Editorial | Now is the time to get involved
On Aug. 7, 2024, Cape Coral City Council laid the foundation for what city officials said were three “transformative developments.”
Council approved the Cape Coral Grove Development to be built in northwest Cape Coral. It’s a planned mixed-use project to be constructed on a 131-acre parcel on Pine Island Road between Chiquita Boulevard and Burnt Store Road. City officials said the proposal, which included retail space, entertainment venues, a hotel, and luxury apartments and townhomes, would have an economic impact of $1.3 billion.
Council also approved the purchase of 43 parcels south of Cape Coral Parkway between Tarpon Court and Coronado Parkway, a near 19-acre site it dubbed Bimini Basin East. City officials said it would be “the cornerstone of a comprehensive redevelopment project aimed at revitalizing the South Cape area.”
And Council approved the purchase of the old golf course acreage, a 175-acre parcel off Palm Tree Boulevard for $10.4 million.
The first two projects — a city-incentivized private development and a city-driven redevelopment initiative — are economic development efforts designed to bring in private investment, tax dollars and jobs.
The purchase of the golf course acreage was heralded for a different reason: The public has long said it’s the perfect site for a “central park.”
The public now has the ability to weigh in on that years-long quest. The city has conducted an environmental study for protected species, conducted a stormwater study and has begun cleanup of invasive vegetation.
The next step is garnering of input en route to the development of a master plan for what is to come.
The public has been invited to the first of what we expect will be a number of such sessions.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. next Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Public Works Operations Center at 815 Nicholas Parkway E.
The “hands-on session will provide the community with the opportunity to learn about the site’s history and current conditions, take part in a visual preference activity to share their creative design ideas and to engage in an interactive exercise to identify what park features they would like to see,” city officials said.
The city also outlined a starting point:
“The purpose of the meeting is to gather ideas and input for transforming the Old Golf Course site into a vibrant, inclusive park that will serve current and future generations.”
“Recreation” and “park” are pretty broad definitions as those who have followed the development of Yellow Fever Creek, the Yacht Club and Jaycee Park have discovered.
Visions differ — which is the whole point of holding public input sessions — and the reason to attend if you have a particular vision in mind.
We urge anyone with any interest at all in the development of the old golf course acreage to attend this first session.
We also urge those interested to be involved throughout the process.
One-hundred and seventy-five acres is a serious chunk of real estate.
Ten million dollars is a serious chunk of money — and, in terms of park development, could be just the ante needed to get into the game.
We agree — … “transforming the Old Golf Course site into a vibrant, inclusive park that will serve current and future generations” is a laudable starting point.
The end point of what that means for those of us who will pay for it, for all of us who will use it well into the future, remains to be seen,
The time to get involved is now.
Breeze editorial