February 6, 2015 – New Port Richey – On February 3, 2015, City Council approved the removal of a section of Grand Boulevard between Sims Lane and Bank Street as part of the City’s Sims Park Master Plan that will create a continuous green space from Sims Park to Orange Lake. As a result of the reconstruction, southbound traffic on Grand Boulevard will now have to proceed east on Sims Lane then south on Circle Boulevard to continue on Grand Boulevard. Northbound traffic on Bank Street or Grand Boulevard will now have to proceed north around Circle Boulevard then west on Sims Lane to continue on Grand Boulevard The City’s Public Works Street & Right-of-Way Division will begin road striping on Wednesday, February 4, 2015.
Public Works Director, Robert Rivera, stated that the City will take all measures to minimize impact and inconvenience for residents and visitors in and around the Sims Park area. For more information on this project, please contact the City’s Public Works Department at (727) 841-4536.
I recently moved to this wonderful location from MN and yes, I am glad I did. I also am glad to have moved to a city which understands the importance to stay relevant in regards to maintaining a positive facade which ideally will bring the same type of residents, relevant and wanting to maintain or even improve on our locally shared spaces.
The city council has set their sites on improving Sims Park. I frequent Sims and its many events as well as help maintain Peace Garden. This is a great space, I heard that the kids play equipment was in bad order. I checked it out and found it to not only be in wonderful condition but a very thoughtful and original design that looked like a great time for kids. So I asked the parents that were there what they thought of this new change to come and first off they didn’t know about it and than they also didn’t feel it was necessary.
Eight hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money, how is this going to bring businesses into downtown, it won’t. You have $800,000, what if you try to bring in stores to bring some vibrancy and relevancy back to the downtown through giving them incentives to take a chance in an area that few are willing. Perhaps waving their city taxes for three years. Perhaps paying them $20,000 for the first 3 years to help that decision becomes less risky which may help fill these vacant spaces. As the saying goes, nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.
These funds should be considered precious so we can move with relevancy to become the potentially sound tourist friendly town that it could.
Mr. Ahlquist,
I just wanted to be sure that confusion caused by a mistake on my part did not confuse your understanding of the City’s programs. The $800,000 number is being applied to the Recreation Center.
The Sim’s Park upgrade is estimated to cost around $2.2 million. I’m not sure of the exact figures on how much the new playground will cost.
Thank you, as always, though, for your comments.
Jon Tietz
NewsPortRichey Editor