By Willie Howard

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

RIVIERA BEACH — The Dan Calloway "Tate" Recreation Center has been transformed from a park with ball fields and a gym into a multi-purpose destination that hosts the city's monthly Jazz After Dark concerts and offers visitors a water playground, a skating rink and courts for tennis, basketball and racquetball.

A $2.2 million second phase of renovations for the park on West 10th Street is being completed this month. A grand reopening is planned for mid-May.

The latest round of renovations cost $1.2 million less than expected because construction costs fell following the housing boom. The city budgeted $3.4 million for the work and awarded a $2.2 million contract in July to Ocean Gate General Contractors of Stuart.

"We slowed down our timing for the solicitation and got some very competitive pricing," said Benjamin Guy, the city's purchasing director.

On Wednesday, the city council designated $870,000 of the savings from the Dan Calloway project to be used for an amphitheater and other work at Bicentennial Park near the city marina.

Parking at Dan Calloway will be much easier when the park reopens in May. The latest renovations added about 200 parking spaces at lots on the south and east sides of the park.

City officials also designated a new park entrance at Avenue P and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to reduce traffic by homes on West 10th Street.

City officials said no major work had been done at Dan Calloway park until 2005, when the first phase of renovations - including the amphitheater, new restrooms, a central promenade and beach volleyball courts - were completed.

A third phase of improvements planned for the 18-acre regional park includes a new gym. The dated Tate Gym would be remodeled to include a sports hall of fame on the ground floor and weight rooms and classrooms on the second floor, said John Williams, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

"I'm extremely impressed and satisfied with what's been done," said Councilman Cedrick Thomas, who represents the south side of the city's mainland where Dan Calloway park is located. "We are truly on the move."

With the completion of the latest work at Dan Calloway park, the city will have spent $17 million on parks during the past seven years, Guy said.

The improvements include construction of the Barracuda Bay Aquatic Complex on Blue Heron Boulevard and the Lindsey Davis Sr. Community Center on 28th Street, and upgrades to smaller neighborhood parks such as Goodmark Park on 35th Street, Sugarhill Memorial Park on 30th Street and George Street Park on Fifth Street.

Catalfumo Construction and Development is working on $4.3 million in improvements to the Municipal Beach Park just east of the Ocean Mall that will include new lifeguard buildings, tennis courts, grills, picnic pavilions and beach volleyball courts. The beach park renovation is scheduled for completion in June.