The Niceville City Council heard details on Tuesday about plans to revitalize Meigs Park with accessibility upgrades and facilities for those with special needs.
- Okaloosa Commissioner Mel Ponder outlined $2 million in proposed contributions to overhaul the 4-acre city-owned park during a presentation to the council.
Planned improvements include an 8-foot quarter-mile walking track, a 200-foot ball-field, and a large ADA-compliant playground. The county also proposes adding a basketball/volleyball court and a large pavilion with a quiet room.
Niceville would provide permitting assistance, general oversight, ongoing maintenance, and ensure compliance with grant funding conditions under the early proposal. The city would also add parking and new bathrooms.
“Niceville is a solid central location to hopefully meet the needs of families that want an all inclusive park like this to bring their family members to,” said Ponder. “And In this case, we’ll use the capital to come in and partner with the City of Niceville.”
- The planned facilities would be funded by $1.25 million in existing state budget appropriations and a $750,000 county match already set aside for the project.
Ponder said Niceville was receptive to the proposed renovations, which would augment other recent upgrades from the city like new pickleball courts. The next step is formalizing an interlocal agreement between the county and city to begin architectural design and planning, he added.
“There’s nothing else like it to this degree in the neighboring counties. There’s some other little pocket special needs parks, but there’s nothing to this scale in our neighboring counties,” he said. “Hopefully it will be a good win for the people here at home, but also for anyone who wants to come into Okaloosa County and have fun there and enjoy what we have.”
There is no set timeline for this project. We will keep you updated on the progress.
