As the 208th U.S. Army Band played the national anthem on their brass instruments and drums Saturday morning, Gainesville community members, from children to veterans, silently stood to pay their respects at the newly opened Reserve Park.
More than 100 people came out to celebrate the grand opening of the park, located across from East End Eatery at 700 NE 11th St. The park pays tribute to the U.S. Army Reserve soldiers who trained at the site, said Elizabeth Waite, director of Gainesville Wild Spaces and Public Places.
The park’s site was a Army Reserve Center for the 257th movement control battalion, known as the Movers and Shakers, who occupied the space for more than 50 years before relocating in 2009.
The space has since been inhabited by protective gear company Phalanx Defense Systems who facilitated the park’s creation by offering the abandoned space at the community’s request, Waite said.
“The site is rich with history,” she said. “It’s been a long time in the making, and we’re very proud to open up a new neighborhood park.”
Waite said the park had been in development for nearly seven years and cost $950,000 with the majority of funding coming from a half-cent sales tax passed in 2016 to support parks and recreation in Alachua County.
Waite said the city commission first initiated funding for the project before Wild Spaces and Public Places began in 2017 and paid for the planting of 100 trees to fill the park’s space.
Reserve Park caters to all ages and features a community garden, a swing set and a playground, Waite said. It also has an eagle sculpture made with recycled shipping containers and beer kegs and an obstacle course that symbolizes the site’s military history.
Waite said park officials are looking for anyone with information or photos related to the history of the location to display on a board at the park’s entrance to make it as personalized as possible.
The ceremony ended with applause as the Shahboz family, Gainesville residents who competed on the television program “American Ninja Warrior,” cleared the obstacle course.
Retired veteran Walter Jackson, who served 27 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, said the park’s site was his training area when he joined in 1978. He said he felt bad when he passed by the overgrown field when it was unoccupied, remembering it as a place he trained and ate lunch.
Jackson said he has been in support of plans for the park since they were first announced a few years ago. He said he was surprised by the opening’s large turnout, and he never expected anything like Reserve Park to fill the space he once trained in.
“To see it as a park and looking nice now, I love it,” Jackson said. “(This is) the best thing the city could’ve done.”
An eagle sculpture displayed at the park is made of recycled shipping containers and beer kegs.
