By NewsLine Staff
mail@floridanewsline.com
On Dec. 29, St. Johns County Police Athletic League (PAL) hosted an official groundbreaking ceremony at the new PAL facility grounds located on Allen Nease Road in Elkton. The 35-acre site was donated by the county and $5.9 million in state funding for improvements was acquired when St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick took his vision for the facility to the St. Johns County Legislative Delegation of Rep. Cyndi Stevenson, Rep. Paul Renner and Sen. Travis Hutson.
Phase 1 of the project will include three multipurpose fields and one will be encircled by a track to allow for track and field events. Upon the completion of future phases, there are plans to host soccer, flag and tackle football and baseball as well as boxing programs, basketball, and cheerleading.
Sheriff Robert Hardwick, Rep. Stevenson, Commissioner Roy Alamo, Commissioner Krista Joseph and her husband, Ron, as well as young members of the PAL program, including Brooks Barnett, attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
“When I am older, I will not talk about the championships, but the friendships I made,” Barnett said. “The Police Athletics League has given me the opportunity to compete as a student-athlete at a high level while teaching us the importance of hard work and leadership.”
PAL is one of the oldest character-building youth organizations in the country and fosters an environment for positive interaction between law enforcement and children within the community. This new complex is intended to support the needs of a youth recreational facility in an area of St. Johns County that needs it the most. Presently, PAL services approximately 2,500 participants annually, and with the population growth of the county, that number is expected to double.
The state funding of $5.9 million will not cover the entire first phase of construction, but will be a good starting point. PAL is presently working with businesses and community members to raise the remaining required funds for the first and second phases of the project.
Photo courtesy St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office
Dignitaries shovel dirt at the groundbreaking ceremony of the new PAL facility in Elkton.
