City begins removal of shoreline pines at Jaycee Park

While dreams of a newly renovated Cape Coral park officially began Tuesday afternoon, those at the project site felt as if they were watching a nightmare.

Peering through fenced blocked with black privacy tarps, Cape residents who fought for the preservation of Jaycee Park watched as trees began coming down along the Caloosahatchee riverfront. The city of Cape Coral closed the park last Tuesday in advance of its planned $16-$18 million renovation project for the facility at the end of Beach Parkway.

Long-time Cape Coral resident, Gulf War Navy Veteran, and Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipient James Cavana watched as his "safe space" began being dismantled.

He remembered going to Jaycee Park from when he was a kid, to after he returned home from combat.

"I love nature, and I would go down (to Jaycee Park) and watch the storms roll in, with dreams of going into the Navy," Cavana said. "When I came back, that was my safe zone. They're taking away nature for money."

The park is expected to remain closed until the fall of 2025, with a target for substantial completion within 15 months. The Jaycee Park improvement plan addresses several deficiencies, city officials said. Plans call for the replanting native trees, active facilities, as well as upgrading existing playgrounds and bathrooms, in addition to adding what the city says younger residents want — open mic night and a cafe.

Cape Coral City Council entered into a public-private partnership in August for construction as well as for the management of food and drink services, one of the new amenities.

Cape Coral Councilmember Tom Hayden told The Breeze work on removing invasives in the park and along the shoreline will continue this week, which requires no permit (though shoreline disruption is being contested by residents).

"It's site preparation work right now," Hayden said. "Site preparation is going to go on for the rest of the year. Construction should start at some point next year. I don't know if we've come up with specific timelines yet for when that will start, but treatment will take some time."

Permits in the pipeline include requests for seawalls that may need to go up along the waterfront. Hayden said demolition permits will be required, and a South Florida Water Management permit and building permits will be obtained.

Cavana called the project a "mistake," and likened it to Lake Kennedy prior to Sun Splash, the city-owned, now privately operated, water park.

"Twenty years later, they're doing the same thing with Jaycee Park," he said. "To tear down what Mother Nature created for revenue is stupid."

The proposed enhancements to the park reflect recommendations in the parks master plan and the ULI report — a bandshell, food truck court, inclusive playground and splash pad, covered pavilions and boardwalk, the cafe and food truck court and the removal of the pines, which are a designated invasive species.

The Reef will sell alcohol. There will be an established "wet zone" around the perimeter of the concession stand. The remainder of the park will be an alcohol-free dry zone, which could change during special events with the city manager's approval.

Cavana, along with a plethora of Cape residents who have been making their voice heard via City Council Meetings and petitions, said the peacefulness of the park, along with its serene feel, will no longer exist following city plans.

Suffering from PTSD after his time served, which included being shot, breaking his leg, and saving a fellow comrade, Cavana said Jaycee Park was an outlet for his mental health struggles.

"With PTSD, you don't get to pick and choose what's on your mind, so, I would go to that park," he said. "It was a safe zone for my mental therapy. I'd meditate. Put everything behind me. God gave me inspiration to overcome (suicidal thoughts) and I'd go down to the park twice-a-day, every day. I'd feed the wildlife. The park saved my life. Along with many other people and veterans down there that used it for psychological and mental therapy. It was a place that wasn't just an escape, but a place to clear your mind and set the violence aside. It made me calm. I could breathe.

"I've shed more tears the last couple of days because of that park being taken down than anything. The future generations aren't going to know nature like we know nature."

Save Jaycee Park, a group of residents unhappy with the city's renovation plan working for months to stop it, organized a petition drive that garnered nearly 8,000 signatures. Due to tight time constraints, the number fell short of the 22,000 needed to place the issue on the November ballot as a citizen initiative.

Fifteen-year resident and member of Save Jaycee Park, Tony Karp, said there have been a rush of emotions surrounding the ordeal, ones of "disappointment, anger, sadness."

