A new Manatee County park is coming to life. Inside the multi-million dollar plan
Four years after the groundbreaking to create a new park in Palmetto, Manatee County leaders have approved a $4.8 million community center for the project.
Washington Park, located at 3011 Eighth Ave. E. in Palmetto, is a multi-phased project to transform the site that used to be a pit into a vibrant new community space. The park draws its name from the surrounding Washington Park neighborhood.
The historically Black community was developed in the 1920s and later bisected by the construction of U.S. 41, according to Manatee County Library records.
On Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the guaranteed maximum price for the community center part of the project, which will begin construction this month. The community center is scheduled to open in winter 2026.
First, the county will complete the first phase of the Washington Park site’s revitalization. The initial phase includes trails, restrooms, pavilions and play fields. Construction Services Division Manager Michelle Wehrle told commissioners construction is 60% complete on this part of the project.
“We are working to open up the trails and the pavilions and the restrooms for the community to use in the spring,” Wehrle said. “Then we’ll be fencing off this area to keep it safe for everybody, so we’ll be doing work while it’s open to the community.”
The first phase of the park cost the county about $2.9 million, according to a spokesperson for Manatee County.
The recent progress on Washington Park comes months after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a $1 million appropriation for the project. The Washington Park appropriation was part of the $5 million in Manatee County projects that DeSantis vetoed.
As part of the commissioners’ vote on Tuesday, they approved a budget amendment to transfer nearly $2.2 million from the East Bradenton Park project to be used for the Washington Park community center.
Long road for Washington Park project
Commissioner Amanda Ballard, whose district includes Palmetto, said the project is something the community has anticipated for years.
“It has been something that has been hoped for and prayed for and worked for in Washington Park for almost 30 years,” she said at the board’s meeting. “To finally see it to completion and to add the community center, I think, is really special for a lot of people.”
Conversations to revitalize Washington Park date back to 2000, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
The 88-acre site was once a golf course before the state purchased it and used it to provide fill for the U.S. 41 overpass. When the state abandoned the area, leaving behind deep holes, it became known as the “borrow pit.”
Previous reporting shows the county has considered redevelopment of the land since the 1970s, and a list of proposed park projects and a walkway of trails with “rolling hills” have been discussed over the years.
In 2017, Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Huniscker began finalizing the plan for the 88-acre park, which included a three-phased approach.
Overall, the current proposal for Washington Park includes a passive park with a mixture of uplands, trails and wetland restoration.
Plans for the site also included bringing dredge material from the expansion of Port Manatee through a collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Using the dredged material to fill part of the site brought $15 million of equivalent value, according to a county spokesperson.
Another 19-acre portion of the land did not need fill and was ready for construction. This is what former commissioners and county staff designated to be the first phase of the Washington Park project.
Recently, construction crews encountered issues with existing soil within the first portion of the project, which led to the county bringing in soil from another project and saving money on fill material.
“We had a significant amount of soil that needed to be mitigated, which would have caused us to bring in truckloads more,” Wehrle said. “We actually brought the clean soil from (the Braden River park project) and enhanced this site, minimizing some of our cost impacts for the unforeseen condition that we had.”
What happens next?
County officials plan to open Washington Park to the public in the spring of 2026 with trails, pavillions and restrooms. The community center is planned to open in winter 2026.
The third phase of the project will add trails in the upland area. A timeline for its completion has not been announced.
