Oakland Park is midway through a massive refresh of its downtown, and the next key component is moving forward. With some pomp, circumstance, and continental breakfast, city commissioners broke ground on Greenleaf Park.

The park will be a scaled back version of the still-open Spiher Recreation Center, which is showing its age. Located about a block from Funky Buddah, facilities will include basketball, tennis, and pickleball courts, a playground and more. 

The pieces began falling into place last autumn when city hall moved across Dixie Hwy. into the new Sky building. That allows the abandoned city hall structure and Spiher to be demolished to make way for the Horizon project, which includes 311 residences and 21,000 square feet of retail space. 

The community demanded that the new park be completed before the old park is demolished. Residents don’t want the neighborhood to go seven months without a space for kids and amateur athletes. Greenleaf is expected to open in October, with construction on the Horizon building starting soon thereafter.

Photo by John Hayden.