Waterfront Park boardwalk on pace for February finish
By 
If you haven’t been down to Safety Harbor’s Waterfront Park lately, you may be surprised at what you see.
Walk from the entrance on Veterans Memorial Lane towards the back of the park, and the green expanse that used to end in a jumble of Brazilian peppers and other invasive plants is now a clearing dotted with trees, with a wooden trail snaking through the mangroves along the shoreline.
According to officials, work on Phase II (technically part 2 of Phase I) of the multi-million-dollar project, which includes a 2,000-linear-foot boardwalk and four trailheads, is ahead of schedule and should be completed in February, well ahead of the previous timeframe of April 2017.
“Brazilian Peppers and other nuisance species have been removed and rough grading of the site is complete,” City Engineer John Powell told Safety Harbor Connect via email this week. “Boardwalk pile installation is about 90% complete.”
“Planting of the wetland restoration area is scheduled for mid to end of February,” he continued, adding, “The overall project is scheduled to be complete by end of February 2017.”
Powell went on to detail the progress that has been made on Phase II since the work began in June following a lengthy delay in securing the permit for the boardwalk.
“Piles across Mullet Creek and to the proposed trail head on North Bayshore Drive at Church Street remain to be done,” he wrote. “Boardwalk framing and decking is on-going and about 30% complete. Railing installation will follow decking.”
Powell also noted that portions of the 10 foot wide sidewalk that will connect the sidewalk in Phase 1 to North Bayshore Drive have been installed, and the installation of storm sewer and Geoblock grass parking is already underway.
“The City is excited to see the progress and completion of the first phase of the Waterfront Park,” City Manager Matt Spoor told Safety Harbor Connect.
“The community will celebrate our Centennial in 2017, the Waterfront Park Phase I completion will be a nice gift to begin our yearlong celebration!”
The progress report is great news for Safety Harbor residents and visitors—and election candidates—who have been clamoring to see something more than just grass at the park ever since the city bought the 13-acre parcel from the Safety Harbor Spa for $2.7 million in February 2012.
While the park has been open to the public ever since a “roll the fence back” ceremony in June of 2013, the only work that has been done to the property since then is to grade the land and install the sidewalk and new sod as part one of Phase I, which was completed in March.
But with the impending completion of the boardwalk, the incoming commission will need to look ahead to the next phase of work at the park and decide exactly what that will entail.
For complete coverage of the Waterfront Park, visit this Safety Harbor Connect landing page.
Here’s a gallery of images from the boardwalk project site, and check out this YouTube video courtesy of contractor Augustine Construction for a cool drone’s-eye view of the work!
The relationship between mangroves and associated marine life cannot be overemphasized. The intricate root system of mangroves makes these forests attractive to fish, shore birds and other organisms seeking food and shelter. Over the past 100 years, Tampa Bay has lost almost half of its coastal wetlands acreage including mangrove forests. How many acres of mangroves were lost for the boardwalk trail? So much energy around saving trees in SH but not a peep about the destruction of mangroves and our dwindling wildlife habitat. Seems there is no voice for the natural environment in SH.
Tammy,
The City would be more than happy to share a copy of our WFP SWFWMD Permit with you. The following facts would be obtained from review of the permit.
*The City cleared approximately 2 acres of invasive species.
*The project wetland permitting was approved as follows:
Total acres: 6.40 Acres
Not Impacted: 4.91 Acres
Permanent Impact: 0.02 Acres
Temporary impact: 1.47 Acres
*The City will be restoring 2 acres (where the invasive material was removed) with wetland plantings via a grant from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP) and help from Tampa Bay Watch (TBW).
The planting is scheduled for February 25th at 9am. Sign up link below.
https://app.etapestry.com/cart/TampaBayWatch/default/item.php?ref=1309.0.441105441
Thanks for sharing the updates and the pictures!
That’s great news!!
Great work. Excited to see it complete and have a new place to get some great photography shots. Thanks for the hard work and keeping us in Safety Harbor updated.
great article, thanks Jeff
It was just brought to my attention by a friend and neighbor that Shelly Schellenberg has announced that Desanya and I are the creators of “Sprawling Safety Harbor,” and in her typical form has started a character assault and the spreading of lies. I post and comment regularly on Safety Harbor Connect under my full name. Desanya comments ofter, always identifying herself.
Trust me, Shelly Schellenberg, member of the City Code Enforcement board and the the voice of hate, when we have something to say, you know it’s from us. You truly do not have a clue about the town you claim to protect. You only know anger and hate.
It is sad that you, as an attorney, exhibit such a low level of ethics, passing along untrue assumption as facts.