Park critics take swing at county

A community park that will open to the public later this fall is set to become one of the largest recreational green spaces in Lee County.

But size does little to impress critics of the county's plan to shut down community programs at the Karl Drews Community Center in San Carlos Park and move them to the new 55-acre park being built in Estero.

It's the decision to bus children to the new Estero Community Park on Corkscrew and Williams roads that has San Carlos Park parents like Linda Wright up in arms.

"I'm still hoping we don't have to move," Wright, 50, said on Thursday when she picked up her daughter from summer camp at the Karl Drews Community Center.

"I'm aggravated that they're taking it away," she said.

The San Carlos Park Civic Association has spent the past year pleading with Lee County officials to overturn their decision to remove programs from the 20-year-old community center, which will be converted into a special-needs facility.

Wright has lived in San Carlos Park for 13 years and said she'll probably have to take time off work to drive her 7-year-old daughter, Kaley, to summer camp next year when the camp moves to the new community park in Estero.

"I'm not comfortable with that busing situation," Wright said.

Lee County commissioners had similar reservations earlier this week for Lee County Parks and Recreation Director John Yarbrough at a management and planning meeting.

"You're asking parents to trust bus drivers and people they don't know," said Commissioner John Albion, whose district includes San Carlos Park.

Albion said there should be a fall-back plan in place in case the park doesn't turn into the south Lee County attraction park officials are expecting it to become.

"If it turns out there is not an exodus to the new park," Albion said, "that will put the board in some type of quandary."

The county is still working out the transportation details, but the parks and recreation staff will go to great lengths to ensure the transition of programs to the new park will be a smooth one, Yarbrough said — even if it means putting off the opening of the new park once it is completed.

"I think it will all work out," Yarbrough said. "I honestly do."

The $12 million park has been under construction for two years and is being paid for mostly with impact fees from Estero and San Carlos Park.

The first phase of construction spans 40 acres and is made up of walking and biking paths, two sizable lakes, a central lawn and mound area, eight shade shelters and a 41,600-square-foot recreation building designed to accommodate pageants, festivals, concerts and parades.

The new park will be more than 10 times the size of the Karl Drews Center.

The county hasn't budged from its decision to move community programs to Estero, even after San Carlos Park residents gathered more than 3,000 signatures from Lee County registered voters to protest the move.

But Yarbrough did tell commissioners he is willing to make accommodations to appease San Carlos Park residents upset about the demise of the Karl Drews Center.

Those allowances include an offer to provide space for a small amount of after-school programs in a one-floor house that sits adjacent to the Karl Drews Center and now houses senior programs.

"Our feeling is that it's just going to be a few kids," said Barbara Manzo, deputy director of Lee County Parks and Recreation.

Yarbrough told commissioners he would contact nonprofit organizations locally to see if they would partner with the community and keep after-school programs at Karl Drews for kids who can't travel to the new park.

But that may not be good enough for San Carlos Park residents who have spent the past year fighting to keep the Karl Drews Center open.

"That's like throwing a crumb on the floor," said longtime resident Diane Schroeder, a member of the San Carlos Park Civic Association who has led the group's Save Our Programs initiative.

The county has yet to elaborate on how many kids the after-school programs would accommodate in the house or how long they would continue to do so, Schroeder said.

"There is nothing definite," she said. "All of this should have been in place a year ago."

San Carlos Park Fire Chief Fire Chief Nat Ippolito said he has had concerns since last year, when the county announced the decision to transport kids to the new park over roads that are often under construction.

"We have our safety concerns," Ippolito said. "There's not even a crosswalk on Corkscrew."