PARK APPROVED: How families feel about the new $12M NE

• County and city leaders voted unanimously to move forward with plans for the Northeast Park.
• Local officials cut the price tag on the budget from $18 million to $12 million.
• Video features those concerned about the price and those excited to see a park come to their area.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A multi-million dollar park is officially coming to Northeast Tallahassee.

A 50-acre piece of property off of Centerville Road will soon be home to an area park with baseball, softball, and soccer fields.

It’s a project that did not come without controversy.

Chiles High School Freshman Benny Powell came to Thursday’s Blueprint Meeting to push for something she is passionate about: sports.

“I love my sport but it is hard because there aren’t a lot of fields,” Powell said.

Powell spoke Thursday morning, urging commissioners to pass a plan for the Northeast Park.

Despite commissioners lowering the budget from $18 million to $12, she said the vote was a win.

“More kids will be able to play so I am excited for that,” Powell said.

The Northeast Park is not a new concept.

The project has been in the works since 2014 and recently sparked emotional debate from county commissioners.

Many leaders, like Commissioners Christian Caban, Bill Proctor and Mayor Pro Tem Diane Williams Cox said the proposed budget increase from $12 million to 18 was too much.

Some, like Cheryl Collier-Brown, who came out to give public comment, agreed.

“All of the growth is going to the Northside and we’re over here on the Southside, we don’t have the amentities to drive over there,” Collier-Brown said.

Max Epstein agrees.

“I think we need to do a deep dive and look into the budgets for all of these projects,” Epstein said.

Powell’s father, Kendal, has coached sports for years in the area and said the park is needed.

“There’s lots of cross town travel on weeknights. There is lots of kids getting in the car at 8, 9 o’clock to come back across town,” Powell said.

He said it will add convenience and get more kids involved in sports.

“It will be so great to have a great, strong little league right there in NE Tallahassee where those weeknight games are not something you go ‘okay, how do we manage this’ to ‘hey lets just stop over, hit our game and head home,'” Powell said.

His daughter Benny agreed.

“I probably won’t play on them but I am excited to get the new fields for the future generations to come,” Powell said.

Area leaders expect the park to be finished by 2026.