by PAUL CATALA
This is a developing story and may be updated at a later date.
On August 16, the Polk County Commission delivered a win for agriculture by allocating $21 million for the creation of a new agricultural center on county-owned land between Bartow and Fort Meade.
The county’s original livestock arena — the Bartow Livestock Auction — was built in 1951.
That was 73 years ago, when the population of Polk County was 144,000. Now, it’s 844,000, and those facilities simply aren’t able to accommodate the massive growth.
The W.H. Stuart Center was the additional auditorium added in 1971 as part of the UF/IFAS Extension Polk County office and has been used to provide educational programs and host community events.
But after more than 60 years of seemingly explosive growth in Polk County, the Stuart Center’s facilities and amenities on 12 acres just weren’t adequate anymore.
Now, the Polk County Commission has committed $21 million to construct an all-new agricultural center to replace the Stuart Center.
At the August 16 Agenda Review and Work Session, Polk County Commissioners approved making room in the county’s proposed budget for a $21 million initial investment to develop a new agricultural center. The first public hearing for the 2024-25 fiscal year budget will be Sept. 9.
The $21 million will be accounted for in the Community Investment Program (CIP) budget, which is about $800 million of the county’s total proposed $2.5 billion budget. The final budget approval will take place in September.
That funding will come from the general fund, and $6.5 million has already been set aside. The county will add $5 million in the 2024-25 budget for a total of $11 million and another $5 million each of the next two years or sooner if needed.
In September, the county will release a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire an architectural firm to master plan and design the facility. It’s estimated to take at least two years to build.
During that time, Polk County will be soliciting private non-government money as well as state appropriations.
Growing Pains
The county is looking to replace the Stuart Center for several reasons, including limited space, insufficient parking, poor animal loading and unloading areas, and a lack of room to expand.
Efforts to build a new agriculture center began in earnest roughly 10 years ago, said Polk County Commission Chairman Bill Braswell, but early discussions with Fort Meade fell through and then plans with the City of Bartow disintegrated when the city and county didn’t see eye-to-eye on the project.
“It’s our money, so we decided we were going to do it our way,” he says.
What’s Next?
Braswell says the plan is for the new facility to be built on land owned by the county between Bartow and Fort Meade, next to Mosaic Park and the Peace River.
The new project has already garnered support from Polk County Public Schools as they look forward to the development of the project, where they could hold various agricultural events, competitions, livestock auctions, and other community functions. The site of Polk County Public Schools’ future Homeland Community Farm is just across the road from the site the county has settled on
Braswell says the county will also be soliciting private, non-government money as well as state appropriations to help fund the project.
A fund named “A Community in Support of Agriculture” has already been established with GiveWell Community Foundation
He says the current Stuart Center isn’t planned for demolition, and the state will decide what to do with it.
Braswell says a consultant is creating a timeline for build-out and thinks the first phase will be completed in late 2025, early 2026. He says that timeline will be adequate to begin using it for horse shows, riding events, and cattle sales. The center will be laid out to accommodate the Polk County Youth Fair, but full implementation of that would be in a second phase.
According to Braswell, there are still plenty of Polk County youth who enjoy activities outside of sports.
“There is a large segment of our youth that have other interests such as riding horses or raising cattle. It was a big part of our county’s heritage, and I believe there is a huge interest among young people to participate in these sorts of things now,” he says.
The center’s location on the Peace River and the possibility for the state to build a trail system across this property introduce additional options for use.
“Horse and cattle events have the potential to bring visitors to our county, which is good for Bartow hotels and restaurants,” says Braswell. “Educating our children is vitally important in a world that has very little understanding of where their food comes from.”
Jessica Anderson, assistant director of Agriculture for Polk County Public Schools, says the county has “completely outgrown” the current property.
“That property is landlocked by railroad tracks behind it and a citrus packinghouse on the other side of it, so there’s no room for expansion on the current property footprint,” she says. “Demand for use there has increased with growth, and interest in youth livestock events has also continued to grow.”
Construction of the new, yet-to-be-named agricultural center will take place in phases with the first one consisting of building two covered arenas with facilities. Subsequent phases will add infrastructure for the Youth Fair. To date, soil sampling, soil borings and preliminary sitework has already been done.
“There’s no room for expansion on the current property’s footprint,” says Anderson. “The county had to explore some other opportunities because the demand for using that facility has just increased as Polk County has grown.”
Polk County Public Schools isn’t the only group happy to see plans for the new facility fall into place.
Polk County Farm Bureau President Michael Matteson says Farm Bureau members have been engaged in conversations with community leaders and elected officials regarding hopes for facility expansions for agriculture education programs.
“We applaud the Polk County Board of County Commissioners for their leadership and appreciate their commitment to preserving and promoting our county’s agricultural heritage,” Matteson says. “We are interested in exploring collaborations that will build on Polk’s agricultural roots, while bringing innovative synergies to the community.”
“Polk County’s forward landscape lies in the hands of hardworking and community-invested future generations,” he continues. “As an agriculture community, we know how to grow these types of citizens. We look forward to continued work to better connect Polk citizens with the community’s past, present, and future roots.”
Braswell says as Polk County becomes more urbanized due to the loss of citrus to greening and phosphate mining operations moving farther south in search of new sources, unproductive land is being sold for homes and shopping centers, especially in northern parts of the county.
However, there’s still a demand for facilities to support events such as barrel racing and dressage. Braswell says once completed, the new center will be able to provide those types of activities.
Anderson says it has been a “long time” since the county’s agriculture facilities have been updated.
“It’s very encouraging for all of the involvement and expansion that we’ve had over the last several years,” she says, mentioning youth livestock shows, sales, and 4-H horse shows.
“This is going to be a great opportunity and a great big win for the agricultural community. We’ve got to create opportunities for kids to do good things. The commission is investing in young people and the ag industry.”
