OKEECHOBEE — The Okeechobee County Parks and Recreation Department is in the process of organizing a Friends of the Parks organization.

“We are very mindful that every penny we spend comes from a taxpayer,” said Community Services Director Denise Whitehead, “so we want to be sure we can do the biggest impact for the littlest amount.” In an effort to save taxpayers money, the department refurbished old picnic tables rather than buying new ones and saved over $700, she said. “My staff is always looking for ways to continue to do that.”

They are also very focused on community partnerships such as the one they have with the public library, and more recently, they partnered with the Rotary Club to put a storybook walk out at the sports complex. “These little projects make a bigger impact on the whole program,” she said.

Safety is one of their biggest concerns, she explained, and unfortunately, this led to what was one of her first projects when she took this job a little over a year ago. This was taking down the racquetball courts. “I hated that one of my first projects was to destroy something,” she said, “but it was filled with drug use and other inappropriate activity. By removing those racquetball courts, our vandalism and graffiti at the sports complex drastically reduced.”

They also fenced in the soccer fields, and that helped to eliminate drug deals in the back corners of the soccer fields while the kids were playing. There are also no longer vehicles doing donuts on the fields. “These safety issues were really prominent for us, and we continue to focus on them.” She also said if you haven’t driven through the sports complex lately, you should. You will no longer fall into a huge pothole.

Recently, they applied for a land and water conservation fund grant and received notice that it has been awarded to them. This is a huge grant that will focus on the sports complex property. It will encompass multiple projects. The first one they plan to tackle is the splash pad. “Our hope is that we will get a lot of community input on how we design it. We want to include some picnic features with a shade structure, but we also want to make it reflect this community.”

Another project will be a fitness trail. It will be in the wooded area on the eastern portion, kind of headed toward the high school. It will be a walking trail with fitness stations.

There is quite a bit of funding in the grant for picnic facilities, playground upgrades, tennis court upgrades, other amenities like lighting around the Wooden Jungle, more benches, etc. They are expecting to get this grant sometime between October and January. Their goal, although not set in stone, is to get the splash pad in by next summer.

This grant is a partially funded grant, she explained. So the county will be funding the other half. They have three years to complete all the projects according to the terms of the grant.

They have the opportunity to apply for two additional grants called FRDAP grants. They can get up to $200,000 for each grant and the county would not have to match the money. She has to choose projects she believes the community wants and will use. She has a few options. The first is the two playgrounds at the Douglas Park Community Center. Those playground are safe at the moment but will not be safe much longer, she said. They cannot be repaired anymore. They really need to be removed and replaced. One of those grants could replace both playgrounds and probably the pavilion there as well.

A second option is a pump track. A pump track can be used by BMX, roller bladers and skate boarders. The idea is that you use your body force and inertia to go through all the obstacles. The goal would be to have a competitive level pump track that could bring a lot of people and money to Okeechobee.

Another option would be renovation of the softball fields.

Shade structures and picnic tables at the Kiwanis Park are a possibility.

Neighborhood parks in areas where there are none was also a suggestion. “They raise property values. They help our families,” she said.

Whitehead explained there are several ways to become involved with Friends of the Parks.
• You can become a member.
• You can become part of the leadership group.
• You can volunteer with them.
• You can donate goods, services or funds.
• You can give feedback. There is a survey online, at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OkeeParks

To join the Friends of the Parks, contact Okeechobee Parks and Recreation at 863-763-6950.