Punta Gorda’s Gilchrist Park reopens after Hurricane Milton cleanup

Hurricane Milton left five boats scattered across Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda.

On Tuesday, the boats were finally gone; the city and a handful of volunteers got their hands dirty and cleaned everything up.

WINK News reporter Zoe Warner took a stroll down to the park to see for herself how everything looks and when people can start enjoying the park again.

Right now, the park is back open.

City leaders say to be patient. Reinstalling the nets and resurfacing the pickleball and tennis courts will take some time.

However, visitors can now enjoy the majority of the park, which is now fence-free.

Volunteers like Mike Devitis are happy the park is open once again.

“It’s just good to get back to the community. I think that’s, that’s the major thing for coming down here,” said Devitis.

Major, like removing five derelict boats left by Hurricane Milton last week, and Tuesday, volunteers suited up to get the debris picked up.

He said, “The major thing we’re doing is taking down the fencing so that everybody can have access to the park again, and that’s the important part, to have access to the park.”

People are eager to get things back to normal.

“They have a lot of arts and crafts shows down here, and that’s that’s kind of nice to get out and support local business and support the vendors and everything,” Devitis said.

For Pamela Sperry, she couldn’t wait to resume her walking routine.

“I’m down here several days a week, and this is where I love to walk, and it’s a great spot, and it’s where a lot of people come and walk their dogs and enjoy the park. So it was devastating what the hurricane did down here,” said Sperry. “It’s nice to see the community come together and show their support and help with all the cleanup. It was definitely necessary.”

City officials were also out pitching in.

We asked Greg Julian, Punta Gorda’s vice mayor, whether he was expecting so many people to come out and help.

“I really had no basis to know how many would come, but I saw it being spread on Facebook and a lot of excitement about it. And boy, when we got here this morning and saw the crowd, it was really exhilarating,” said Julian.

Once we get an update on when those sports courts will be back up and operating, we’ll make sure to let you know.