Vero Beach Parks / Part One

The following article was originally published in Vero Beach Newsweekly on December 29, 2011. This is a wonderful article that discusses the history of parks in Vero Beach. As a Vero Beach Realtor who tries to educate my clients to the local market, I understand the importance of parks in a community especially when considering purchasing a Vero Beach Home.

Parks Tell the Story of Growth of Vero Beach
by Lisa Rymer / Vero Beach Newsweekly / Dec. 29, 2011

The character of Vero Beach is very much defined by its park system. Its 17 major parks tell the city's history and provide insight into Vero's leaders and a glimpse into their governing principles that make this place so special.

Ironically, that invaluable open space parks provide helps evelate the value of surrounding properties. In fact, comparisons of the number of parks in communities similar to Veor Beach and the median home values seem to substantiate the claim that real estate prices increase relative to the lack of development.

For instance, in Vero Beach, a community of about 15,000 people, the median home value is $251,200. That's about 55 percent higher than the $161,700 median price of a home in Sebastian, a city with 22,000 residents and 14 parks.

The city of Stuart, which has about 15,600 residents, has 9 parks. The median home value is $115,700.

While each community must find its own balance of commercial, residential and parklands, studies confirm that development often requires more services - schools, police, fire, utilities, roads, etc. -- than what is paid in taxes to cover those services.

The benefits of open space, therefore, are actually lower costs to maintain land that bolsters the economy by attracting tourists, residents and even tax-paying businesses looking to expand.

In reviewing the history of Vero Beach, it becomes apparent that the dedication and preservation of parklands ultimately helped the community grow in a way that improved the quality of life and at the same time made financial sense.

RIVERSIDE PARK

When Alma Lee Loy was a young girl growing up in Vero Beach, Riverside Park was nothing more than swampland. Loy, a graduate of Vero Beach High School, class of 1947, said there were few venues for youth recreation other than the beach and a community building.

"We hung out at whatever root beer place was on US1," recalled Loy, a former business owner and a community leader for more than 50 years. Currently, there is a bill in Tallahassee to rename the 17th Street Bridge in her honor. "Back then, you either did things at school or you did things at church."

She remembers the area along the river being used as a dumping ground for debris from land being cleared on the island.

"Instead of trucking the debris to the dump, the city used it as fill dirt," she said, crediting former city parks director, Louis Green, with much of the layout.

In the mid 1940s, the first portion of what is now Riverside Park was deeded to the city. But, the real development of the park started in the 1960s.

"The dredge from working on the Merrill Barber Bridge provided additional fill for the park," said Don Dexter, manager of the city's public works.

From that point on, Riverside Park grew as the city acquired more land from both private individuals and other government agencies.

By 1967, the land was able to sustain the growth of trees and the Vero Beach Theatre Guild had erected a building on the property that would one day become Riverside Theatre.

In the 1970s and '80s, the city built tennis courts, restrooms, a boat launch and parking.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art was built in 1986. By 1991, the picnic pavillions north of Dahlia Lane were developed, along with the parking lot adjacent to the jogging trail.

"I hope that we never have any more buildings," said Loy, recalling some of the grander aspects of the master plan that didn't come to fruition, such as the bandstand and an amphitheater. "We would need to build on pilings because the foundation is just decayed trees, limbs and concrete."

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this park series.

In the meantime, if you are interested in Vero Beach Homes, please call me at (772) 473-7255. It would be my pleasure to educate you on the Vero Beach Real Estate market.