Earlier this summer, the city of Marathon completed a survey of Marathon Community Park in order to render a design for public input. Reece & Associates’ professional survey notes the parcel’s boundaries and infrastructure, an important first step in the park redesign.
“The survey has been handed over to the Platform Group to render designs for the redevelopment of Marathon Community Park, the city’s largest and most important piece of community infrastructure,” said City Manager George Garrett.
The city has instructed the designer to incorporate features such as pickleball and bocce courts, a new skate park and possibly a walking path suitable for adults or parents with children in strollers.
The design also includes space for phased, long-term development. Future phases of construction could include a boardwalk through the mangroves fronting Boot Key Harbor and a multi-story building that would incorporate office space, public bathrooms, storage and community space geared towards giving Parks and Recreation youth campers an inside gathering spot.
“One of our priorities is to ensure that the Marathon Community Park retains its ability to provide space for soccer practice and games and the ability to host our much-loved festivals such as Brew BQ and the Seafood Festival,” said Anthony Paul Davis, the city’s Parks and Recreation director.
Platform Group is the same entity that presented designs to the City of Marathon for a new skate park in January 2023. The Tampa-based firm provides professional park designs in the U.S., with projects underway in Louisiana, South Carolina, California, Vermont, Maine, New York and Florida. The local nonprofit The Florida Keys Community Center, headed by Matt Sexton, sponsored the initial skate park design. The comprehensive master plan for Marathon Community Park is just a piece of the city’s plan to refresh all its recreational assets.
In addition to the master plan refresh, the city has secured full funding for a new parking lot at Coco Plum Beach ($119,000) and new playground equipment at Sombrero Beach Park ($245,250). The funds are grants from the Tourist Development Council FY24 for capital improvement projects that will be ratified at the October meeting of the Monroe County Commission.
