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The Compound, also known as Street Patterns or The Grid, is an area in southwestern Palm Bay, Florida, similar to Flagler Estates. It is a largely undeveloped area of some 200 miles (320 km) of paved road. General Development Corporation began development of the area in the 1980s, but went bankrupt in 1991; afterwards, few residents ever moved in, and the streets fell into serious disrepair by the early 2000s.
Contents
Affected streets
Most areas have not since been repaved.
Geography
The Compound is located at 27°56′08″N 80°42′11″W. The area of The Compound is 12.2 square miles (32 km2). To the west is the St. Johns River and Three Forks Marsh. To the southeast is Deer Run. To the east is Bayside Lakes, and to the north is Palm Bay Regional Park. The average elevation is 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level.
Paintball
A section of Palm Bay is also home to the first city-run paintball park known as Hurricane Paintball Park. Discharge of a paintball gun is illegal within the city of Palm Bay, except at a municipal paintball field. In response to complaints of illegal paintball games within the compound, the Palm Bay City Council ordered the Palm Bay Department of Parks and Recreation to develop a city paintball park as a safe, legal and affordable place to play paintball within the city.
Initially constructed with city funds, materials donated by local businesses and volunteer labor provided by local paintball players, the park has suffered several closures due to management issues, allegations of wrongdoing by contractors and budget issues. The most recent of which was "Invincibles Paintball," a commercial paintball field operator that runs additional locations in Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce.
As of December 26, 2009, Fillion Paintball has been in charge of park operations.
Off Road Sports
The compound is also used by off road sports enthusiasts. There are sections of area that have dirt trails that have been formed from repeated use. The sand tends to be sugar sand and very soft in spots, making it challenging at times. Riding dirt bikes and ATVs off road here is probably illegal and would be considered trespassing, but as long as the riders refrain from becoming nuisances, they are tolerated. The police have cracked down on off road use after several events resulting in the death of riders. The northern edge of the property is particularly appealing to dirt bikers and ATV riders because there are some large man-made hills there, but this is private property owned by Bombardier Industries.
Remote Control Airplane Operations
RC Airplane enthusiasts frequently use the stretch of Sapodilla Rd SW by Wishbone Ave SW.
Future Use
The City of Palm Bay recently cleared out several acres of land that served as parking for the Tough Mudder event held in the area in November 2015. The city has expressed interest in using this newly acquired land for future venues such as concerts. The city is still in negotiations, and open to hosting additional Tough Mudder events in the future.
The St. Johns Heritage Parkway is also expected to pass through this portion of southwest Palm Bay barring both environmental and economic impact studies allow for the southern portion of construction to tentatively begin in mid-2019.