As input begins on a new Glazier-Gates Park, tears shed for trees lost

About 30 people took advantage of the opportunity to provide input on what they hope to see a future park look like after Glazier-Gates Park on Manatee Avenue East was bulldozed to make room for the 521-unit Villages at Riverwalk rental complex.

Meanwhile, just before the meeting, about 40 people attended a service at the former park’s site to memorialize the uprooted trees.

Although the developer, Atlanta-based Hatfield Development Co., is still embroiled in litigation against Stone Soup Unity Community, which was trying to save the park, groundwork has begun, and the former park is no more after a long and drawn out battle between residents, the city council and the development team.

Wednesday’s meeting was meant to be an open house forum with representatives of ZNS Engineering answering questions and receiving suggestions.

“Nothing has been predetermined on what this park will look like,” City Administrator Carl Callahan told participants. “We want to see what you think should be included or excluded.”

Kimber Bereiter of ZNS said most of those in attendance were curious about the meeting in general.

“We are just here tonight to see what people want, and then we’ll take this input and hand it over to the city,” Bereiter said.

Just down the road, the Florida Native Plant Society hosted a memorial service at the former park site before the open house.

“Every one of those 190 trees that went down were alive, and a lot of them were connected by systems underground,” said Karen Willey, conversation chair with the society’s Serenoa Chapter.

The service included poetry readings and remarks from Manatee County Commissioner Charles Smith, Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker and members of the Bradenton Tree Board. Residents were invited to share personal testimonies and memories of the trees that were cut for development.

The majority of attendees stood or sat listening in the shade of a large oak tree. The tree’s branches rustled in the wind, creating pockets of light that continually changed on the grass below.

Susie Venters of Parrish shared a 1893 poem by Henry Cuyler Bunner about trees.

“It made me wonder when I realized how old this poem is, if maybe someone who knew these trees when they were babies had ever heard this poem,” she said, growing emotional as she pointed at the area where the trees used to be at Glazier Gates Park. “I’m getting all verklempt.”

After the ceremony, a still emotional Venters said she has loved trees her whole life. She remembered how her family would drive through old neighborhoods.

“We would always talk about the trees when we went back. They’re neighbors — trees are neighbors,” Venters said. “They’re not just decoration. They’re not just inanimate objects as part of a streetscape. They’re living beings that are part of your neighborhood. They go through the weather with you.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 10:22 PM with the headline "As input begins on a new Glazier-Gates Park, tears shed for trees lost."