$13.1 million county grant to fund some Northwest Recreation Complex projects
Several park projects around the community are now under development including many amenities at the Northwest Recreation Complex with some help from a $13.1 million Tourism Development Tax (TDT) Grant, according to Radley Williams, city parks and recreation director, who spoke at the Wednesday, Feb. 19, Apopka City Council meeting.
“We’re excited. This is a lot of fun,” Williams said after he finished presentation. “It’s always exciting to bring new facilities to the community and I think we have some very valuable amenities coming that the community’s going to enjoy.”
The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) District have two projects under construction and are expected to be completed soon. Although construction of the $500,000 Apopka Action Sports Park next to the Fran Carlton Center was to wrap up mid-March, the skate park and pump track’s construction will finish this week, Williams said. The city will close out with the project’s construction company and then send out invites for the grand opening.
Meanwhile, the $1.16 million, 1.1-mile phase 1 of the Downtown Apopka Trail will end this April. The segment built in this phase will be an asphalt trail connecting to Alonzo Williams Park.
Over at the Northwest Recreation Complex, the $1.1 million inclusive playground is on schedule to be completed this April. The playground will comprise 13,320 sq. ft. and include Go-Rounds, Zip-Krooz, two play structures, and inclusive access points.
The end of 2025 may also see completion of several new athletic fields at the Northwest Recreation Complex. Six soccer/multipurpose fields, totaling approximately 980,000 sq. ft. with a budget of $1.5 million, may wrap this autumn and spring 2026. As well, 10 pickleball courts and 10 tennis courts, budgeted at $2.15 million, would come to fruition by this year’s end.
The city is replacing the gazebo at Kit Land Nelson Park, hoping to finish this project by the end of this summer. Designed to resemble an amphitheater like the one at the Northwest Recreation Complex, the $250,000 gazebo replacement will be 40 feet by 18 feet and include a raised platform stage.
City cemetery projects include a maintenance storage building, columbarium upgrades, and cemetery entrance gates.
TDT Grant for Northwest Recreation Complex
Using the TDT Grant award that the city received at the end of 2024, the money will get poured into two project areas of the Northwest Recreation Complex. The total project’s grant scope is for $13.1 million and will focus on adding new softball fields and upgrading the amphitheater area.
Project area one, spanning approximately 632,000 sq. ft. and budgeted at $8.3 million, will include a softball field quad, restrooms, concessions, a maintenance building, ADA and grass parking, and walkways, dugouts, and bleachers for the softball fields.
Project area two is budgeted at $4.8 million and will focus on approximately 460,000 sq. ft. at the amphitheater. This project will include adding a new ticket booth, a restroom complex, a new concession, an upper walkway with vendor and food truck areas at the top of the hill, and more ADA parking and ADA seating.
The city already received and reviewed the TDT Grant funding agreement from Orange County. City staff hopes to present this agreement to the City Council for approval at the next meeting and then send the document back county for final approval. From there, the city will proceed with the two Northwest Recreation Complex projects.
