Although Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Park was closed Monday, it will reopen by the end of fall with new equipment.
The 70-acre park, located at 1500 NW 45th Ave., will reopen when the project is complete in November, said Linda Demetropoulos, the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs nature operations manager. The renovations will include a $20,000 parking lot expansion, and new recreational amenities costing $294,000. The new park will boast features like outdoor ellipticals and an Americans with Disabilities Act accessible oval swing, Demetropoulos said.
“We’re really excited because that part of town really needs a nice new playground, and we’re going to give it to them,” she said, adding that her personal favorite addition will be a 75-foot zip line.
The parking lot project will expand the lot by five spaces and create a loop to allow buses and emergency vehicles easier access to the park, she said. The recreational project will create a playground including swings, slides, outdoor musical instruments and climbing boulders.
Adults will be able to use a combination of traditional gym equipment outdoors including upright cycles, balance boards, vault bars and a plyometric box for jumping exercises.
Carrie Wells, a 37-year-old Gainesville resident, said she visited Hogtown Creek this summer to go shark tooth hunting with her two kids, just like she did in 1999 as a UF student. Now, Wells is looking forward to bringing her kids to the new playground.
“It’s always nice to see your city renovated for the better,” she said.
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