BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Clay County Commissioners broke ground Tuesday morning on the county’s $6 million Phase 1 of a regional sports park.
The facility is one mile north of Camp Blanding on State Road 21.
County Commission Chair and Crystal Lake resident Betsy Condon said the facility will be the first of its kind in northeast Florida.
“With eight multipurpose sports fields, it will be a high-demand sports destination and an incredible asset to our community that will bring families and young people outdoors and onto the field,” she said. “It’s truly a great investment for Clay County residents and visitors.”
Sports tourism is big business
Condon added that the park would allow the county to compete in the growing sports tourism industry, which she said is big business in northeast Florida and throughout the state.
“Amateur and leisure sports have contributed more than $113 billion to Florida’s economy and generated more than $10 billion in state and local taxes in fiscal years 2020 and 2021,” she said. “Clay County tourism generated more than $23 million in state and local taxes in 2021 and saved our residents nearly $300 annually in their property taxes.”
Condon said that in addition to the 250 acres the fully built-out park will occupy, an additional 800 acres of forest is owned by the North Florida Land Trust adjacent to the park’s south side, running almost to State Road 16.
“This is just so exciting because it’s over a thousand acres of conservation in Clay County, one of the fastest growing places in the state.”
Condon added that the land trust has agreed to let the county build hiking trails on the trust’s 800 acres.
Completed in November
Justin Pierce, the county’s parks and recreation director, said Phase 1 of the project would include eight multipurpose fields, a restroom facility, shade structures, ponds, a driveway, 350-plus parking spaces and a three-quarters of a mile walking trail.
“And at a later date,” Pierce added, “you will see a nice monument sign as you come into the park. We’ve overcome early design issues to modify the accommodations of the site conditions, maximize the use of the dirt on site and minimize impact with wetlands.”
Pierce said Phase 1 will be completed in November, and the park will be available for use in early 2024.
Game changer
County Manager Howard Wanamaker thanked former Sen. Rob Bradley and former State Representative Travis Cummings for securing the $3 million state matching grant that funded one-half of Phase 1.
Wanamaker noted that the grant escaped Gov. Ron DeSantis’s line-item veto after Bradley and Cummings got the project into the state’s budget.
“This (project) is on (the governor’s) radar,” the county manager said, “so we look forward to when we have the ribbon cutting and inviting him here.”
Wanamaker added that the park is a game-changing facility for both the county and region.
