YES YES AND ON SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS HAVE OPEN FRESH MARKETS WHERE YOU COULD BUY LOCAL PRODUCE AND WARES!!!!ITS A WIN WIN!
CHECK OUT WWW.THEGROVELA.COM ITS IN BEVERLEY HILLS,THEATER AND SHOPPING...LOVELY RESTAURANTS AND A FARMERS MARKET VILLAGE WITH WONDERFUL WARES ON THEW WEEKENDS.....

I thought the city was crying about not having money and having to fire employees. Now they are looking at bailing out old Jackie. What another crock from the city. I am betting that the city councel will also vote to give themselves another raise because they do such a great job. I still cant believe that the city is giving the councel members lifetime medical, and are now paying for an ex councel members bills at The Moorings.

Rumor is that Jack Antaramian is donating the 10 acres to the City in a show of gratitude for all the moolah that he scored on 5th Avenue.
What a gentleman and a scholar!
As Naplesres suggests: The small merchants that were driven out by the high rents on 5th can now set up tables in a flea-market setting on part of the 10 acres and Karma will be good again...unless it rains...

Naples Central Park!

A park would be nice in Golden Gate Estates. There is no place (other than school facilities) for groups and people to congregate. When I moved out here 13 years ago there was talk of a park similar to Lakes Park in Lee County. Haven't seen nothing yet. the only areas of recreation are the schools which are supposedly turned over to parks & rer after 3:30 pm are locked. The only park is Max Hasse. Come on Collier County, the population does not end at 951, Collier Blvd, or what ever you want to call it. We have enough population to support 5 elementry, 2 middle, and 1 high school. The area around Wilson and Immokolee Rd. Is crying for a park. Something that the lights will be on for us to use without having to pay individually for it. We all pay for the parks in out property taxes. Sure would be nice to have on near us that wasn't having issues with the schools.

Bail out Jack. Way to go.

Nothing is free, but many things are of great value and others are priceless. That open space and its potential to ease the pressing stormwater situation is an idea the Council cannot ignore. Hopefully the parties can craft a proposal tnat will allow the voters to concur. We need this greenspace for future generations. We must not be short-sighted.

Buy when the time is right. This is a central location for the city. Green space in this area will improve everyones quality of life.

Getovert1, If the City does come to terms with Antaramian, it goes to voter referendum, and the voters make the choice, so vote it up or down when the time comes, and quit whining.

Not a bad idea if the city voters are willing to pay for it.

Actually a park that would provide a place for storm water runoff in that area would be a great idea. The neigborhood just to the north of this location floods almost everytime there is a heavy rain.

Of course there is always the need for some green space. Better than another bunch of overpriced condo sitting there.

Wow nothing makes you people happy, more development...Wah wah wah they're building too much wah wah wah. Oh instead of building lets make it a park....Wah wah wah now we have to pay for it...wah wah wah. Thank God the bloggers here aren't running the city, it would be one big cry baby party. Especially you firehauck, its hard to believe you can be that angry at 5:14am.

GGE wants a park, do some research and present it to the County. You live in a rural/residential area, there is nothing zoned for a park. So get off your duff find some land thats for sale and show the commissioners

This land is too valuable to be taken off the tax rolls for a drainage park. Just a thought but each time I go by Cambier park it is usually pretty empty, why would a park three short blocks away be so popular.

How about a dog park?

Buy the 4 acres of crime laden, run down apartments adjacent to the 8-9 acre Anthony Park on the Gordon River and create a 12-13 acre park with something the entire county can use for recreation, boating access, stormwater drainage...etc.
Either way the more green space the better, but preserving water front property on the Gordon River will do a lot more for Naples Bay in addition to providing benefits to both city and county residents.

Can't believe this idea is still alive. Where does the City get the money? Why would Jackie, and his partners (you don't think he can afford to buy all his land alone do ya) drop 8mil on selling this when they paid 25mil?

I like the idea of selling it to the Seminoles, putting a Hard Rock Hotel on the property, with a casino!!! In downtown Naples, within a mile of the beach, it would be a gold mine for the city, and community. Hate to see Jackie and the clan make a profit off the land, but it would be minimal compared to what everyone else can make.

Will never happen, just like a park will never happen.

I am generally for thoughtful, planned development, and allocating land for green spaces is part of that. However, this idea to develop a park strikes me as irresponsible in several ways. First, there are ways to develop green space that are more fiscally efficient than letting the city buy the land and develop a park. For instance, using covenants or other legal measures compels developers to set aside land. This approach has two advantages. First, it allows developers to determine what land they convert to green space. Second, this approach effectively mirrors a 'user tax', because it directly affects only those who purchase real estate in the developed areas. My second concern is that the city continues to grow, primarily through annexation, but the city has actually cut back on services, thanks largely to the City Manager's efforts. Because of this, the city is failing to keep pace with current growth and undermining its future growth; yet, the city's leaders want to buy a $17 million piece of land that will generate little, if any, real revenue? This isn’t only shortsighted, it is a slow move to fiscal suicide. My last concern focuses on the city's leaders' ongoing fixation with this property. I was troubled by the mayor's 'vision' for the space back in May. I find even more troubling, and more than a little ironic, that Bill Wilkomm is 'intrigued by the possibilities for the property'. At Willkomm’s insistence, the city continues to cut its bureaucracy, but now he supports increasing the amount of land that the bureaucracy administers?

In conclusion, maybe this possible deal is not a city bailout of Jack Antaramian, but logic and the prevailing facts sure point to something strange.

So, since they appear to have lied about not having enough budget money, can the contract agreement that was passed by the BCC to give the City of Naples 1 Million Dollars per year for their Parks for the next 10 years be cancelled?

That's 10 Million Dollars we can use for building parks where they are REALLY NEEDED!

I'm very pleased at the idea of a park at that very convenient location. Unless we keep the city accessible to pedestrians, more and more business will be diverted from downtown into the outskirts instead.

I am not a businessman, I'm a pedestrian who would greatly enjoy having a place to sit near downtown where somebody isn't trying to sell me food or jewelry. Just a nice, peaceful place to enjoy the city. That really is priceless.

It's very short-sited to give up the opportunity for the last huge chunk of downtown undeveloped area, just because money is tight. You think it's tight now, wait until the whole downtown is industrialized and so ugly that nobody wants to be there. Sacrificing an area's beauty is always the precursor to devaluation.