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Fort Lauderdale staff updates board on parks bond, school joint-use projects and Floyd Hall trail grant
Summary
City staff told the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board that the $200 million parks bond program has advanced to design and procurement stages for many projects, but school joint-use projects face budget shortfalls and procurement delays; staff outlined strategies to accelerate work and noted a proposed state grant for Floyd Hall trails.
Ben Rogers, acting assistant city manager and a staff lead for parks and recreation, told the Fort Lauderdale Parks & Recreation Advisory Board that the city’s parks bond program has moved from planning into procurement and construction for a number of projects.
“The program started basically with the concept… the master plan was developed, completed in September 2016,” Alex Torres, who the staff introduced as overseeing the parks bond program, said as he walked board members through the program’s history, phases and current status. Torres said the bond approved in 2019 totaled $200 million, with the first tranche of about $80 million available in 2020 and a later $60 million tranche drawn in 2023.
City staff emphasized why the projects matter: the bond funds a mix of neighborhood parks, signature projects and joint-use facilities at public schools that city and school system staff expect to open public access to school grounds and amenities. Torres said the program initially identified roughly 16–16 school projects, later expanded, with about 15–16 schools at various stages of design, permitting or procurement.
Torres…
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