LAKELAND, Fla. — Once an eyesore and unused, a blighted old rail yard in the middle of Lakeland is now a jewel of the community and being touted as the Central Park of Central Florida.
Welcome to Bonnet Springs Park.
On this episode of To The Point Already, Bay News 9 anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk about the process to build the park, the long-time area benefactors involved and how well it’s being received.
The community turned out in droves last month to see the 168-acre park on Bonnet Springs Boulevard off George Jenkins Blvd.
According to Park CEO Josh Henderson, about 40,000 people visited the park during the Oct. 22-23 opening weekend.
In addition to music and artists and other entertainment, visitors got their first glimpses of the park’s rolling acreage and nature and event centers. The park is also the new home of the Florida Children’s Museum.
But the multi-year project first needed a visionary (Lakeland realtor David Bunch) and a financial backer (enter Barney and Carol Barnett).
After the land was acquired from CSX and the state of Florida signed off on the cleanup process, construction began in early 2019. Three years later, the $140-million vision is a reality and a crown jewel for Lakeland.
The community gets to enjoy the new park, thanks to its biggest benefactors Barney and Carol Jenkins Barnett, daughter of the Publix grocery story founder George Jenkins.
“Lakeland means a lot to us. It’s been good to us — it’s been where Publix is headquartered,” said Barney Barnett, who added it is bittersweet that Carol passed away last year of Alzheimer’s complications before the park was completed. “So we’ve always felt an obligation to give back to this community, and this was one way to do that — in a big way.”
And according to park officials, Lakeland's strategic position between Tampa and Orlando on the I-4 corridor makes it the perfect location to showcase Central Florida's Place of Play.
“We saw the majority of Central Florida represented as they came out to this new, free natural attraction in the state,” Henderson said of the park’s opening weekend last month. “It was awesome.”
ABOUT THE SHOW
Spectrum Bay News 9 anchor Rick Elmhorst sits down with the people that represent you, the people fighting for change and the people with fascinating stories to ask the hard questions.
Catch up on our latest To The Point Already podcast episodes.