Renovations Begin At John B. Sargeant Sr. Park

Renovations and repairs to the floating dock and boardwalk handrails at John B. Sargeant Sr. Park in Thonotosassa began Monday, Feb. 15, and are scheduled to be completed by April 1.

The dock and the boardwalk at the park, which is located at the confluence of Flint Creek and the Hillsborough River, will remain closed to the public for the duration of the Islander Construction project.

The park's other amenities, such as the small boat ramp, picnic areas and access to the Old Fort King Trail will remain open.

"You can still launch your small boat and your kayak and your canoe, but when you launch it from the boat ramp, you have to get in there (rather than from the floating dock)," says John Brill of Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. "So, it'll be a little bit more inconvenient for a while, but when the work's done on the floating dock it'll be better."

The 1,830 linear feet of handrails on the park's boardwalk will be brought up to code, Brill says, and the benches on the boardwalk's observation deck will be replaced. In addition, the decking, rail and bumpers on the floating dock will be replaced.

Funding for the approximately $80,000 project was provided by Hillsborough County's Repair, Replacement, Renovation and Maintenance (R3M) program.

The park, formerly known as Flint Creek Park, was renamed in 1989 for a member of the Hillsborough River Basin Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Writer: Carter Gaddis
Source: John Brill, Hillsborough County


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Carter Gaddis is a freelance writer and graduate of the University of South Florida (BA, mass communications). He covered sports for the Tampa Tribune for 16 years, including four years on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and eight years on the Tampa Bay Rays beat. He publishes the parenting and social commentary blog, DadScribe, and is a contributing writer for the TODAY Show. He lives in Lutz with his wife and two sons. Carter can be found on Twitter @DadScribe.