PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 St. Johns County is breaking ground on a major makeover for a popular neighborhood park in Ponte Vedra Beach.<\/p>\n
The new $1.9 million project at DeLeon Shores Park off Dolphin Boulevard East will completely revamp the skate park, add three new lighted pickleball courts, upgrade the multipurpose field, and build a walking path around it. <\/p>\n
The 4\u2011acre park already features a playground, tennis and basketball courts, a pavilion, and a dog park, which will also see upgrades.<\/p>\n
County officials say neighbors helped shape nearly every part of the plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone that uses this park who wanted to give us feedback to collect the survey information, put it together and then present it to the county. Once we connected with the county, they were fantastic partners,\u201d said Eileen Tondreault, president of the Dolphin Cove Community Association. \u201cThey listened. They gave guidelines. They kept us on track. It was a wonderful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deleon Shores Park is now under construction for improvements (Carlos Acevedo\/News4JAX)<\/p>\n
Commissioners say DeLeon Shores is the next step in a broader effort to upgrade neighborhood parks across the county.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed to redo some. We just redid Cornerstone Park. That had not happened yet. This park really needs to be done,\u201d St. Johns County Commissioner Krista Joseph said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s in the middle of Ponte Vedra Beach. There\u2019s plenty of homeowners around it, and it was time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parks leaders say it\u2019s rewarding for crews to actually build what residents asked for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public works team was able to really meet with the residents and hear what their wants and needs were and be able to, you know, the construction team be able to hear that,\u201d said Ryan Kane, St. Johns County Parks & Recreation Director. \u201cAnd now they\u2019re going to see it come to fruition and really see the people who wanted that actually what they\u2019re building, you know, see that turn out to a final result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Construction at DeLeon Shores Park starts with Friday\u2019s groundbreaking and will continue through the coming months.<\/p>\n
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