OKEECHOBEE — At their Aug. 4 meeting, Okeechobee City Council members were presented with a conceptual redesign of Flagler Park in downtown Okeechobee.

The redesign was spearheaded by the Economic Council of Okeechobee (ECO), a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that has operated in Okeechobee for nearly 30 years.

The presentation received by the Okeechobee City Council described an all-encompassing redesign and renovation which ECO says will preserve cherished elements of Okeechobee’s local history and celebrate the area’s agricultural heritage.

The initial, broad concepts of the proposed redesign were first showcased publicly in Okeechobee back in February at the Historic Okeechobee County Courthouse.

Members of the community were able to view basic conceptual art and the themes ECO had put together through nearly 12 months of research and discussions with local stakeholders and elected officials.

“The designs at this point are all conceptual,” said ECO Executive Director Jennifer Tewksbury at the February showcase. “We’ve intentionally tried to stay out of the weeds of specific details. The main goals we’re trying to accomplish are continuity from one end of the park to the other, and to show the need for public and private investment into this valuable space for our community.”

Some of the concepts of the redesign included naming the park located between Southwest Second and Southwest Third avenues “Speckled Perch Square” and envisioned a traditional fountain or water feature for children as in its center as the focal point. Life-sized bronze art depicting native Florida wildlife could then be placed at the center of the water feature or other prominent locations of the park.

The park between Southwest Sixth Avenue and Southwest Seventh Avenue, which currently holds the butterfly garden, would utilize landscape designs to blend the colorful butterfly art displays with the “Old Florida” aesthetic of the other parks and provide a play area for children. Added landscape buffers would serve as a barrier between park attendees and nearby traffic.

The Veterans’ Memorial Square near Parrott Avenue would see additional seating at memorial monuments with redesigned landscape screens to provide privacy for reflection. The park located between Southwest Fifth Avenue (Osceola Avenue) and Southwest Sixth Avenue would be named “Cattleman’s Square” and include the cattle drive art installation currently scheduled to be completed by 2021.

The project was put on hold for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but at their Aug. 4 meeting City Council members were, finally, officially presented with the plans.

“Overall our goal is to create a unified plan for all the parks,” said Tewksbury at the Aug. 4 meeting, “one that elevates our downtown area for us and for future generations.”

Michael Flaugh, a landscape architect brought on by ECO to help incorporate some of the existing and future park structures into the eventual overall design plan, was at the meeting and addressed the council as well.

“I would be hard-pressed to find a greater opportunity in my career as this,” said Flaugh to council members. “I think it’s amazing that you have this park system in place. It’s a very exciting project.”

Some of the local organizations supporting the project are Okeechobee Main Street, Okeechobee Historical Society, Chamber of Commerce of Okeechobee County, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Okeechobee County School District, Indian River State College and more.

“I look forward to this moving forward, because I’ve heard from our city clerk that there was a parks master plan previously developed a decade or so ago,” said City Councilman Bobby Keefe. “I don’t know where it’s at. And that’s typically what happens, I’ve found, both here and at the county level. There is this great master plan that is put together, and then it sits on a shelf and collects dust. I certainly don’t want that to happen again. This is way overdue.”

Okeechobee Mayor Dowling Watford thanked ECO for putting the presentation together. The city council agreed to start the process of requesting bids from landscape architects for the project and made plans to discuss creating a citizen’s advisory board for the project at a future meeting.