{"id":28650,"date":"2013-12-12T23:21:55","date_gmt":"2013-12-13T04:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=28650"},"modified":"2013-12-12T23:21:55","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T04:21:55","slug":"trailhead-park-opens-to-the-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2013\/12\/trailhead-park-opens-to-the-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Trailhead Park <br>Opens to the Public"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-28652\" title=\"IMG_4730\" src=\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/IMG_4730-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/IMG_4730-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/IMG_4730-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/>\u00a0Lehigh Acres\u00a0Trailhead\u00a0Park\u00a0\u2013 Lee County Parks &amp; Recreation\u2019s newest site \u2013 hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, Dec. 12.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0park, located at 213 David Ave., features 11 acres of open space on a site that once was part of an 18-hole golf resort called Admiral Lehigh Golf Resort, which fell into disrepair during the recession.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lnlCjVhB0y0?list=UUn76XuZvs8kdF5VlsnX6Ebw\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\"><\/iframe><\/center><!--more-->What neighbors once called an eyesore has become an eco-park. Its main feature is a half-mile paved multi-use trail encircling a 3-acre replicated prairie with more than 18,000 native grasses and wildflowers.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0park\u00a0also features picnic pavilions, a boardwalk and observation area with interpretive signs, an outdoor fitness area, restrooms and free parking.\u00a0Leashed dog walking is permitted on the trail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that the site reuses part of an old golf course illustrates Lee County\u2019s commitment to preservation,\u201d said Lee County Parks &amp; Recreation Director Dave Harner, who noted that 90 percent of the site\u2019s existing trees such as pines and cabbage palms were preserved and most of the invasive exotic plant species were eliminated.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0park\u00a0retains much of the site\u2019s original topography, integrating various berms, greens and sand traps of the old golf course into its design, so fewer nonrenewable resources were expended by on-site construction equipment to grade the site. The park\u00a0also contains a series of manmade rain gardens\u00a0\u2013\u00a0planted depressions \u2013 that help to improve water quality by capturing and filtering runoff prior to discharge into Able Canal.<\/p>\n<p>The project was partially funded by a $126,300 grant through the\u00a0Recreational Trails Program administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The lead design consultant was EnSite and the general contractor was Casey Construction.<\/p>\n<p>Park\u00a0hours will be dawn to dusk daily. A Lee Tran\u00a0bus stop is located across the street from the\u00a0park\u2019s entrance, providing people with the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by ride-sharing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Lehigh Acres\u00a0Trailhead\u00a0Park\u00a0\u2013 Lee County Parks &amp; Recreation\u2019s newest site \u2013 hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, Dec. 12. The\u00a0park, located at 213 David Ave., features 11 acres of open space&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":28652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}