Poe Springs reopens in time for Independence Day

County workers spent much of Wednesday taking care of last minute tasks prior to the reopening of Poe Springs Park July 4. The park has been closed since late in 2011.

HIGH SPRINGS – Aside from fireworks, barbecue and music, there is now another way to spend the Fourth of July.

Poe Springs is reopening today, after being closed since late 2011 for repairs.

Entry is free and open to the public. The hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

The renovations included replacing the spring's retaining wall and steps, as well as installing new roofs on the buildings, new air conditioning units and doing some landscaping. A new lodge was built that is available for the public to rent. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection also made the county remove beach sand from the springs to prevent it from getting washed into the water. The cost of the makeover totaled $146,730.

Although the county owns Poe Springs, it has only directly managed the park since late 2011, when the private company Nature Quest's contract to run the day-to-day operations ended. Nature Quest's contract began in 2009. Prior to that, the YMCA ran Poe Springs since it was opened as a county park in 1992.

The future of the park's management was unclear when negotiations between the City of High Springs and the county fell through, mainly due to budget issues and delays caused by the renovations. City Commissioner Bob Barnas came to the county with the idea of High Springs taking over administrative duties. At least for now, it will continue to be run by the county.

“We're prepared to operate the park as part of the county park system," said Mark Sexton, Alachua County spokesperson in an earlier interview.

The county would still be willing to resume a dialogue with the city if it ever decided to reopen the issue, but that is unlikely in the near future, said Ed Booth, city manager for High Springs in an earlier interview. The city's financial situation won't allow it, and it will probably be about two years before the issue is considered again.

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