FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    John Yarbrough, Lee County Parks & Recreation
                (941) 338-3300

NEW PLAYGROUND DEDICATED AT BOCA GRANDE COMMUNITY CENTER

FORT MYERS, Fla. (October 4, 2000) – Lee County has completed a newly renovated 8,475-square-foot playground at the Boca Grande Community Center that will better serve the recreation needs of Gasparilla Island’s children.

The $51,524 project was completed through a joint venture of the Lee County Parks & Recreation Department and the Friends of Boca Grande Community Center, which donated $11,524 of the project cost. The children of the community chose the colors of the equipment. A concrete walkway with play safe tiles has been installed for easy access by those with disabilities, and a recycled tire mixture covers the play area to cushion falls. All of the new equipment purchased conforms to the strict standards of the Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specifications for Public Use Playground Equipment.

The Boca Grande Community Center, 131 First Street, is a Lee County facility operated for the benefit of Boca Grande residents and visitors. The structure, built in 1929, served as the Island’s school until 1963 and was converted to a community center in 1975. In August of this year, one room of the center became home to Lee County’s first charter school (The Island School).

In 1986, a group of islanders created a Reference Room at the Boca Grande Community Center. It was conceived as a place where school students and adults could access reference materials for homework and research. Subsequently, the founding committee for the Reference Room saw that there were additional projects that could supplement the activities of the county’s Parks & Recreation Department at the center. To finance these supplementary activities, Friends of Boca Grande Community Center was formed as a tax-exempt, 501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to the Friends have significantly improved the programs and facilities of the center.