Depot Park opens in Gainesville

Depot Park, located at 201 SE Depot Ave., opened Monday and is already drawing in more visitors than expected.

“It’s the Central Park of Gainesville,” said Sarah Vidal-Finn, the interim director for the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency.

Vidal-Finn said the main goal was to take a useless space and make it a place the community can enjoy.

“You can make something incredible, beautiful and fun out of nothing,” she said.

She said the budget for the park was $5.9 million.

“It’s the largest undertaking the CRA has taken on,” she said, “and probably the city as a whole.”

Vidal-Finn said the park includes a historic rehabilitation project of the train depot. The building was restored as close to the original as possible, down to the paint color.

The building will be home to a Pop-A-Top convenience store and eventually a restaurant, Vidal-Finn said.

The park is a huge asset to the community, said Ivan Oelrich, the president of Oelrich Construction and the construction manager of the park.

The park has a play area the size of a football field that includes a splash zone, he said.

Construction for a science museum has already begun in another area of the park, Oelrich said. It will be named after Robert Cade, the inventor of Gatorade, and should be completed in the end of 2017.

Guests have been flooding the park since the construction fences started coming down, he said.

“We knew it was going to be popular,” he said, “but wow, this is incredible.”

Shirley Truman went to the park for the first time Wednesday with her daughter and grandson.

The Gainesville resident said her 4-year-old grandson, Roland, was having a blast and didn’t want to leave.

“It’s free, and that’s awesome,” she said. “It’s a really nice place, and I hope people don’t abuse it.”

Truman said they stayed at the park for almost three hours and had to reapply sunscreen three times.

“I think all of it is my favorite,” Roland said.

Truman said she has a pool but it’s fun to try something new.

“It’s the first trip of many,” she said.

The park will host its grand opening Aug. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon. The event will include food, games, a photo booth and a Snapchat filter, along with a detailed history of the park.

“It will be a day full of community and fun,” Vidal-Finn said.