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LEESBURG, Fla. — A beloved Leesburg shuffleboard court may be no more after the city commission voted on a proposal to donate the land to a nonprofit working to support homeless teens and foster youth in the county.
This comes after dozens of residents and even non-residents using the courts spoke out during the meeting.
A lot of the city commissioners focused on the need. In a 4-1 vote, the majority felt the need to offer stable housing for youth outweighed the need for the historical Leesburg Shuffleboard Club and its courts, which has major ties in the city.
“They celebrated their 100-year anniversary back in 2013,” said Leesburg Shuffleboard Club (LSC) member Rick Tallman.
The club has been playing at the site on Palmetto Street for 54 years.
The city of Leesburg owns the property, but the LSC has been running and operating the courts and even hosts tournaments there.
But the future of the property is now in jeopardy with the Leesburg City Commission moving to donate land, including the shuffleboard courts, to a nonprofit foster youth called Forward Paths Foundation.
“Somebody decided that this was a property to offer forward paths,” Tallman said. “We don’t know who that somebody was.”
Forward Paths Foundation stated the donation of the land would go towards building 10 tiny homes that would house 20 youths who are aging out of the foster care system or at risk of homelessness.
Foundation officials spent time at the meeting sharing their history of success stories as they now house 42 youth with more on the waiting list.
Those in support of the program showed up to speak at the meeting but the majority of public speakers were in support of keeping the shuffleboard courts.
The shuffleboard supporters shared that they had more than a 1,000 signatures combined with handwritten and online petitions to keep the courts.
Despite this, the commission moved forward with the donation of the land, which came with mixed reviews.
“Well, we won. But it’s always hard when others leave with hurt feelings,” explained Forward Paths Foundation Executive Director Denise Burry. “So, that’s not a good feeling but it’s my job to look out for our at-risk youth aging out of foster care and in need in Lake County. That’s what I did and luckily we came out on top.”
“It’s very disappointing. This isn’t the end. It’s really the beginning because now the lawsuit comes,” Tallman shared. “What they’ve done is very wrong. Very wrong, they didn’t listen to the people.”
And while this has brought some divide in the City of Leesburg, the Forward Paths Foundation hopes the community can embrace this project just as the town of Eustice did after completing a similar project there.
“I hope people will see the good that it brings to these youth and hopefully they’ll come around us and support us,” Burry said.
The Leesburg City Commission also voted to give Forward Paths Foundation two and a half years to finish the project as opposed to five. Burry says she believes they can accomplish it.
But supporters of the shuffleboard court say they’re not going down without a fight and say they have already filed a claim against the City of Leesburg with the Florida Commission on Ethics.
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Brandon Spencer
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