Standing near the shore of Lake Ariana, Auburndale Mayor Dorothea Taylor Bogert recalled learning to swim as a child at Mac’s Beach, as the location has been known for about a century.
“We all came here,” Bogert said. “I was like, maybe 6 or 7, and it might have been back then that they (parents) came and they dropped us off. We paid our 25 cents to get into the gate, and they left us for the day. So yes, I am a Gen Xer.”
Bogert led a celebration the morning of Nov. 14 as the traditional recreational site has undergone a transformation at what is now Lake Ariana Park. Auburndale has completed an $18.7 million project that involved building a new civic center at the 7-acre site, along with replacing dilapidated outdoor structures.
Bogert and other Auburndale officials gathered with construction partners and residents under a temporary tent on a gloriously sunny morning for the dedication of Lake Ariana Park and the Auburndale Civic Center.
“You have no idea how excited I am to be here and watch this project come to fruition,” said Bogert, who is running for the Florida House in a special election rather than seeking another term on the City Commission. “It is just so exciting. I was telling a little earlier, standing in the back, I’m trying not to be giddy about this, because this has been a long time coming, and I am so super excited about it.”
The project resulted from Auburndale officials’ desire to sell a block of decades-old buildings on Park Street in downtown that included a cramped Civic Center, the Senior Center and the city’s Recreation Hall. City leaders hope to see private development revitalize that stretch on the north side of Downtown City Park.
Auburndale’s City Commission endorsed a conceptual master plan for the redevelopment of Lake Ariana Park in February 2022, following pubic meetings. The project included a new boat dock, a playground, picnic pavilions, outdoor event spaces, beach volleyball courts and a larger parking lot.
The project required demolition of two small buildings, the Ariana Beach Yacht Club and Clubhouse, which offered rentals. A vendor will host kayak rentals at the newly opened park.
New era begins for Mac’s Beach
Cody McGhee, Auburndale’s director of Parks and Recreation, led off the unveiling with a brief history lesson.
In 1922, brothers Hubert and Grover McDowell moved from West Virginia to Auburndale, where they purchased land on the western shore of Lake Ariana and established a restaurant and swimming spot. Hubert was known as “Big Mac” and Grover as “Little Mac,” and the site was soon dubbed Mac’s Beach.
“When the McDowell brothers set up shop along old Dixie Highway, which was the one major road that connected Tampa with the east coast of Florida, motorists would stop at Auburndale to rest, eat, pack lunches, enjoy the beach and dance in a pavilion on the second floor of their building,” McGhee said.
Generations of children learned to swim in Lake Ariana, Bogert said. As a child, she aspired to become at swim teacher at Mac’s Beach. After years of volunteer work as an assistant, she earned her first paying job during high school at the beach and continued toiling through college as a swim teacher and lifeguard. (Swimming is no longer allowed at the beach for liability reasons.)
The city’s staff planted vintage photos from Mac’s Beach throughout the new civic center for the grand opening. Black-and-white images showed a teenaged girl working the entry gate, where a sign advertised admission for $1.50, and children cavorting on a water slide and a dock.
Amid all the sunny nostalgia, Bogert and Interim City Manager Amy Palmer revealed that the project presented many challenges. For one, city officials learned that Auburndale did not own the entire site targeted for renovations. The state of Florida owned about half, and transferring the deed required passage of a legislative bill.
Bogert thanked state Rep. Jon Albert, R-Frostproof, for sponsoring the bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law. Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City, and Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, also supported the effort, Bogert said.
Springer Voss Construction of Lakeland led the design-build team, which included architects The Lunz Group, landscape architects Catalyst Design Group, and civil engineers Chastain Skillman. Brenton McLean, project manager for Springer Voss, spoke at the event, describing the obstacles the project faced.
The undertaking included 53 subcontractors, McLean said.
One challenge came when Auburndale officials asked that the contractors keep a boat ramp at the park open throughout demolition and construction until the new ramp was completed.
“And that was the moment that you had to pivot and make it happen,” McLean said.
Civic center honors Hamann
Bogert paid tribute to former Auburndale officials in attendance who helped conceive of the project, retired City Manager Bobby Green and former Mayor Tim Pospichal. She and Palmer both mentioned Jeff Tillman, who helped oversee the project before resigning as city manager on Oct. 31.
“Lake Ariana Park and the new civic center will continue to serve Auburndale residents far into the future, and a whole new generation of memories will be made in this place,” Palmer said. “We now have a modern civic center for all sorts of events to take place, an awesome playground, a beautiful lakefront with amazing access to the lake at the boat ramp on the north side and the pier behind me.”
The celebration shifted from the tent to the civic center, a 30,000-square-foot structure overlooking Lake Ariana. Before Bogert wielded oversized scissors to cut a ribbon outside the entrance, she announced the naming of the center’s main hall to honor Richard Hamann, who served 28 years on the City Commission in non-consecutive terms ending in 2023.
Guests venturing inside the civic center found a spacious lobby leading to a meeting room, where caterers served up food and beverages. Richard Hamann Hall, a high-ceilinged space capable of seating about 300 for banquets, featured windows along the east wall that provided a vista onto Lake Ariana.
From the lobby, a wide stairway led to the Lakeview Suite, a large meeting area also designed with floor-to-ceiling windows on the east side
Some minor work remains to be completed in the building, Palmer said. The ongoing nature of the project was apparent in freshly laid squares of sod under the tent and recently planted oak and palm trees in the park.
Albert, one of the event’s speakers, said he recalled only visiting Auburndale twice before, despite growing up in Fort Meade and now living in Frostproof, where he was mayor before his election to the Florida House.
“This place — I’m jealous,” Albert said. “This is incredible. When I’m pulling up — I’d seen pictures when Dorothea came to the Capitol and we were talking about it, but it’s unbelievable.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Auburndale officials celebrate gleaming civic center, redesigned Lake Ariana Park
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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