SPJC property a natural for park

The college and Pinellas County are collaborating to create a park on environmentally sensitive land at the Seminole campus.

By WILMA NORTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 12, 2000

SEMINOLE -- Pinellas County, in partnership with St. Petersburg Junior College, plans to put a nature park on the college's Seminole campus, a place for people to see native plants and animals up close.

"The property is magnificent," said Diana Kyle, Pinellas County parks director. "Every day you go out there will be a different experience."

The college owns 102 acres south of 102nd Avenue between Ridge Road and 113th Street, but only about half of the land can be used for buildings. The rest is wetlands or environmentally sensitive.

The site once was home to a pair of eagles, though the birds have not used the nest in more than five years.

"There are few parks that can actually show: "Here's an abandoned eagle's nest,' " said Susan Reiter, head of facilities planning and institutional services for SPJC.

Under the arrangement, the college will lease the land to the county, which will build a series of boardwalks through the property so that people can see the habitats and animals, Kyle said.

The concept will be similar to Sawgrass Lake Park in St. Petersburg, although Kyle said the SPJC site has a greater variety of habitats and native animals than Sawgrass.

There also will be restrooms and parking as well as a link to the Pinellas Trail, which lies about a quarter-mile to the west.

The Pinellas County Extension Service also will be a partner, linking programs with its new Florida Botanical Gardens, expected to open nearby next year.

The college will be able to use the park as an outdoor classroom and lab for an environmental science program that is under development.

"Now is the time to look with the faculty about the kinds of environmental science curriculum this (site) would naturally lead us to offer," said Jim Olliver, the campus provost. "It's an exciting prospect to use the resources we have on campus."

Kyle said design of the park will begin soon with help from the faculty members. A cost estimate won't be available for about six months, she said.

The park should be complete in about two years.

"This will probably be the fastest Pinellas County project you have seen go up," she said.

That's because the county hopes to use SPJC contractors who are already on the site building five small lakes and clearing land for the college's construction.

The money for the nature park will come from the Penny for Pinellas sales tax, Kyle said.

The college began preliminary discussions with the county about a nature park last year. The plan jelled Wednesday, Reiter said. "We're at the point where everybody is saying, "Go,' " she said.

Besides its education value, Kyle said, the park should provide a place of respite for those who want to detour there from the Pinellas Trail or those who want to take a quiet walk in a natural setting.

"It's nice and cool in there because of the (tree) canopy," she said.

SPJC has owned the 102-acre site for more than 30 years. It opened its first classroom and administration building there about two years ago.

In the next three years, the college plans to build a large classroom and administration building as headquarters for its College University Center. It also plans a partnership library with the city of Seminole on the site.

Reiter said she hopes the park and the college's buildings can all be complete about the same time.

"If we can get all the construction out of the way at one time, it will be beneficial to the site and to the neighbors," she said.

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