Cape Coral residents continue to fight for Jaycee Park

A park with a rich history for residents, one they don’t want to lose to a city’s plans for commercialization.

Jaycee Park is something Cape Coral residents have been fighting the city to keep for months.

But will they come out on top and save their beloved park?

Whether to keep Jaycee Park or not is the months-long debate that almost every resident in Cape Coral can agree on.

“I love Jaycee Park,” said Kathleen Lopez,” a Cape Coral resident. “We bought here because of this park. I walk this park every morning.”

“I love the wildlife,” said Heather O’Connell, a Cape Coral resident. “It’s so beautiful, I just love it here.”

But because of the City of Cape Coral, their park might change forever.

“There’s plenty of places to go and go out to have a drink and a good time,” said Clare Dooley, president of the Cape Coral Preservation Political Action Committee (PACC). “This is the only place where you can come enjoy nature, enjoy the shade along the river. I mean, it’s unique in Cape Coral and to destroy it would be very shortsighted.”

Jaycee Park is a relaxing spot for many, a place people go to enjoy nature and the wildlife here in Cape Coral, but the city has plans to turn it into the opposite. So residents have taken matters into their own hands, passing petitions out and showing up to every single city council meeting to speak their minds about the issue, and they’ve been ignored time and time again, so now, they’re making sure their voices are heard.

Loud and proud.

“We now have a group of energized volunteers, some of whom have been engaged in the political process a few times. We’re not going away,” Dooley said.

From petitions to actively campaigning against their city leaders, all with the hopes of saving Jaycee Park.

“We’ve done the best we can here in Cape Coral, and we’re going to keep fighting for our parks because you need to remember. They’re after our park today, and they’ll be after your park tomorrow,” Lopez said.

We’ve reached out to the City of Cape Coral, the mayor and its council members on the matter Saturday morning.

Still, there has not been a response.