Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
As of Saturday, people can frolic with the likes of the green alligator and the sly red fox.
By KELLEY BENHAM, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 14, 2003
LARGO -- It has belonged to the alligators and the red fox for almost a year, but Saturday, the Largo Central Park Nature Preserve opens to people.
The 31-acre park is home to river otters, bald eagles, hawks, ibis, limpkin and other critters. Two alligators live in the big pond in the summer. The fox is hard to spot -- it likes to hide in the restricted areas nearby.
The city developed the park with grants from a number of groups. It cleared out the Brazilian peppers and reforested with native trees and plants. YMCA kids built a butterfly garden and designed an educational kiosk.
The park has 3,700 feet of trails and a 3,000-foot boardwalk with a 23-foot observation tower. There is an open meadow in the middle with boggy areas for the ducks.
Grand opening festivities begin at 1 p.m. City officials will cut a ribbon and unveil an otter statue. There will be guided nature walks, bird walks, a kayak demonstration, a remote control boat regatta and a children's fishing contest. Fifty quail will be released into the preserve.
It was supposed to open a year ago, but the city waited to make sure it met all environmental regulations.
City Manager Steven Stanton said that for the past year and a half, he has used the place for his morning and lunchtime jogs.
"It's been my private playground," Stanton said. "People are just going to really have a neat time there."
In the summertime it's 20 degrees cooler under the oaks, he said, and the park changes personality with the seasons. "It looks different in the morning and at night," he said. "This area is so beautiful."
The park contains a regional stormwater treatment facility that reduces pollutants draining into Boca Ciega Bay from a 1,200-acre county watershed.
The $3.7-million project was paid for with Penny for Pinellas funds and grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and other groups. The Southwest Florida Water Management District donated money and 10 acres of hardwood swamp.
The city has been working on the project for about four years. It was supposed to be just a water treatment facility, but the land was so beautiful the city decided it should be open to the public.
"It's an example of taking something environmentally important and at the same time offering people something not easily found in Pinellas County," Stanton said.
The park is part of 170 acres of city-owned land that includes Central Park and about 100 acres not yet open to the public where the new library will be built.
"It's a nice addition to Central Park," said Mayor Bob Jackson, who has already walked the trails and boardwalks. "I could imagine going in the evenings before dark and hearing the birds chirping and the alligators thrashing around."