BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
August 1, 2020
A small patch of shoreline that dead-ends Green Key Road and abuts Boyscout Preserve, is a worthy destination for sunset watchers.
Robert K. Rees Memorial Park is a 45-acre swath of natural habitat on the Gulf of Mexico that parallels the strip-mall sprawl of Highway 19, offering a stunning alternative view of the day’s end.
The local outpost, also known as Green Key Beach to some, is natural Florida at its finest for camera bugs and birdwatchers, kayakers, fishers and young crab hunters chasing the hermits to their sandy holes.
Families lay out suppertime picnics here. Lovers await the show from a park bench or take a stroll on the boardwalk to the park observation deck. Some gingerly make their way across the mud-packed shore to catch an unobstructed view.
Parks closed in March due to COVID-19 restrictions and opened under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ phase 1 recovery plan, with state and federal social distancing guidelines in place.
PHOTO|MICHELE MILLER
The park welcomed visitors back with a new seawall and shiny guard rail safety feature meant to prevent an accidental fall. The rail also doubles as a nice leaning post. That project was one of several improvements made to county parks during the shutdown, and was funded by the Go 4 Pasco bond initiative approved by voters in 2018, said Pasco County Parks superintendent, Cristina Cordon.
PHOTO|MICHELE MILLER
Other local improvements include the installation of a shell path to the new bird blind at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey, and the completion of a tortoise restoration project at Key Vista Nature Park in Holiday. Major improvements were also made at county baseball, soccer and softball fields throughout Pasco.
“The work just coincided with it being done while we were closed,” Cordon said. “We basically took advantage of the downtime to take care of the maintenance on some of our parks – painting picnic tables, trimming trees, weeding, cleaning sidewalks – things that were hard to do when people were visiting the parks.”
The next improvement in line for Robert K Reese Memorial Park is expected in the fall, she said. A pirate-themed playground with a beach motif that is sure to delight kids and parents alike.
NOTE: Robert K. Rees Memorial Park is located at 4835 Green Key Road, New Port Richey, Fl. 34652. For information and to access the park website, click here. To access the Pasco County Florida website, click here.
Contact Michele Miller at mmiller@whatswhatnewportrichey.com
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