Haines City residents had strong words for city leaders seeking to uproot and replace a historic building in the Oakland community. The city wants to replace the building and the dilapidated pool behind it, but some won't let it go without a fight.

  • Dolphus Howard Complex built in 1960
  • City wants to replace building, pool with basketball courts
  • Meeting July 6 just the latest to determine complex's fate

For Dolphus Howard III, the community center in the Oakland Community of Haines City isn’t just any old building.
 
“There’s so much history there," Howard said. "I was 14 years old when that building was built.”
 
His father’s name, Dolphus Howard, is spelled out on the front wall of the building in bold letters. It’s a reminder for those who lived in the area during a different time.
 
“The Dolphus Howard Complex was built in the 1960s," said Howard. "It was initially christened Oakland Civic Center, in addition to a community center. It was built primarily to keep people of color away from Lake Eva."
 
But now that reminder is in jeopardy of disappearing for good, along with the dilapidated pool behind it. City leaders currently plan to replace the facility and the pool with basketball courts.

Longtime Haines City resident Janet Smith said she won’t stand for it.
 
“I’ve been asking for a pool for our community for five years, and seem like to me that they’re trying to make it to Haines City," said Smith. "And I refuse as an old citizen, 87-year-old, nobody’s gonna treat my community like it’s nothing."
 
At a meeting July 6, city leaders were at odds about the potential replacement of the building and pool.
 
“I feel the current pool that we have should be adequate for the population that we currently have,” said Haines City Commissioner Don Mason said. “They’re the experts. They know the statistics and it says 34,000 is the average number population you need to go to a second pool. We’ve got limited resources.”

Mason's fellow commissioner Anne Huffman disagreed.
 
“Regardless of the national average says, for us the one pool that we have now serves more than just Haines City,” Huffman said. “Neighboring communities need to come there as well. So our Haines City Residents are actually standing outside, because the pool is at capacity and there are non-residents in the pool. So I don’t want to hear that at all.”
 
We learned that in a series of prior town hall meetings residents spoke out about wanting a pool. Now leaders are planning for another meeting in the next month to hear them again to hopefully make a decision.