Boca's Community Connection

A bond with members of the Boca Raton Community and the responsiveness to residents' needs are two traits that have been a source of pride for Commissioners throughout the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District's first 50 years.

Commissioners not only welcome feedback from the community, they enjoy and encourage it.

Twice a month – usually on the first and third Mondays – District Commissioners hold a public meeting where the community is invited to address the board.

“We want to be attentive to the public,” District Commissioner Bob Rollins said. “We want people to know who we are. And I think that we don't really care about individual recognition. I think everybody is humble enough on the commission to just say, 'Let's just do my job and I don't need pat on the back,' but it's nice when somebody says something.” 

Suggestions and requests from the community guide the District's priorities. In recent years input and requests from the community prompted the conversion of four Patch Reef Park tennis courts into 12 pickleball courts.

As demand continued to increase for facilities where the Boca Raton community can play the nation's fastest growing sport, Commissioners approved the creation of a covered pickleball facility within Patch Reef. Construction is already underway, and the facility is expected to open in 2025.

Another request, this time from Boca Raton's Ogman family, also prompted the upgrade of a Patch Reef Park feature. A new, more inclusive playground for children of all abilities is currently under construction on the former site of the Pirates Cove. It is expected to open in the summer of 2025.

Responding to a need of the Boca Raton Soccer community, District Commissioners recently approved the resurfacing of the Sugar Sand Park outdoor hockey rink to make the rink suitable for futsal play.

District Commissioners leaned heavily on the needs and requests of the community when designing what will become Boca Raton's newest park – North Park. Commissioners not only worked with community members who shared their opinions and suggestions at general meetings, they also invited the community to public workshops, where interested citizens could rank the types of features they'd like to see in their new park. 

As a result of that input, the defunct Ocean Breeze Golf Course will bloom into a garden of a park that will include walking trails, bicycle trails, golf elements, and an indoor pickleball facility.

“The community told us their priorities for North Park and they're getting what they requested,” District Chair Erin Wright said. “Personally, I'm most excited for the trails. I think they offer benefits to the entire Boca Raton community.”

The improvements at Patch Reef, Sugar Sand and the forthcoming North Park are only the most recent examples of District Commissioners working with the community to provide for their needs.

As the popularity of lacrosse skyrocketed during the first two decades of this century, Commissioners made the choice to install artificial turf fields at Patch Reef, allowing soccer, football and lacrosse leagues to co-exist without constant field closures for maintenance.

Even further back, the creation of Sugar Sand's much heralded Science Playground arose from the community's request for a unique playground that combined education and fun – a facility unlike any other in South Florida. 

“This is the best kind of government because you're right down there living with the people you're dealing with” said Dirk Smith, a Commissioner during the creation of Sugar Sand. “The further up the political chain you get, the further away you get from the constituents, and I found that I really enjoyed the time working with them and putting these things together.” 

District Commissioners continue to value their interactions with the community and look forward to satisfying the needs of the community by creating, upgrading and maintaining some of South Florida's greatest parks.

“Our Boca Raton community is loaded with intelligent and creative residents,” Commissioner Suzi Vogelgesang said. “They constantly amaze with their suggestions and visions. Seeing our projects grow from resident requests into excellent park features is one of the best parts of this job.”