Families, park goers and train admirers will have a new space in Gainesville to enjoy this summer. The Engine 209 Park is nearing its estimated May 24 completion date.
It has been a long construction process, with weather and supply-related delays. The project, which began in August, was originally projected to last four or five months.
“We've had a hard time with the weather this winter, it's been exceptionally wet,” said Kate Mattison, director of Gainesville Parks and Recreation. “And that project consists of moving a lot of dirt, so that's pushed our timeline back. But you know, it's okay. I'd rather it be done right then be done quickly. So we're comfortable with it and we're excited that it's going to be open in the next two months.”
The Engine 209 Park was a $2 million, TSPLOST-funded project, with an additional $1.3 million that came from the Gainesville Parks Department. The old locomotive moved from the busy Jesse Jewell Parkway to the more-accessible Midland Park, according to Mattison.
“There was no parking around to really be had for families to get out and interact with the train and take photos with it,” she said. “But this is just going to be so much more interactive for families. There's going to be other amenities around. You're already on the Highlands to Islands trail when you're there. So it's just going to be a much more family friendly and comfortable location to get up close and personal with the train.”
Now the train is two blocks east from the original Gainesville Depot, which was built in 1910. There will be an educational sign near the train to inform visitors about its history.
“I really wanted to add an educational component,” Mattison said. “That way, when people do come see it, and it's in a new spot, you can understand why. It also makes sense that it was moved here to this new location because it's in the actual “wye,” which is a turnaround for the old railroad.”
Other features to the park will include a small dog park, improved greenway lighting, a stage and amphitheater, more seating and two different playgrounds. One of these playgrounds was made specifically for children with disabilities.
“We are putting in a large-scale, handicap-accessible adaptive playground that has a ton of different fantastic features,” Mattison said. “It’s not just for wheelchair accessibility, but also for children with autism or other types of sensory issues. It's perfect for them. We are actually working on putting out information about all of those features.”
Mattison did not give a completion date for the accessible playground, but she thinks it may be finished sooner than the overall park’s May 24 estimation date.
The Engine 209 Park will also emphasize local art and promote fitness. The Gainesville Parks Department will also add a circuit-training fitness court with their $30,000 grant from the National Fitness Campaign. This fitness court will also double as a public art installation.
“It is a 40-foot long, eight or nine feet high mural,” Mattison said. “We are about to do a public call for local artists to design that. And then we will have it digitized and put on the front of that facility.”
There is already a large “Love Freedom” mural painted on the back of the McGarity's Business Products building, which depicts a child flying on a colorful hawk. Mattison hopes the art and murals will attract people who want to use the site for social media opportunities.
“You're gonna have people Instagramming it and taking pictures in front of it,” she said. “And then it gives us more coverage and it gives us more notoriety and people see it out in the community. It's a good thing all around in my opinion.”
The Engine 209 Park will also be one out of two sites for the annual Sunday In The Parks Butterfly Release. Mattison hopes this event will give the Engine 209 Park more coverage, and that its added amenities will create a larger event.
“We're just hoping to get more people out to those areas who may or may not have been,” she said. “A lot of people have one park that they love and that they go back to all the time. They may or may not go around to some of these other parks that we have. So we're trying to attract people to some of our other locations. We're hoping to add a little bit more life to the event this year with adding food trucks and beer and wine, music, kids activities and then obviously the butterfly release. I mean, that's their biggest thing.”
