Posted: February 24, 2009
The city’s long-anticipated Botanical Gardens will soon be a reality. Groundbreaking for the gardens will take place on Wednesday, March 4 at 3 p.m. at 2410 S.E. Westmoreland Blvd. The announcement was made at the regular City Council meeting on Feb. 23 by Councilman Christopher Cooper, who invited the public to the event.
The Botanical Gardens are expected to open in the fall. The Gardens will be built on 19.71 acres of land on the west side of Westmoreland Boulevard (just south of Port St. Lucie Boulevard). When complete, the gardens will have a pond with re-circulating stream, paved public paths, a nature center, plenty of parking and, of course, beautiful gardens for residents and visitors alike to enjoy.
The property was originally a housing development that went bankrupt. The land was purchased by the city of Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie County. Restrictive covenants were in place that made it almost impossible to use this property. With changes made to the land-use document, however, the Botanical Gardens were permitted by the Florida Public Lands Department, allowing the public to enjoy this fantastic river-front location. The money in the conservation trust that is funding this project does not come from taxpayer dollars, but from developers who have offset the loss of environmentally sensitive land within their projects. These conservation trust funds cannot be used for any other project in the city.
For more information, visit pslbotanicalgardens.org, e-mail Mr. Cooper at ccooper@pslbotanicalgardens.org or call (772) 344-4021.
For additional information, contact:
Rita Hart
Public Information Officer
City of Port St. Lucie
(772) 873-6325