Where Will North of the River Pool be Located?

PALMETTO – For decades, building a county-operated aquatic facility north of the river in Palmetto has been kicked around by county officials and advocated for by residents. That day may be approaching, but the changing landscape of north county means that there might be other ideas as to where it should be located.

At Tuesday's BOCC meeting, County Commissioner Charles Smith–who previously served on the Palmetto City Commission–detailed the the history of the city's efforts to work with the county to get a public park with a pool, similar to other county-owned and operated facilities.

At the meeting, the commission had been given a presentation of a site plan that proposed an "aquatic facility" at Buffalo Creek Park, which is east of the Interstate, just a few miles from Parrish. The 5-acre site would be set between a county golf course and down the street from a junior high school off 69th Street East; almost 10 miles from Palmetto, on a site owned by the county.


Smith and Bryant proposed that the new pool be built at Blackstone Park, and were joined by Commissioner Robin DiSabatino. On Thursday, assistant county attorney Bill Clague told BOCC members in an email that the county could probably fund some of the costs at Blackstone Park with impact fees, though before they could say how much, the attorney's office would require detailed analysis by staff.

Smith and Bryant make a compelling argument that the youth in Palmetto, many of whom are disadvantaged economically, could greatly benefit from the same sort of facility that residents in other parts of the county enjoy (the county currently operates three pool facilities, all south of the river). However, the Buffalo Creek location is in an area where politically-connected developers have more holdings and ongoing or future projects, which suggests that certain interests would prefer to see a north of the river pool benefit those neighborhoods instead.