Cape Coral hosts open-house style events for updated Jaycee Park designs; critics continue

Luis Zambrano, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read
Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, which includes a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options. To be presented to the public in March.
Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, which includes a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options. To be presented to the public in March.

Cape Coral is hosting an open house-style design review on Tuesday for the planned improvements at Jaycee Park, even as some residents are working to halt the plans.

Because Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, residents can see the designs, speak with experts, and provide feedback.

Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, which includes a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options. To be presented to the public in March.
Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, which includes a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options. To be presented to the public in March.

The event is in the city's Public Works Operation Center, 815 Nicholas Parkway E., from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Jaycee Park is an 11.8-acre park that opened more than 40 years ago and includes large open green spaces, a playground, a picnic area, restrooms, a walking path, and a gazebo.

The city held a similar event in September 2023, which was attended by many with the "Save Jaycee Park" movement, a group dedicated to preserving the character and feel of the neighborhood park.

For months, residents have been up in arms, showing up to the city council meetings and demanding that they halt any plans.

Clare Dooley, chairwoman of The Cape Coral Preservation PAC, said her organization continues to oppose the plans for the park.

"We are adamantly opposed to the city's design plans for the park that will destroy the beautiful natural green space that so many city residents enjoy," Dooley said.

The PAC was created to stop the overdevelopment and wasteful spending supported by the current mayor and city council by placing two referendums on the 2024 ballot, one to stop the development of Jaycee Park and to repeal the council's recently approved stipends.

"We are working hard to get the 22,000 signatures we need to get our initiative on the ballot, but we need help from everyone who loves the park the way it is," Dooley said.

Pennoni Associates, a consulting engineering firm, had been contracted for the preliminary and updated designs, which currently include two docks, both at the north and south ends, for 24 boat slips, a splash pad, two beach volleyball courts, a bistro/piazza area, areas for six food trucks, and a bandshell.

Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, which includes a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options. To be presented to the public in March.
Jaycee Park has hit its 30% design benchmark, which includes a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options. To be presented to the public in March.

Updates to the designs include a revised parking lot concept with 128 spaces, ADA boardwalk accessibility, more shade trees, and shaded seating options.

Improvements to the park are estimated to cost $12 million for construction, and the city plans to issue a long-term debt to pay for the project, which means city residents and future residents will bear the cost.

Cape Coral plans to seek grant funding to offset some of the project's costs.

Previous coverage Cape Coral's Jaycee Park: Neighbors, council face off over update plans for beloved park

Recent Jaycee Park news Cape Coral residents putting plans for Jaycee Park, council stipends on the 2024 ballot.

Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Revised Jaycee Park designs event in Cape Coral Tuesday