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Park on water's edge possible
By VANESSA DE LA TORRE
Published July 22, 2006
DUNEDIN - In what would be a rare transformation, 7 acres just north of downtown could be converted into a waterfront park. City Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to pursue purchasing the property from local businessman and country music songwriter J.C. Weaver, at a price in the neighborhood of $19-million. The land lies on both sides of Bayshore Boulevard, about a half-mile north of downtown, near Pershing Street. It overlooks St. Joseph Sound on the west, while abutting the Pinellas Trail on the east. "It's a true waterfront and that would be so rare if we got this property," Commissioner Deborah Kynes said Thursday night. Four rental homes are on the land, including a green, two-story framed house facing the water and a white stone house where Weaver built his first recording studio. City officials said they have been talking with Weaver, a Dunedin resident since 1960, for several months about the purchase. City officials plan to pursue about $17-million in grant funding over the next two years to cover a large share of the purchase price. If the city completes the purchase, it would plan to continue renting the property's homes until the land is developed into a public park. The Weaver property also includes a 100-foot pier. Weaver said he wanted to give back to his longtime home. "The most beautiful sunsets in the world can be seen from the pier I built," Weaver said in a statement. "I have elected in my heart to share this with this community, which has done so much for me over these last 45 years." Weaver bought the property in 1980 after doing well as owner of Weaver Tile Co., a Clearwater business he started at age 19. About the same time Weaver purchased the vast waterfront vista, he closed down Weaver Tile and started buying acres of land between Belcher Road and Hercules Avenue in Clearwater. Those acres would be developed into Weaver Park, a 350,000-square-foot industrial and retail leasing space Weaver owns today.
[Last modified July 21, 2006, 22:51:33]
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