Recreation Commission sends proposal for lights at Mandel Center field to Town Council
A group of local parents vying to add lights to the Mandel Recreation Center’s southern field scored a major win when the Recreation Advisory Commission voted to recommend the project to the Town Council during its most recent meeting.
Friends of Recreation Board Member Natalie Emerson told commissioners during the Jan. 14 meeting that the proposal was sparked by parents who said the winter season's early sunset cut short their children's outdoor games.
“Over the past two years we’ve gotten consistent feedback from parents who come to the Rec Center and say, ‘We really need lights on those fields,’” Emerson said. Joining her were Kimberly Goodwin and Tara Vecellio, fellow board members for the local nonprofit dedicated to enhancing Palm Beach’s recreational programs and facilities.
They noted that the town is seeing an increase in the number of children, and a greater demand for the center's services. From 2021 to 2024, the number of children enrolling in the Mandel Recreation Center's programming grew from 311 to 543, an increase of roughly 75%, Emerson said.
Palm Beach Day Academy also has seen a near 50% uptick in student enrollment during the last five years, while the Palm Beach Synagogue and St. Edward Roman Catholic Church saw an increase of more than 130% to their respective children's programming during that same period, Emerson told commissioners.
“What it’s showing is that there are more kids on the island, and there are more kids participating in programming on the island,” she said.
The new lights would allow for more programming, which could help keep many children from spending their afternoons stuck to a computer, tablet or phone, Emerson said. She said the rising number of children online also correlates with the increasing number of children experiencing depression, and the number of children who attempt suicide.
“The three of us believe, that for this town, and for this town’s future, it's important that the town is investing in its youth,” she told commissioners.
The only investment the town would have to make is in maintaining the light poles, because Friends of Recreation would buy and install the lights, Emerson said. Also, the lights would only come on during the Mandel Center’s programming on days that the sun sets early, she said. According to the presentation, that would come out to, at most, roughly 355 hours of use.
“We think it's crucial that kids don’t go home at 5:30 just because the sun went down,” she said. “We want them out in the community playing with each other.”
The group offered two lighting proposals. The first is through the sports lighting company Musco and would feature six 50-foot LED light poles along the sides of the field. It would cost the organization around $500,000 to buy and install, according to the presentation.
The other proposal taps Lite Maintenance, the group that supplied the lighting for the Seaview Tennis Center, for the project. It would install see six 24-foot light poles placed around the sides of the field, according to the presentation. That project is expected to cost $105,777.
Emerson said that either way, the LED lights would be directional and not shower the neighboring area with light.
"I just want to support it. I think it's a great thing," Commissioner David Missner said.
Commissioner Susan Watts wondered whether the lighting would be restricted to the center’s children programming.
Emerson said while the proposal is focused on children, discretion about who uses the fields and its lights would be left to the Recreation Department and its director, Mark Bresnahan.
Bresnahan confirmed that the lights would only be used for the center's programming. He also said that beyond allowing teams to play until the recreation closing time of 8 p.m., the lights also would allow the department to increase the number of teams in its Rush Soccer Club, lacrosse and football programming.
“I know we want to add more teams to Rush Soccer, more teams to lacrosse and there is demand to add more teams to flag football,” Bresnahan told commissioners. “Right now (we’re) limited on what we can add, because there is no place to put folks.”
Moreover, it wouldn't require the department to hire additional staff, Bresnahan said, because the center's staff is already tasked with keeping an eye on the southern field.
Watts questioned whether the increased play time would rip up the grass field.
Because the field is only used by children's leagues, Bresnahan said the department should be able to maintain the fields, citing the success of the field’s new drainage system and robotic lawn mower.
Town Council Member Lew Crampton, who helped organize the presentation, commended the group of mothers for their efforts.
"I certainly will be supporting it on council ... this is something that comes from the community to the community," Crampton said. "And we do have a new cohort of young people in town we didn't have five or 10 years ago ... so, we need to take care of them."
The Recreation Advisory Commission unanimously voted to recommend the proposal to the Town Council. It will be heard during the council's Feb. 12 development review meeting.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Commission sends proposal for lights at Mandel Center field to council