Jaycee Park memorial benches to be relocated

Memorial benches, plaques and trees will be relocated at Jaycee Park, and some parkgoers are not happy with the decision.

Tony Karp is a Cape Coral resident and he frequents Jaycee Park. He said many people come to the park to memorialize their families.

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“The surviving members of the families, they still come down here,” said Karp. “They walk their dogs and come down with other family members on their birthdays to memorialize them and enjoy the park together.”

One of those surviving members is Scott Kempe who has two benches. One is in honor of his wife, Judi, with a plaque for his friend Barbara, and a second one for one of his two dogs.

“This park was so important to us, it was a way of demonstrating my love for her and how Bo and Maisie loved her as she loved them,” said Kempe. “We also had a great friend of this park. We added this plaque to Barbara, honoring her and sort of dedicating the center seat of this bench in her memory.”

There is also a second memorial bench that Kempe owns that is already in jeopardy.

“I also dedicated a bench to my dog, Bo, who eventually died from cancer, and that’s the bench that now is a controversy for me with the city,” said Kempe.

Kempe expressed his concern to Cape Coral’s Assistant City Manager in hopes of keeping his second bench at the park. Instead, he was given three options.

“One, it could go over to Wagon Tails Dog Park,” said Kempe. “Two, gave owners various options in terms of taking the bench home with their assistance, and then the last one was they would dispose of it.”

The City of Cape Coral said, “The city reached out to people who own memorial benches and plaques at Jaycee Park and asked to review those options and notify the city of their preferred course of action.”

The list provides four options for people and three options for pets:

 Scott Kempe, I emailed the city’s assistant city manager, Connie Barron, to explore other ways to keep his second memorial bench in honor of his dog, Bo. 

Pet Bench Options

Option 1. 

The City’s preference is to relocate these pet benches to Wagging Tails Dog Park at Rotary Park on Rose Garden Road. This is a great location for these benches where other dogs are frolicking around the dog park. Please note: While the City will take all due care regarding the condition of any memorial benches remaining at the park, these benches will not be replaced should they become damaged or otherwise. Even though the benches will be relocated, the City still intends to memorialize these nine pets within the Pet Plaza area of the park.

In this area, there will be a dog misting station, pet photo booth, and large boomerang bench for seating, where we will attach a custom bronze plaque with the names of the pets. We also will have a custom-painted covered bench right across from the Plaza (see blue arrow in Plaza pic) with dog-themed images. View the attached Faye Cove image for bench style and the Dog Park image for example of a custom-painted bench. If any owner of a pet bench has interest in having their pet’s name and/or image on this covered bench, please respond with the name on your pet bench and a picture of your pet (if you want their image added to the custom bench).

Option 2. Relocate the bench to a residence/home.

If your desire is to remove the bench from Jaycee Park and relocate it to your home or another home in Cape Coral, the City will assist in this effort. Our Parks staff will coordinate with you and arrange for delivery of the bench to the address.

Option 3. Relocate the bench to a residence/home.

If your desire is to remove the bench from Jaycee Park on your own and relocate it to your home or another home in Cape Coral, our Parks staff will arrange a time for you to pick up the bench. If you choose this option, please coordinate with our Parks staff to ensure the transfer is completed safely.

Kempe said he feels that none of the options are suitable for his pet.

Kempe agreed with the city to keep his first bench at the park with plans to move it somewhere throughout the park during the renovation process.

In terms of his second bench he’s still in the process of deciding.