A workshop held Tuesday, December 13, by the City Council saw the council all but decide to place the proposed splash pad in Apopka at Kit Land Nelson Park, while also agreeing to go ahead with Mayor Joe Kilsheimer’s “Apopka Begins and Ends with A” program designed to help local schools.
During the nearly four-hour workshop, the council also heard a presentation from Kilsheimer about a proposed Lake Apopka Restoration Center that would be part entertainment, part recreation, and part education on the North Shore of Lake Apopka.
There were also other issues discussed, such as a proposed ride-share ordinance, the location of the statues of former longtime Mayor John H. Land, and the possible setting of a referendum to annex the Fisher’s Plantation subdivision.
Splash pad
Discussion at the city level and in the community has been not so much the existence of a splash pad, but the location.
City officials have determined that the best location for the proposed splash pad is Kit Land Nelson Park, which is located along Park Avenue between Orange and First streets.
Its central location in Apopka is one of its biggest advantages, but that’s what also draws four large community events – the Apopka Art and Foliage Festival, the Apopka Fair, the Fall Family Festival, and the main staging area for the Apopka Christmas Parade.
Those events – run by the Apopka Woman’s Club, Apopka Rotary Club, and Foliage Sertoma Club of Apopka – are used as fundraisers by those groups, and the monies realized from the events are pumped back into the community through various non-profit groups. Youth sports organizations, church groups, scouts, and others benefit from those funds.
Those who run the community organizations expressed concern that the splash pad would cause their events to be scaled back or halted entirely.
City officials, however, said that would not be the case because the splash pad would be built where the tennis courts are now at Kit Land Nelson Park and that the current racquetball court would be reconfigured to accommodate restrooms for the park.
An expanded, full story will appear on page 1A of The Apopka Chief’s Friday, December 16, issue.
