ESCAMBIA-COUNTY
Escambia County begins design of new park at Carpenter Creek headwaters
Jim Little
Escambia County is beginning to design a new public park at the headwaters of Carpenter Creek off Olive Road.
The Escambia County Commission voted Thursday unanimously to hire Moffat and Nichol to design and engineer a new park at the county-owned Carpenter Creek headwaters property on Olive Road for $308,815.
The park is one of the first projects called for in the Carpenter Creek and Bayou Texar Watershed Management Plan to begin design since the plan was unveiled last year.
The funds for the park are paid for with a federal grant from 2010 oil spill fines.
Pensacola and Escambia County are poised to win more than $8 million in grant funding to pay for the restoration of Carpenter Creek under the new watershed plan.
The park will cover more than 16 acres, and plans call for it to feature walking trails, boardwalks over the creek, a pollinator garden, and potentially a paddle craft launch, according to county documents.
Carpenter Creek Watershed Plan15 projects unveiled to restore Carpenter Creek call for increasing public access to creek
Plan taking shapeTwo-year journey to plan repairs to Carpenter Creek and Bayou Texar taking shape
The county bought 7.8 acres of the headwaters in 2017 for $125,000 and made another purchase of 6.8 acres to preserve more of the headwaters in 2021 for $241,200.
Moffat and Nichol will provide an accurate cost estimate for the final project to the county as it does the engineering work.
Escambia County Commissioner Robert Bender said the project would allow the public access to the creek as first envisioned when the county began purchasing the headwaters to preserve them.
"It's taking it to that next step," Bender said.
The timeline approved by the board Thursday calls for the plans to be completed this fall.
Bender said he hopes construction of the park can begin this time next year.