‘We want to be able to bring the whole town together.’ Parrish makes plans for new park
Manatee Heritage Days are a time when the community remembers and celebrates its past.
This year, the Parrish community will not only celebrate its past on March 6, but look to the future by holding the Parrish Heritage Days Festival on the site of a proposed central park, located off the new Fort Hamer Road extension.
The park is one of the key components of the Parrish Village Neighborhood Action Plan that the county commissioned in August 2018.
The plan, developed in conjunction with residents and businesses, during several neighborhood meetings, includes recommendations for a town center, a central park, and an academic cluster between Moccasin Wallow Road and the intersection of 121st Avenue East and U.S. 301.
“We are going to start with the central park and work our way out,” Gretchen Fowler, president of the Parrish Civic Association, said of the neighborhood action plan.
The central park, which would be developed on 11 acres of land owned by Manatee County, across from the Parrish Community High School, would be a place to bring the Parrish community together, Fowler said.
Today, the historic village of Parrish is surrounded by new neighborhoods where residents often turn inward toward their own enclaves, rather than taking part in the larger community, Fowler said.
“We want to be able to bring the whole town together. Right now we don’t have any place to go,” Fowler said.
Some of the proposals for the proposed regional county park include a band shell with natural seating, exercise stations, restrooms, a splash park, and parking, Fowler said.
Talks are underway with the Florida Department of Transportation, which owns about 13 acres next door to the county land for a trade, that would increase the size of the park to about 20 acres, Fowler said.
“You can imagine that Central Park has room to grow,” Charlie Hunsicker, director of Manatee County parks and natural resources, previously said.
A proposed design for the park, donated by a staff member of Kimley-Horn, is featured on a billboard in front of the FDOT property.
Planning for the park could be completed this spring and a ground breaking held by August, Fowler said.
While Hunsicker said he couldn’t pinpoint when work on the park might start, the county has $500,000 budgeted for conceptional planning, design and permitting this year.
In addition, developers in the area are stepping up to partner with the county and the community on the park, helping to accelerate the project, Hunsicker said.
“That doesn’t happen very often,” he said.
The Parrish and North River area are among the fastest growing in Manatee County, with developers requesting or receiving approvals for about 25,000 new homes. The largest of the new communities, North River Ranch, could be home to as many as 28,000 residents, John Neal, president of Neal Land & Neighborhoods, said previously.
Parrish Heritage Days Parade and Festival
This year, the Parrish Heritage Day Parade begins at 10:30 a.m. March 6 from the Parrish United Methodist Church on the corner of 121st Street East and 69th Street East.
The parade will travel north on 121st Avenue East and turn left onto Erie Road, proceeding west to the visitor entrance of the Parrish Community High School, 7505 Fort Hamer Road.
Siblings Dana and Larry Parrish, descendants of some of the first residents of Parrish, will be parade marshals this year, said Cindy Chin, who has chaired the parade for 35 years.
Parking will be at the high school. Golf carts will take festival goers across the street to the proposed site of the county park, Fowler said.
The festival is planned for 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. with live music by the band Ari and the Alibis, food vendors, arts and crafts, and activities for children.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no chili cook-off this year. Hand sanitizing stations will be available throughout, and masks will be available for those who show up without one. While masks are strongly encouraged, they are not required.
For more information about the Parrish Civic Association, visit https://www.pcafla.org/.
