FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
John Yarbrough, Lee County Parks & Recreation
(941)
461-7410
COUNTY TO PURCHASE LAND FOR NEW COMMUNITY PARK
FORT
MYERS, Fla. (April 18, 2002) – At its regular meeting Tuesday (April 23), The
Board of Lee County Commissioners will consider the purchase of 62 acres for a
new community park south of Fort Myers.
The land is located across Summerlin Road from
Lexington Country Club at 1673 Bass Road. George
C. Kalemeris, trustee, and Joanne C. Holt, trustee, own the tracts making up the
site. The asking price is $2.63
million.
An agreement is anticipated between the Lee
County School Board and the county, which would provide about 15 acres of the
parcel for a future potential school site.
The county and school district would jointly develop the park/school
site, creating savings for both.
Construction probably wouldn’t start for
two-to-three years because the park impact fee money collected in that district
(District 4) will be depleted with the purchase.
The district is collecting about $60,000 a month in impact fees.
In addition, a public input/workshop process to plan what will be
included in the park would need to take place.
The new park will relieve some of the pressure on
the heavily used Rutenberg Community Park.
Lee County’s Parks & Recreation Department
maintains and operates 3,500 acres of developed park land, 14 centers, 9 pools,
five boat ramps, three Gulf beach parks, one lakefront beach, 76 beach accesses,
60 tennis courts, 73 ballfields, and 13 preserves. The department also manages the more than 7,500 acres of
environmentally sensitive lands the county has purchased in the last five years
through its Conservation 2020 Program. Its
fiscal year 2002 operating budget is $16.2 million.
The Parks System gained national accreditation
last year and is a 2002 National Gold Medal Award Finalist.