Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for New "Mainlands Park" in Tamarac

Groundbreaking of new Mainlands park. From left: Parks and Rec Director Greg Warner, Assist City Manager Diane Phillips, Commissioner Pam Bushnell, Mayor Beth Talabisco, Mainlands Section 3 Resident Bill Villela and Patte Atkins-Grad

By: Sharon Aron Baron

Last Friday, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Mainlands Park and attended by residents in the Mainlands Sections 3 and 4 subdivisions in Tamarac.

District 1 Commissioner Pamela Bushnell addresses Mainlands residents

The project site is located on a vacant 23-acre lot, which was previously part of the 48-acre Monterey Golf Club located east of the Turnpike off of Monterey Drive.

Once owned by father and son developer’s Bruce and Shawn Chait, the land for the park was offered as an incentive to the City of Tamarac to get their land deal through. LDC Monterey Ventures LLC currently owns the property.

The City of Tamarac held two neighborhood meetings with Mainlands residents back in 2011 and discussed what type of amenities they would like the park to have.

The proposed amenities include:

A concrete multi-use trail located along the perimeter of the park
Six ADA accessible drinking fountains throughout the park site
Six shaded benches with trash receptacles
Twelve fitness stations
One nature kiosk
One fishing pier/ observation platform
Eight covered picnic tables with trash receptacle (two tables ADA accessible)
One energy fitness station. Centralized fitness area consisting of a minimum of five pieces of equipment
Landscaping and irrigation
One restroom facility with security cameras, one ADA water fountain and one standard water fountain
One parking lot – approximately 17 spaces

The project’s budget is $1,200,000, which includes $200,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grand and $248,000 from the Recreational Trails Program (RTP).

After the groundbreaking, hotdogs, popcorn and the 1963 movie “Charade” was featured in the park.

The start of construction is estimated to begin in the late spring with completion in the spring of 2014.

Author Profile

Sharon Aron Baron

Sharon Aron Baron is the Editor of Talk Media and writer for Tamarac Talk, Coral Springs Talk and Parkland Talk.

Tamarac Talk was created in 2010 to provide News, Views and Entertainment for the residents of Tamarac.