Redevelopment Groundbreaking: Bernstein Park on Stock Island

KEY WEST – The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners invites you to attend the Redevelopment Groundbreaking of Bernstein Park on Stock Island. It will be held during the lunchbreak of the BOCC Regular Meeting, in Key West.

“With this project, Bernstein park will become one of the finest recreational facilities in the Lower Keys and a wonderful, safe place for kids to play,” said Monroe County Commissioner Danny Kolhage, who represents District 1 that includes Stock Island.”

The $7.9-million project will have a baseball field, soccer field, soccer practice field, playground, basketball court, exercise trail and new field lighting. It also will have a new 5,500-square-foot community center, with a large room and a smaller room for public use.

“The redevelopment of the park, along with the construction of the state-of-the art fire station and two major road and drainage projects that also will begin this year, are evidence of the Commission’s commitment to improve the quality of life for the families and businesses of Stock Island.”

The project also will raise six acres of the park (the non-wetlands portion) by up to two feet to address flooding caused by rains and high tides that have hampered use of the fields. This will require about 20,000 cubic yards of additional fill.

“That’s a lot of fill,” said Doug Sposito, Director of Project Management and Facilities for Monroe County.

Kolhage added: “The Bernstein project also recognizes the Board’s responsibility to make adjustments to infrastructure to accommodate sea level rise.”

The fields will have natural grass and be watered using rain water collected in cisterns and reclaimed water from Key West Resort Utilities.

Construction will begin at the end of May and take about a year to complete. The park will be closed during construction. The goal is to have the park reopened by next summer.

Funding comes from the one-cent infrastructure sales surtax. In 2012, Monroe County voters approved extending this surtax to 2033 with 68 percent of the vote.

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