A new community center, pedestrian greenway and permanent restroom facility are among the improvements included in a park and recreation master plan adopted Monday night by
Wildwood commissioners.
The plan was developed over the past eight months by 10 urban and regional planning students from the University of Central Florida, who evaluated the current park system and surveyed residents before developing the master plan.
Joshua DeVries, project principal, said Wildwood’s 2040 population could increase to 12,000 to 20,000 residents.
“There is obviously a strong need to plan for the parks for this population,” he told commissioners.
The master plan focuses on improvements at Wildwood’s three regional parks, which include Millennium Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Oxford Park. It recommends more than $9 million in improvements for the three parks.
Martin Luther King Jr. Park, currently classified as a community park near the city’s downtown, has 27.5 acres and serves six nearby neighborhoods. Millennium Park, just west of The Villages along Powell Road, has more than 100 acres while Oxford Park at the north end of Wildwood has 2.5 acres.
A proposed $1.75-million community center highlights the long-term needs at Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Other recommended improvements include enhanced landscaping and parking, new restrooms, a splash pad and memorial wall and a fitness loop.
At Millennium Park, suggestions include more baseball fields, football fields and a basketball court as well as a lighted pedestrian greenway nearly three miles long.
Oxford Park would receive permanent restrooms, basketball and tennis courts as well as a playground and picnic area.
The plan also recommends adding 41.5 miles of greenway to connect Wildwood’s 251 miles of existing greenway and sidewalks.
Three Wildwood residential projects are classified by the state as developments of regional impact and developers are required to set aside 25 percent of the land for park areas. Those development include Landstone, Southern Oaks and Wildwood Springs, where The Villages plans to build the Village of Fenney.
