Public welcome to participate in tours
Members of the community are invited to attend a ceremony at 9 a.m. on Monday, July 13, at the Bobby Jones Golf Club clubhouse “to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the Bobby Jones Nature Park,” City of Sarasota staff has announced.
Among the improvements completed during Phase 1 were the planting of more than “200 native trees and palms, as well as the introduction of more than 18,000 native shrubs and grasses for habitat restoration in the Nature Park,” a news release points out.
The ceremony will include a ribbon cutting followed by tours of Phase 1 of the Nature Park, the release notes. “Attendees should plan to walk or bike from the Bobby Jones clubhouse to the Nature Park entrance. Limited golf cart transportation will be available,” the release adds.
Phase 1 is part of an ongoing series of improvements to the Bobby Jones Nature Park, the release says. The facility is being enhanced with “upgraded walking trails, Florida-friendly trees and vegetation, wildlife viewing areas, and more,” the release adds.
Work on Phase 2 is expected to begin late this year, the release continues; that will include the addition of a bird blind and a boardwalk, among other features.
Phases 1 and 2 are being funded by $1.67 million in park impact fees, the release points out. Future phases will be paid for through a $3.5-million fundraising agreement with Big Waters Land Trust, “which holds a conservation easement over the entire Bobby Jones property,” the release notes
Bobby Jones Nature Park opened in December 2023, “following the downsizing of Bobby Jones Golf Club, Sarasota’s historic municipal golf course,” the release explains. The golf complex , which was reduced from 48 holes to 27 holes, features a restored Donald Ross-designed course with room “for the creation of a 100-acre park and conservation area,” it says.
For more information on the Nature Park, visit www.letsplaysarasota.com/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/205/4753?npage=3.