been suggesting the state should hold title to the formerly submerged land, which was created from material dredged from the Gulf of Mexico in the 1920s.

This week, however, LeCouris said state officials have finally concluded the city holds the rights to the Sunset Beach land, which it has maintained for decades.

With that legal obstacle removed, LeCouris hopes to have the pavilion constructed by the start of the 2010 Music on the Beach series, although he does not have definite start and end of construction dates.

The first concert in the 2009 Music on the Beach series was Feb. 12.

The series has grown tremendously in popularity, attracting upward of 500 spectators each month at sunset to enjoy music on the beach, LeCouris said.

The pavilion will be the long-hoped-for replacement for a large enclosed wooden structure at the beach that included a snack bar and dance floor. That building, for years a popular gathering spot for city residents and visitors, was destroyed by a late-night fire in October 1963.

Once the pavilion is constructed the city will be able to hold other events at Sunset Beach, LeCouris said. Many people have discovered the municipal beach since Pinellas County closed the beach at the nearby Fred Howard Park while the two bridges on the causeway leading to the beach were replaced.

Fred Howard Park Beach will reopen in December, county officials have said. Over the years, Howard Park has attracted scores of visitors from Pasco County.

For a time Pinellas County officials were considering implementing a per-car fee to gain access to the Howard Park causeway once it reopens.

In the end, however, they scrapped the causeway toll plan in the face of opposition from Tarpon Springs city officials and others.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or mschantz@suncoastnews.com.

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