Although plans to turn the Gainesville Gas Co.’s 32-acre former home into the city’s version of Central Park date back more than a decade, the project has been constantly evolving — as has its budget and completion date.
The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency took on the project around 2009, although the idea for Depot Park has been around since the 1990s, Project Manager Diane Gilreath of the CRA said. The first master plan for the project was developed in 2002 and updated in 2010.
Today, the vision for Depot Park includes a swath of conservation land on the southern part of the property while the northern sector will be more urban. Among other points of interest, the park will incorporate an amphitheater, a walkable expanse overlooking a pond that the CRA is calling a promenade, and a children’s area roughly the size of a football field.