A nine-year project to bring a new park and preserve to Lynn Haven is now complete. The nearly 100-acre property features a playground, hiking trails, disc golf course, and more.
As part of a settlement from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, six communities in western Florida were chosen to either have new parks created or existing ones expanded. Lynn Haven's park is the largest to be built with dollars from the settlement. City Manager Vickie Gainer says the city first agreed to the park in 2012.
"It was just a great opportunity for some land that was just beautiful land that they saw as an opportunity to not only preserve but develop in a way that would just show off its natural beauty," Gainer says.
Gainer hopes teachers will use the park's picnic pavilions to host lessons outside. She says that would allow students to learn about the importance of preserving nature.
