- October 10, 2024
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Palm Coast is planning $1.3 million in amenity improvements for Palm Coast’s Long Creek Nature Preserve. Funding would come from impact fees and grant money.
The improvements would add new shell paths, boardwalks and overlooks and four new gazebos. A future phase will include a nature center, classrooms, exhibit spaces, a restroom building and other site improvements.
The nine-acre preserve on Palm Harbor Parkway is surrounded by 225 acres of protected, environmentally sensitive land.
The proposed work would make up the second of three construction phases the city has planned for Long Creek. The City Council unanimously approved the project at an Oct. 3 council meeting.
The work is expected to cost the city $1.3 million, including Parks and Recreation impact fees and a $325,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The council awarded a construction contract of $1,031,000 to Saboungi Construction and a contract of $32,490 to Pegasus Engineering for construction engineering services, and budgeted $150,000 for contingency funding, according to City Council meeting documents.
When the city bought the nine acres in 2008, it did so partly through a Florida Community Trust grant. City architect Eric Gebo said the grant required the city to make several commitments to improving the site.
Those commitments included adding recreational facilities, a kiosk and interpretive signs, educational classes or programs, a staffed nature center and at least a quarter mile of walking trails.
Phase 1 of the park’s construction was completed in 2014, Gebo said, and included shell paths, wooden boardwalk trails, a canoe and kayak launch, picnic tables, a fishing pier and a parking area.
The Phase 2 improvements are expected to be completed in April 2024.
