Humiston Park renovation is nearing completion
While you would never guess it from these photos, workers are hoping to have the renovation of Humiston Park completed by the end of the month – with the new, improved park finally ready to greet visitors the first of the year.
Most of the construction work, which began in September, has been completed with workers now putting in buffer landscaping to protect the bougainvilleas which will line Ocean Drive and provide a panoply of seasonal blooms.
Other work that needs to be done includes re-sodding the park and building the walkways that will connect picnic areas with the playground equipment and access to the ocean.
But visitors were able to make use of some of the park’s new features during the Christmas parade as the curved retaining wall which guards the entrance to the park served as a place for viewers to sit or stand their children to view the floats as they worked their way down Ocean Drive.
Bob McNally, whose company Palm Coast Development is doing the work on Humiston Park, says the first thing people will notice when they visit the park next month is the color.
There are going to be lots of flowering purples and lavenders and yellows and raspberries when the $1 million renovation is completed.
“Most municipal parks are just green on green, but the developer here had a passion to create a thing of beauty,” McNally said. “It will be highly unusual from other city parks.”
McNally said the work has gone off on schedule for the most part, excepting weather delays.
Among the work completed:
• The widening of Ocean Drive
• Installation of the curved retaining wall, which was built to accommodate residents to use as seating
• Completion of the concrete curbing, pavement and pavers along Ocean Drive.
• The deconstruction of Easter Lily Lane to accommodate the shops and restaurants that anchor that part of the development
• The reconstruction of Easter Lily Lane with underground utilities and installation of cobblestone pavers.
“Other than the weather and finding some buried infrasctructure from a long time ago, this has been pretty smooth sailing,” McNally said. “The city has been very nice to work with.”
The city, by the way, will be responsible for the upkeep of the park – including the landscaping – once the work is completed.
