Thanks to approval of a $75 million bond referendum on last Tuesday’s ballot, Fort Myers is about to upgrade existing parks and recreational facilities and acquire vacant land for new parks and green spaces.
The last time Fort Myers adopted a parks and recreation plan was in 2006. Since then, the city has experienced considerable growth and development, but its parks and green spaces have not kept pace. At 7.9 acres of parks per 100,000 residents, Fort Myers is 37% below the median municipal benchmark of 12.4 acres.
Parks and Recreation Director Elgin Hicks said that the need for more green space is even greater than voters realize.
“The 7.9 is almost cut in half because we have two golf courses as well as a cemetery,” Hicks pointed out. “So that eats up the 777,000 square acres, which when you take that away is about 320 is all golf courses, so we’re tremendously low compared to the benchmark if you take that out.”
It’s also a matter of access.
Only 34% of Fort Myers residents currently live within half a mile of a public park. Providing more parks will enable more residents to enjoy green spaces close to where they live.
However, there’s more involved than adding more parks and green space to the city’s current inventory. The city’s recently adopted master plan places importance on connecting new and existing parks and green space to one another.
“Connecting all the parks so that it’s one system as opposed to just parks all over the place, clusters you know,” said Hicks. “We want to really just connect everything and everything to be intertwined so that everybody can enjoy everything.”
Hicks said that Parks and Recreation will use bike paths, hiking trails and other means to achieve this interconnectivity.
For example, Hicks mentioned the boardwalk at Shady Oaks, which will take hikers to the downtown area, as well as a trail through the cemetery that goes through Dunbar to Clemente Park.
“Everybody cares about their ward, but when we’re talking about a park system, we don’t want to be ward-centric,” Hicks said. “We want you to just be able to get around the city and enjoy the whole city, the whole park system.”
In addition to upgraded amenities, Hicks expects all parks to feature one or more neighborhood-specific public artworks for broad appeal.
“Art is very important for our culture, very important for our society and where we are as a community, and every park that we go in, we do want to include art features,” Hicks noted. “But we don’t want to just put art there. We want art that brings people there, that people want to see the art, that when they go there … it makes them intrigued. Now they want to go explore the city and see the other artwork that the city has to offer…. It’s about quality of life and art is part of that.”
The Parks Master Plan identifies 18 projects, but since community involvement and neighborhood input is a priority, Parks and Recreation will launch its initiative with three or four projects beginning as soon as the G.O. bonds are validated, which will not occur until sometime during spring 2025.
“Between Council and workshops, we will have plenty of outreach to let people know that, hey, we’re coming,” Hicks added. “We want people to be there. We don’t want to have a public meeting and there’s five or six people there…. We want to have hundreds of people there so that people can tell us what they want.”
Residents can monitor progress by following the Parks and Recreation Department’s page on the City of Fort Myers website, as well as the City’s social media platforms.
“So just be ready,” Hicks advised. “Once we say we’re going to have a public meeting about a certain park or a certain proposed renovation, just please be there and tell us what you want.”
MORE INFORMATION:
The bonds approved by voters are called General Obligation or G.O. Bonds. They will be retired over a 30-year period out of tax revenues assessed on home values. For a home with a taxable value of $100,000, the projected cost is about $2.89 per month. For a home with a taxable value of $300,000, the projected cost is about $8.68 per month. For a home with a taxable value of $500,000, the projected cost is about $14.47 per month.
The $75 million principal amount will be applied by the city to implement a master plan that contemplates the planning, design and construction of improvements in 18 parks and facilities throughout the community over the next 10 years.
The master plan reflects significant public input. It has been endorsed by the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce and Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association.
The plan reflects four goals – revitalizing, connecting, expanding and investing in parks, recreation facilities and green spaces throughout the city with the ultimate goal of ensuring that residents and visitors for generations to come can enjoy the region’s natural resources and parks system.
The master plan prioritizes expanding parks and facilities in historically underserved areas, ensuring all residents have equal access to recreational opportunities for a healthier community.
Waterways are a key focus, with a goal of expanding public access to the Caloosahatchee River, developing new boating destinations, and improving existing boat ramps to enhance recreational opportunities on the water, a key pillar of the local tourist industry, such as “opening up Billy’s Creek so that you can enjoy the creek, then you can go out and enjoy Legacy Island,” said Hicks.
