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Lauderhill delays Jenkins Park renovation after subsurface surprises; completion pushed to mid‑/late 2026
Summary
City staff told commissioners that excavation at May Francis Brooks Jenkins Park uncovered a former sludge pit, abandoned pipes and poor silty soils. Soil mitigation is underway; foundation work is slated to start in January and the certificate of occupancy is now estimated August–September 2026.
Lauderhill city staff told the City Commission on Tuesday that work at May Francis Brooks Jenkins Park has encountered significant, unforeseen subsurface conditions that pushed the schedule back by roughly three months.
City project staff said a Notice to Proceed was issued on June 30, 2025, and crews began site work this summer. During excavation for the building pad the contractor discovered a large former sludge pit, abandoned 20‑inch pipes, concrete slabs and a high‑silt soil layer that cannot support the planned building loads.
"We found really unforeseen conditions, especially a lot of silt," the project lead said. Staff and the city manager told the commission the city must remove unsuitable material, import new fill and perform soil mitigation before starting the foundation. The project team expects soil mitigation to be complete by the end of this month, with foundation work beginning the first week of January 2026.
The scope of the project remains a neighborhood park that will include a police substation (with office space for parks and police) and an indoor boxing gym. City staff said those program changes were community‑driven and led earlier design adjustments that affected cost and schedule.
The original schedule called for roughly a nine‑month construction window from NTP; project staff said the change order and remediation work extended the completion date by about three months. The current estimated substantial completion is August 2026, with a certificate of occupancy anticipated between August and September 2026.
City Manager Kenny Hobbs told commissioners the project is funded with GEO bond dollars and that additional dollars were previously allocated when community‑driven changes expanded the facility program. Hobbs said staff will incorporate the updated schedule and costs into reports for the commission and the community.
Members of the homeowners association who live near the park spoke at the meeting in support of locating the boxing program and the police presence at the site but asked the city to remain transparent on timelines and to confirm community demand for the boxing program. Parks staff and police said the boxing program historically attracted 75–100 children per year and had been temporarily run out of another center while this site was prepared.
The commission did not take new action Tuesday; staff said they had earlier returned to the commission for a change order to address the unforeseen conditions and that construction continues under the revised timeline.
