Acting city manager says parks bond work is underway; inflation forcing trade-offs

Acting City Manager Ben Rogers told the Fort Lauderdale Parks & Recreation Advisory Board on Thursday that work on several of the city’s bond-funded "signature parks" is progressing but that inflation and rising construction costs have forced the city to re-evaluate some project scopes and schedules.

Rogers said the parks team was reorganized to report directly to the city manager’s office to “push things and work through and navigate the city system,” and that he will appear regularly before the advisory board to provide updates and answer questions. He said construction has started at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center and that the city received bids for Bass Park and Mills Pond; he expects those contracts to be awarded in March. Rogers said the Holiday Park phase 2 solicitation should be issued soon.

The update comes as the board pressed staff for details about several high-profile parks, including Carter Park and joint-use projects at neighborhood schools. “We were some behind a little bit,” Rogers said,…