FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    John Yarbrough, Lee County Parks & Recreation, (941) 461-7410 or
                Jim Lavender, Lee County Public Works, (941) 479-8301

FORT MYERS, Fla. (February 23, 2001) – Lee County is nearly finished with the construction of 68 public parking spaces at Bowditch Point Regional Park – marking the first time residents will be able to use the park without walking, biking or being dropped off by a trolley or car.

The parking will open MONDAY (February 26) at 7 a.m. Park hours are from 7 a.m. to a half-hour past sunset. The parking fee is 75-cents an hour.

Prior to the construction, Bowditch had no on-site parking except for 12 spots for staff and visitors with disabilities. The Board of Lee County Commissioners voted last year to build the spaces to promote greater utilization of the park.

The 17-acre beach park on the north end of Estero Island fronts both the bay and the Gulf and opened in 1994. Facilities at the park include restrooms, showers, changing rooms, picnic tables and grills, and a boardwalk to the beach.

Lee County’s Parks & Recreation Department maintains and operates 3,500 acres of developed park land, 14 centers, 10 pools, five boat ramps, three Gulf beach parks, one lakefront beach, 76 beach accesses, 60 tennis courts, 73 ballfields, and 13 preserves. The department’s fiscal year 2001 operating budget is $15.1 million.