The Town of Fort Myers Beach will be getting a $1 million federal grant to help pay for the cost of the redevelopment of the Bay Oaks Recreational Campus. The grant is from the National Park Service – Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The federal grant is predicated by a match from the Town. The town borrowed $10 million back in 2020 for 3 major community projects, including the redevelopment of Bay Oaks. Right now the Bay Oaks redevelopment is over the $5.5 million budget the town council was hoping to spend on the project. As of late August the project was at 60% design.
Fort Myers Beach Town Manager Roger Hernstadt said, “Out of 25 county and municipal grant applications from across the state of Florida, our Bay Oaks project ranked eighth on the priority list. In addition, this is the first time that the LWCF has provided grants of $1 million and we were one of four development applications to receive a grant of this magnitude due to the extraordinary efforts of Town staff.”
Improvements to the 15-acre park facility include:
A new building
Two ball fields with lighting
Improved entrance and exit for pedestrians and vehicles
Outdoor basketball, pickleball, tennis courts
A stage for concerts and events
The town council approved the $10 million loan to fund all three projects (Bay Oaks, Bayside Park and Times Square) with the understanding that grants would applied for to contribute to the cost of these three large projects.
Read all of our stories on the progression of the Bay Oaks project HERE.
Comments are closed.