The finishing touches are happening at a parks project more than a decade in the making. We spoke to one of the people behind the Las Olas Oceanside Parks system.
Across from the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the final piece of a years-in-the-making parks puzzle is coming together. DC Alexander Park is part of the Las Olas Oceanside Parks (LOOP) system, a group of four parks and outdoor spaces that in recent years has seen $65m investment and improvements in an effort to bring large, accessible public spaces to the city’s oceanfront main drag. When ongoing work at DC Alexander is done, the LOOP will be complete.
The project is the work of the Fort Lauderdale Beach Community Redevelopment Area.
“It’s really exciting that the project that was started by the CRA well over a decade ago is finally coming to its completion period,” says Arianne Glassman, who the city’s Parks and Recreation department brought in to oversee the four parks’ programming and marketing.
“We are creating a community and a neighborhood within what is widely perceived as the place for visitors,” Glassman says. “Green spaces bring something to an area. The beach is everybody’s backyard. This is our home.”