Pompey Park Is Building Its Replacement Next Door. Until Then, the Old Rec Center Stays Open.

Pompey Park's construction officially began at the groundbreaking on September 10. The building it will replace still opens at 8:00 a.m. on weekdays and stays open until 9:00 p.m. The City of Delray Beach and the Delray Beach CRA held that ceremony at 1101 NW 2nd Street. The ceremony unveiled shovels painted by community members and City Commissioners, marking the start of a new recreation center with an indoor running track, a family pool, a playground and a multi-purpose field.

Each existing facility keeps running until its replacement is ready, and the old building comes down only after everyone has moved into the new one. For the next year and a half, the part of Pompey Park that changes week to week is the grounds. The building's schedule stays the same.

Each old piece waits for its replacement

The project team's construction FAQ, updated October 13, 2026, says the existing Pompey Park Recreation Center "will remain operational until the new facility opens." The same FAQ says two of the existing ballfields will stay open throughout construction and remain available until all three new fields are finished, and the existing pool stays open until the new pool is ready.

The project's demolition FAQ puts the move into the new building in Summer 2028 and the old building's demolition after that move. The project timeline gives two separate finish lines: 2028 for the recreation center and 2029 for the whole park. The old building comes down only after the new one is in use, and the full park is due the year after that.

What construction does touch

The City's Pompey Park facility page sums up the impact in two lines. The community center "will remain open and fully operational," and "the remainder of the park will experience intermittent closures as work progresses."

That splits the park into two kinds of space. The indoor schedule is fixed and posted:

• Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Sunday: 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The outdoor pieces outside the protected list will open and close as the work moves. The two ballfields and the pool are on the protected list. A patch of open grass or a corner of the grounds you walked through last month is not.

The build is not short. When the City Commission approved the construction contract on June 9, 2026, the staff memo expected construction to start around mid to late 2026 and last about 29 months. A September start puts the end of that estimate in early 2029, which lines up with the project's 2029 target for the full park. The grounds will be a work zone for a long time. The recreation center building will not be.

This winter's schedule runs out of the old building

The sequencing matters most now, as the fall and winter programs get going. The calendar is built around a building that is still open.

Youth basketball. The City's youth basketball league is open to girls and boys ages 5 to 16, based on age as of December 1. Free clinics for ages 8 to 16 run 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Pompey Park Recreation Center through November 13. Evaluations take place at the Delray Beach Community Center instead of Pompey. They are mandatory for ages 8 to 16 and run at 6:00 p.m. on December 8 for ages 8 to 10, December 9 for ages 11 to 13, and December 10 for ages 14 to 16. Games run from early January through March. Registration is $35 for residents and $45 for nonresidents. Ages 5 to 7 play in an instructional league focused on fundamentals, and the league is looking for volunteer coaches for every age group.

After school. The Rec Hub program meets at Pompey Park for ages 5 to 12, Monday through Friday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m., during the school year from August to May. It offers sports, swimming, arts and crafts, fitness, STEM, cooking and trips, and it provides care on designated no-school days. The program includes swimming, so it depends on the pool staying open.

Seniors. The Pompey Park Senior Club is open to adults 50 and older for $30 a year for residents and $40 for nonresidents. It offers trips, games, events, fitness and health activities, and social gatherings.

Evenings. The City lists the Delray Divas step team as meeting at the recreation center on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Weekends on the diamond. The free Delray Braves adult men's baseball league plays weekends at Pompey Park from January through August. Because two existing ballfields stay open until all three new ones are done, that season has a field to play on.

The pool. The City's aquatics page lists pool hours of Tuesday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The pool is closed Sunday and Monday. Program listings include group and individual swim lessons, water safety, water walking, water exercise and recreational swimming.

Every item on that list happens either inside the building that stays fully open or on a facility the project has promised to keep running. Under the phasing, those programs keep running through construction.

The one piece still taking neighbors' input

Most of the new Pompey Park is already set. On June 9, 2026, the City Commission approved a guaranteed maximum price of $59,193,363 with CORE Construction for the recreation center. The money comes from a capital account that the CRA funds. The negotiated price at a May 26 joint City and CRA workshop was higher. CORE then withdrew some pre-construction costs, which brought it down to the final number.

The concession stand is the exception. At the same May 26 workshop, the City gave staff the go-ahead to design it separately, with community input. Once that design is final and within the contract's schedule, CORE agreed to build it at cost, with no construction manager fee. If you spend Saturdays in the bleachers, that's the part of the new park you can still help shape. The project team handles questions through the Reach Group at (561) 501-0737 or [email protected], and posts updates at pompeyparkproject.com.

Why the City is keeping the doors open

The City's groundbreaking announcement explains why the park carries so much weight. It is named for C. Spencer Pompey, a longtime Delray Beach resident and educator. In 1950 he started one of the City's first recreational programs for Black students, at a time when those opportunities were limited. The City acquired land in 1978 and established a recreation center in his name. In the same announcement, City Manager Terrence Moore called the park "part of the story of Delray Beach" and said the groundbreaking is "about honoring that legacy while creating a new space where future generations can do the same."

The construction plan keeps the center that carries his name running during the rebuild. The pool stays open until the new pool can take over, two fields stay in play until three new ones are ready, and the center keeps its posted hours until the community moves in Summer 2028. The project team includes CORE, Randolph Construction Group, Hatcher Construction & Development, KEITH & Associates and Justin Architects.

The recreation center building stays fully operational until the move in Summer 2028. The outdoor areas are what change, so check before heading to a specific spot on the grounds.

If you live near Pompey Park and want to know how a new $59 million recreation center nearby fits into your home's long-term picture, Amy Awerbuch follows projects like this one closely and is happy to talk it through. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll look at your home alongside what's being built down the street.