With a budget okay, one project would make playgrounds safer for disabled.
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published May 2, 2004
SEMINOLE - Lake Seminole Park and Seminole's Recreation Center may get $225,000 in state recreation grants under the 2004-05 budget deal that lawmakers worked out last week.
The Millennium Playground project proposed by Seminole is a joint effort by the city and the Seminole Rotary Club to add safety and handicapped features to an existing children's playground at the Seminole Recreation Center, 9100 113th St. N.
The city is planning to install a rubberized safety surface, as well as lower playground equipment that will be better suited for handicapped children and toddlers. In addition to the $112,500 state grant, the city and the Rotary Club are each contributing $25,000. Construction is expected to begin sometime in the fall and be completed early in 2005.
Pinellas County is planning major improvements to trails within Lake Seminole Park, including surface repairs to the existing trail and a new 1,300-foot nature boardwalk and observation platform.
The entire project will cost $150,000, according to Lyle Fowler, operations manager for the county Park Department. The county will supplement the $112,500 state grant with $18,000 in cash and $19,500 in in-kind staff and volunteer services. Construction would begin immediately after the county receives formal notification of the grant.
Although the county and city Recreation Development Assistance Program grants are included in the state budget, they are not official until the budget is signed by Gov. Jeb Bush.