The plan will strive to connect neighborhoods through bike paths, hiking trails, arbor strolls and other “trail corridors” while at the same time engaging the communities where they are located.
Parks and recreation play a crucial role in improving physical and mental health for all. Regular access encourages children to be active and socially engaged, helps parents relieve stress, and provides grandparents with opportunities to stay fit and vibrant.
“You turn on the news every day, from the morning to the evening, you hear about these different crimes and see some of the young people who are involved, we want to keep them so busy they don’t want to think about that,” said Hicks. “We want to keep them so busy that they want to be successful and contribute to society. We want families to not be fearful of their kids going to a park and enjoying themselves because something bad can happen. We want families to be able to go and enjoy a birthday party at a park and not worry about being exposed to drugs or homelessness.”
Parks and recreation amenities also help drive economic development by increasing property values, attracting tourists, and stimulating local business.
“Adding parks and minimizing your proximity to a park adds to your home value,” Hicks emphasized.
They also induce people to remain in or move to a particular city. In fact, a survey conducted between 2008 and 2011 by the Knight Foundation and Gallup of 43,000 people in 26 cities about what they wanted most from their communities found, to the surveyors’ surprise, that “the aesthetics of a place – its art, parks and green spaces” ranked higher than education, safety and the local economy as “drivers of attachment.”
Hicks also noted that parks and green spaces can help with flood mitigation by adding structures to collect, store and convey stormwater to the Caloosahatchee River, Estero Bay and their tributaries.
The master plan identifies 18 proposed projects:
- City View Playground Pavilion and Walking Path
- Golf View Park Building and Pool Reconstruction
- Eastwood Villages Park Site (50 acres)
- Tarpon Park Development
- South Fort Myers Community Park Land (20 acres)
- South Fort Myers Community Park - Phase 1 Improvements (10 acres)
- Fort Myers Middle School Academy School Park
- Billy Bowlegs Park Aesthetics, Comfort, and Connectivity Improvements
- Dunbar Park Connectivity Improvements
- Shady Oaks Park Aesthetic, Comfort and Connectivity Improvements
- Central-Southern Fort Myers Neighborhood Park Land (4 acres)
- Central-Southern Fort Myers Neighborhood Park Land Improvements (2 acres)
- Central-South Fort Myers Community Park Land (20 acres)
- Central-Southern Fort Myers Community Park Land Improvements (10 acres)
- Central-Southern Fort Myers Neighborhood Park Land (4 acres)
- Central-South Fort Myers Neighborhood Park - Phase 1 Improvements (2 acres)
- Central-Southern Fort Myers Neighborhood Park Land (4 acres)
- Central-Southern Fort Myers Neighborhood Park - Phase 1 Improvements (2 acres)
Priority will be given to those areas within the city that presently have no amenities whatsoever.
“In some of those areas, there are a lot of gated communities,” Hicks noted. “So being creative with that, we’re able to work with the school board and we’re collaborating with them to revamp and renovate their recreational space and open them up to the public when school’s not in session. When school’s in session, it’s a safe area. But when it’s out, Parks can take over and offer some programming that just adds to their quality and enhance what the kids can do at P.E. and what they can do at recess, but also allow on the weekends for us to be able to bring in some of the different revenue-generating sports like pickleball and some of the things that are trending right now.”
Each park and green space will be individually designed based upon input from the surrounding community, from the type of amenities to the specific trees and plants that are included.
“Park Partners” will be important in this equation, such as Keep Lee Beautiful.
Hicks cites the renovations recently completed at Lions Park as an example. There, the Lions Club and Octagon Wildlife partnered with Parks and Recreation, the City’s Public Art Committee and the Fort Myers Mural Society to refurbish an old, rundown and troubled park and include a series of asphalt art murals that teach the children who play there about animal species native to Florida in a fun and colorful way.
“That’s what happens when we have partners and people who want to collaborate and who care about the city. It’s amazing. My email has been blowing up with people saying congrats. They’re so excited," Hicks said.
You can see detailed plans and read an FAQ by visiting cityftmyers.com/GOBond.