Ocala staff outline downtown projects, pocket park concept and new lighting plan

City staff on Oct. 13 told the Ocala Community Redevelopment (CRE) board that several downtown projects are moving forward, including a public parking garage, streetscape work tied to the Brick City Lofts development, and a concept for a small park next to the Marion Theater.

Eric Smith, senior transportation project administrator for growth management, said the parking garage will have 800 spaces and an $18,500,000 budget, with footers and foundational infrastructure complete and vertical construction expected to begin soon. "We have the parking garage. It's still going," Smith said.

Smith described the Brick City Lofts on Southeast First Avenue as a 22-unit residential project; staff have obtained a temporary construction easement and a 60% engineering plan for a road diet on First Avenue that will be added to the Capital Improvement Program. He said the road diet will reduce one travel lane in front of the development to create a more pedestrian-friendly cross-section.

On a smaller scale, staff proposed converting an underused area west of the Marion Theater into a pocket park featuring lawn, trees, benches, a roughly 10-foot meandering trail to Magnolia Avenue and interactive artwork for children. Smith said the area now is largely inactive and bollarded off; "Nobody's permitted to utilize it, so it's just totally inactive space," he said. He added staff will share concept drawings at a future meeting once the in-house engineering team completes them.

Questions from board members and the public focused on parking impacts, funding and activation. Smith said the project "is probably gonna do a mix" of funding sources and that a compactor and reconfigured dumpster pad in nearby Parking Lot 7 should reduce odors and preserve or increase parking capacity after resurfacing and restriping. He also said the city plans to replace degraded light poles on First Avenue with a standardized decorative fixture and, where appropriate, double fixtures to increase illumination after staff found roughly half the downtown lights were not working during an assessment.

Staff noted some intersection aesthetic improvements remain on hold pending Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) approvals and standardization of materials; funding remains but final designs depend on FDOT allowances.

The board approved the Aug. 26, 2025 minutes by motion without recorded opposition. No formal votes on project funding or design approvals were taken at this meeting.

Smith also gave updates on other projects: a water-tank lighting phase that will add 32 fixtures around the base to highlight a mural and create a pedestrian corridor connection to the downtown market; a $973,000 skate park in East Ocala that is back on track after contractor issues and aiming for a Feb. 1 opening; and a proposed historic marker at the corner of Osceola and U.S. 40 commemorating a 1960s Tom Petty visit tied to a film production. "He got to meet Elvis, and that was what he said was one of the things that kick started his career," Smith said of the Tom Petty anecdote.

The staff presentation included requests for additional public input on the Marion Theater pocket park concept and a commitment to provide concept artwork at a subsequent meeting.