"It's a peaceful sanctuary," said Karp, a retired Chicago firefighter. "I've met a lot of veterans there, retired first responders, and just ordinary people who like to go there and clear their heads.

"A lot of people who retired here bought into the nearby condos for the peaceful park. They wonder where they're going to go now. People need a peaceful place to go. And they took that from us."

Karp said at Jaycee Park, you could find young and old, parents and children — all walks of life enjoying a green space and breathtaking view of the Caloosahatchee.

Karp and members of Save Jaycee Park tried in many forms and fashions to work with the city on the future of the site, Karp said, including meetings with city officials and council members sharing their thoughts.

"We told them what we had in mind, which was basically restoration, renovation, with enhancements to revitalize the park," Karp said. "The funny thing is now they're using our verbiage."

Save Jaycee Park members say with the park closing, they will no longer be able to walk the grounds, but rather the roads bordering the park. They will no longer be able to drive up to the water with spaces for parking available. There is also concern about the groups – particularly the mental health groups that meet at the park – where they are going to go?

Karp, who has a special needs daughter, said, "We would pull right into a car port and get out, it was so easy to do. Now, we'll have to park at the end of the park. And I talked to people who have walkers or are handicapped. They said they're going to miss being able to drive up and get out and sit down right there."

Much to-do has also been made out of the protection the shoreline trees give to the park and surrounding areas, as well as what wildlife is being disturbed in this process.

"People are fed up," said Karp said of what he said is the city's unwillingness to listen to residents, as well as what he calls their "rush" to get trees removed before the upcoming municipal election. "We're just so disappointed. We feel we've been lied to, dismissed, and denied an opportunity to work together.

"Because of their egos, their greed, they used their power to take that park away from the good citizens that like to use it."

Cape resident and fellow member of Save Jaycee Park, Kathy Lopez, said she was working outside the polls Tuesday "trying to get us a new City Council."

"I have never lived in a city that took down their trees," she said. "I never lived in a city that was totally disrespectful of the people who are paying their exorbitant salaries. We've been fighting this for a year and a half. And we've been fighting hard. And they lie, and they cheat, and they defraud."

Lopez said she inquired with the water management district, who she says told her the city does not have a permit to do work along the shoreline at Jaycee Park.

"And they are destroying the shoreline, and it can't be rebuilt," Lopez said. "It's supposed to be a living shoreline untouched forever. And they touched it. I walked up this morning and got one block from the park and heard all this noise before 8 a.m. and they have five trees down already. It was horrifying. You can't get those 50- to 60-year-old trees back. None of the residences on 22nd Place got flooded during the last couple of hurricanes because of those trees."

A 17-year resident who lives on Beach Parkway, Lopez said she chose her place of residence because of Jaycee Park.

"I walk it five days per week. Not anymore," she said. "It was peaceful and quiet. There was almost a soft whistling sound from the trees that was like a lullaby."

Lopez said she and a group of friends, all widows, would go to the park once a week and have lunch under the trees along the shore protected from the sun.

She said while she was at the park getting petitions, she saw the full power of the park and all those that utilized it.

"Every socioeconomic group in Cape Coral uses that park, and the minute they change it and make it where people are going to have to pay, you're going to cut off a whole bunch of people who can't afford their kids to be fighting for a pizza or ice cream and just enjoy the park, instead of bringing their own sandwiches or beverages," Lopez said,

"And AA used to meet there daily. And they were told they had to find a new place to be. In October they told all of those who had reservations they were canceled so they could destroy a park before the election so they could get the trees down. It's so sad."

Councilmember Bill Steinke last week asked if there was a temporary fix to supply the replacement need for pavilions during the closure of the park.

Steinke said he would like to provide something temporarily — possibly a commercial tent with picnic tables, or recommendations of other neighborhood parks close by — to offer to people who reserve pavilions at Jaycee Park for birthday parties or social club meetings for the months it takes to complete the park. City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn said staff will run an analysis of parks available within a two-to-five-mile radius.