![Palm Bay Fire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Palm_Bay_Fire.jpg)
The Compound, also known as Street Patterns or The Grid, is an area in
southwestern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
Palm Bay, Florida, similar to
Flagler Estates. It is a largely undeveloped area of some of paved road.
General Development Corporation
General Development Corporation, also known as GDC, was a land development company in Florida. General Development Corporation would be created in 1958 after a merger between Florida Canada Corporation and the Mackle Bros.
Origins and history ...
began development of the area in the 1980s, but went
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
in 1991; afterward, few residents ever moved in, and the streets fell into serious disrepair by the early 2000s. However, recently new development of the area has begun to form into a housing development.
Affected streets
*Bombardier Boulevard: Now home to a facility for
Bombardier Recreational Products
BRP Inc. is the holding company for Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., operating as BRP, a Canadian manufacturer of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, side by sides, motorcycles, and personal watercraft. It was founded in 2003, when the Recr ...
, after which the road was renamed.
*Gamrott Street
*Olsen Street
*Gatsin Street
*Hammonton Street
*Hanford Road
*Gamewell Road
*Gaspar Street
*Heritage Street
*Emerson Drive: Paved, and renamed Osmosis Drive as of late 2009.
*Olean Street
*Olsmar Street: Paved as of late 2009.
*Galicia Street
*Lachine Street
*Ocarina Street
*Friendly Street
*Fitchburg Street: Paved as of late 2009.
*Garder Road
*Olin Road
*Felton Street
*Fredrick Street
*Frazer Street
*Labra Road
*Haines Road
*Franzing Road
*La Fleur Street
*Faulkner Street
*St. Andre Boulevard: Paved as of 2016 for use in the recent St. Johns Heritage Parkway extension.
Most roads in the area have not since been repaved.
Geography
The Compound is located at . The area of The Compound is . To the west is the
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...
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
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
is above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.
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. One of which was "Invincibles Paintball," a commercial paintball field operator that runs additional locations in Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce.
In December 2009, Fillion Paintball was in charge of park operations.
"Hurrican Paintball Park" Recently went under.
Currently the field is known as "Palm Bay Paintball Park" and is owned by "Nightmare Inc."
[palmbaypaintballpark.com/]
Off-Road sports
The compound is also used by off-road sports enthusiasts. There are sections of the 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 illegal and would be considered trespassing. The police are cracking down on off-road use after several events resulting in the death of riders, as of January 2021. 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. According the Palm Bay Police it is "Unlawful to be out at the compound trespassing on other peoples property" (November 30 at 3:06 PM)
Paramotoring
Initially used as a means of surveillance by law enforcement, the Palm Bay Police Department began
paramotoring
Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor (a paramotor) which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and ...
in the vicinity of the compound. Para sport enthusiasts since, have used The Compound, due to its large open spaces, contiguous uninhabited areas and skyline free from obstructions for both recreational purposes and training. As a safe minimal risk operating location for paramotoring, the paramotoring community has contributed much to the preservation of The Compound, by working with law-enforcement, reporting law and traffic violations while providing a general custodianship of the properties. The paramotoring community further enhances public relations, by organizing property maintenance such as mowing, occasional roadway maintenance and trash removal. The air space immediately overhead The Compound and some of the adjacent agricultural and swamp areas, is arguably the least congested airspace in the entire state of Florida. It is therefore an ideal safe haven for the activity, which brings a significant financial revenue to the greater municipal areas of Palm Bay.
Spaceport Rocketry Association
With permission from the city of Palm Bay and the
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
Spaceport Rocketry Association (SRA) conducts monthly low, mid, and high power rocket launches in the compound. SRA is affiliated with both the
National Association of Rocketry
The National Association of Rocketry (NAR) is a non-profit tax-exempt scientific organization dedicated to consumer safety, youth education, and the advancement of technology in the hobby of sport rocketry in the United States. Founded in 1957, t ...
(NAR) and the
Tripoli Rocketry Association
The Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) is an international organization and one of the two major organizing bodies for high power rocketry in the United States.
History
Tripoli Rocketry Association was founded in 1964 in the Pittsburgh, Pennsy ...
(TRA).
Remote control airplane operations
RC airplane enthusiasts frequently use the stretch o
Sapodilla Rd SW by Wishbone Ave SW.
Tough Mudder
The Compound has played host to two annual
Tough Mudder
Tough Mudder is an endurance event series in which participants attempt obstacle courses. It was co-founded by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone. The obstacles often play on common human fears, such as fire, water, electricity and heights.
The fi ...
events in 2015, and 2016 respectively. Both events generated large amounts of revenue for both Palm Bay and surrounding areas that hosted competitors. As of 2017, it unknown whether the site will host future Tough Mudder events.
Future use
The
St. Johns Heritage Parkway will pass through this portion of Palm Bay as a part of the future connection to the currently under construction
Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...
interchange just north of Micco Rd., construction of this section of the parkway is tentatively set to begin in the early 2020s.
References
External links
Hog Wild Paintball FieldPalm Bay Paintball ParkTough Mudder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compound
Palm Bay, Florida
Geography of Brevard County, Florida