Bloomingdale Park Improvements: County Wants Input

VALRICO, FL — As Hillsborough County considers plans to make about $1 million in improvements at Bloomingdale East and West parks, officials are hoping to get input from area residents. To that end, the county has announced an upcoming open house to solicit opinions.

The project involves renovating both parks, which are located about a half-mile from each other off Bloomingdale Avenue. Planned work at Bloomingdale West includes an expansion of the tennis courts into a tennis center. That center would also include racquetball courts, shelters, parking and restrooms.

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Bloomingdale East park is slated to get its own splash pad. Construction, however, will require the removal of the tennis and racquetball courts currently in place.

The county intends to pay for the work using park impact fees. The cost of the splash pad project is estimated at $400,000. The new tennis center has an estimated price tag of $600,000.

The open house to discuss both projects with residents is set for July 11 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Bloomingdale West Recreation Center, 3940 Canoga Park Drive. Proposed designs will be on display and staff from the county’s parks and recreation department will be available to answer questions.

“The purpose of the meeting is to present the proposed project to the public early in the planning and design stages,” an announcement for the meeting said. “Based on public comments and engineering analyses and surveys, Parks & Recreation may refine the project or decide the project should not move forward.”

The public comment period will remain open through July 25. Comments can be filed online.

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Photo of the Bradenton Riverwalk splash pad used as an example/courtesy of the City of Bradenton