Get a glimpse inside the newly reopened Burns Road Community Center in Palm Beach Gardens

Residents check out new offerings after $30 million rebuild, two-year shutdown of longstanding recreation center.

Palm Beach Gardens officials unfurled their $30 million rebuild Saturday of the 42-year-old Burns Road Community Center, opening to a crowd of families and excited children exploring new spots to play, meet and learn.

City officials cut the ribbon at 2:52 pm and residents armed with Passport to Recreation books flowed into the building, stamping their books at each room along the way to earn a free day at the city pool.

They stopped at the two gymnasiums, one outfitted with inflatable bounce houses and kids games for the event, the other — its basketball hoops hugging the ceiling — lined by tables where residents could learn about local institutions, such as the hospital or the chamber of commerce.

They went into the dance studio, with barres along one wall, and the game room, lined by pinball machines, foosball and air hockey.

They climbed the stairs to two second-floor rooms, meeting artists Heather Bergstrom and Scott Klimek, who will be teaching art classes in rooms named Imagination and Inspiration. Windows facing north flood the rooms with light.

“A city of our stature,” said former Council Member Mark Marciano, “it needs to have a facility that tailors to all the needs of the community.”

Gone is the quirky entryway and the meeting room along the left side featuring a raised stage. They have been replaced by rooms that can be converted into many uses. 

“What you do in a room at 8 am is going to be very different than the class at 3 or the next adult class at 8,” Leisure Services Director Charlotte Presensky told the City Council in March 2023 before construction began. 

Her presentation helped persuade the council to borrow $10 million to add to $20 million in city money to shut the building down and gut it. It closed in August 2023.

Before members of the City Council cut the ribbon, City Manager Ron Ferris praised city staff and architects OLC and contractor Kast Construction for the work.

Of note: The building opened in 1983 at a cost of $1.5 million after residents gave the city the go-ahead in a 1980 referendum.