Robinson Preserve expansion to offer elevated view of nature’s beauty

Standing atop an elevated formation near the center of the Robinson Preserve expansion, visitors can see the preserve’s observation tower and Sunshine Skyway Bridge off in the distance. The breathtaking 150-acre expansion of the Northwest Bradenton preserve is much higher than the rest of the preserve.

“We wanted to build this to be resilient to any level of sea level rise that may be anticipated,” said Charlie Hunsicker, Manatee County’s parks and natural resources director. “We decided to build this up to make a mosaic of habitats that are both resilient to sea level rise, but also where you can plant pine flatwoods ... and in 200 years will still be surviving.”

Since November, work has been underway on expanding the existing 487-acre preserve, which opened in 2008 off 99th Street NW. They are turning farmland on the southeast edge of the preserve into more nature trails, marshes, emergent islands, a canopy walk and environmental and education center.

“There was the opportunity to build both,” Hunsicker said. “This is big enough to have a whole variety of what is the coastal environment.”

The expansion is about 70 percent complete, with plans for it to open by early 2018.

Crews with Bradenton-based E.T. MacKenzie were on site working on the preserve’s expansion Thursday morning. Finishing the trails, landscaping and the last contouring of a body of water are among some of the tasks that still remain. Newly constructed oyster beds, which will eventually be underwater, were already visible Thursday.

The oyster beds will “support an entire oyster habitat that can do both water purification and provide the animals and food chain necessary to support the diversity of this property,” Hunsicker said.

For Hunsicker, preserves are where his “toes hit the ground.”

“It is the start of all things that define us; start here and then you can take that to the galaxies if you want,” he said. “For me, it begins in these preserves.”

Funding the expansion

Robinson Preserve was a direct beneficiary of funding related to the BP oil spill in 2010. The Manatee County project received funding through the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Act.

“That’s huge for me finding purpose and having purpose recognized in type of competition,” Hunsicker said.

While $600,000 to $800,000 will come from property taxes for the expansion, the county received $6 million in grants, including $3.2 million from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, toward the project, which is estimated to cost close to $9 million when complete.

“There will be work to be done, continuing to make investments over time to finish it up,” he said.

More permits have been submitted for the remaining work, and should be approved within the next 10 months. That will prompt grant money, Hunsicker said.

“When permits come in, we will come in and finish the work,” he said.

What’s next

This summer, construction of the 1,700-square-foot education center will begin, which will take nine months to complete.

“We can get a head start on it and get state permits to dig lakes and get started and that’s what we’ve done,” Hunsicker said.

The Mosaic Company Foundation won naming rights to the center after it gave $3.2 million to Conservation Foundation of Gulf Coast, which purchased the property for the expansion and then donated it to Manatee County. The center will be called the Mosaic Center for Nature Exploration, Science and Technology, and will be built on the southeastern-most portion of the expansion.

Other features of the expansion include a 1.6-mile, twice-around trail, which will have a soft running surface similar to a collegiate track that will weave through the expansion. A shell trail will also go through a portion of the expansion, connecting to the existing preserve. An arching bridge will go over the mangroves on site.

“This expansion will support, again, the important plants and animals with the elevation in landscaping that we will be doing along with that,” Hunsicker said. “Then there will be opportunities to explore those special places by kayak, canoe, walking, biking, nature walks, dog friendly.”

With the kayak launch directed to the west and the elevated formation, visitors will soon get to “launch into a body of water, and in front of you is going to be this rise in forest,” Hunsicker said.

“I think when it is vegetated, it will be very much a beautiful entry into a preserve that is going to change your attitude, leaving your parked car — and whatever it is off Manatee Avenue you just drove through to get here, quick trip around and boom, you’ll be immersed in a protected coastal sanctuary.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Robinson Preserve expansion to offer elevated view of nature’s beauty."