Before the ceremonial ribbon cutting, Clermont City Manager Darren Gray and Mayor Gail Ash gave welcoming remarks. Jake Jacobson, representing the Kehlor Recreation Club, spoke on the positive relationship that the Club shares with the city and the successful impact their combined efforts achieved.

Following the city’s ribbon-cutting, the South Lake Chamber of Commerce held its celebratory ribbon cutting.

“One out of every three Clermont residents is age 55 and over. That means over 13,000 seniors call Clermont Home”, said Gray.  “We launched this initiative through our parks and recreation department four years ago. Senior engagement has skyrocketed to over eight thousand participants”. Popular Champions For A Lifetime (senior) programs currently at the Clermont Arts and Recreation Center will be expanded to the new facility.

For more than 60 years, the original Kehlor Recreation Center was used as a senior center. The building showed extreme wear and tear, and finally, it became apparent that a new building was needed. Clermont Mayor Ash said, “One of my requests for our Master Plan was to keep a focus on our seniors by upgrading this center.”

The $484,000 building is part of the city’s $22-million Master Plan to enhance the Downtown-Waterfront District. City Manager Darren Gray spearheaded the award-winning plan with community visioning sessions in 2013 and the City Council approved the plan in 2015. The Master Plan projects are being fully funded by Lake County’s Infrastructure Sales Tax, also known as the Penny Sales Tax.

The Kehlor Recreation Center Ribbon Cutting and Celebration

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“The Parks and Recreation Department is excited for the opening of the new Kehlor Recreation Center,” Parks and Recreation Department Director Scott Davidoff said. “We are committed to providing high quality recreational and social programs for all of our active adults. This new facility will allow us to continue the existing programs and to create new opportunities for our participants to enjoy.”

Construction began in December 2018. Powell Studio Architecture designed it to look consistent with other city structures, including the gateway entry features.

Kehlor Park is named after Lamira Kehlor. She and her husband, James, a successful flour miller, lived in East St. Louis and owned a winter home near the current park in Clermont. Lamira was a generous and popular figure, so much so that the city threw her a parade in 1917. She died a year later, and in her will she donated land for a city park.

“What a great honor for the Kehlor family,” Ash said. “They dedicated this property to the city over a century ago, and we’re keeping their commitment for recreation.”

Champions For A Lifetime offers a variety of programs and activities for active adults 55+ and is open to residents and non-residents; learn more about the program at www.ClermontFL.gov/departments/parks-recreation/senior-programs. Follow the progress of the Master Plan and read up on its projects at www.ClermontFL.gov/MasterPlan.

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