On the trail at Whispering Pines

Welcome to Monday! Let’s chat about Whispering Pines Park.

At nearly 300 acres, it’s roughly the same size as both of Citrus County’s district parks combined.

It has walking trails, ball fields, splash pad, pool, tennis courts, covered picnic areas, playground, and a whole lot more. It’s way spread out.

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The City of Inverness does not own Whispering Pines Park. It has leased the property from the state since the 1970s and is working on a 50-year renewal to start in 2030.

For years and years, Whispering Pines was the jewel of Inverness. All of the city’s recreational activities centered on Whispering Pines.

After all, former longtime City Manager Frank DiGiovanni got his start as the parks director, and Frank oversaw much of what Whispering Pines is today.

However, as a government program, Whispering Pines has always been out of sorts.

Long as I can remember, the city has cried poor on Whispering Pines. It’s a pretty big park for a city of 7,000 people.

(I’m getting to a point here. Hold on a sec.)

Though it’s a city park, Whispering Pines is a part of the county’s comprehensive plan for large district parks. That’s why the county pays a stipend every year toward Whispering Pines, though even that was the subject of fraught government angst.

I’m fuzzy on the timeline, but the county found itself in a financial pinch and cut back its Whispering Pines funding. That angered the city, and the two engaged in a standoff that ended when the county agreed to give the city the same amount each year it budgets for Bicentennial Park.

Both city and county seem quite content with this arrangement. It doesn't solve the city’s financial problems at Whispering Pines, though.

It’s not just that. Over the last 15 years or so, the city has placed significant time, resources, and money into the creation of Depot District, upgrades at Wallace Brooks and Liberty parks, and downtown Saturday night concerts.

Whispering Pines didn’t become an afterthought, but in a way, it sorta did. Now the city is facing high costs for maintenance and upgrades, and its answer is to add an RV campground.

I’d say it’s time for a community conversation about Whispering Pines Park. As far as I know, we’ve never had one.

City Manager Eric Williams carted me through the park’s back trails one day last week. I wanted to see where the new secondary entrance is being built off U.S. 41, and the proposed RV location.

I’ve known Eric for a long time. We had a spirited conversation about the park and the city’s RV plans. Those plans are not exactly drawn out. More a concept than anything else. Though it’s a potentially an expensive one: The city is asking $2 million from the state and is putting in $1 million of city tax dollars.

Meanwhile, the city hasn’t conducted a single study to even get an idea of the revenue/expenditure mix. Is $3 million enough to get this thing started and operating? Too much? What should the city expect to net? What's the return on investment? When all is said and done, will an RV campground be the elixir Inverness seeks for Whispering Pines?

This is one of those cart/horse deals. The city doesn’t want to spend money on a study if it has no financial means to follow through with the recommendations.

It’s also at a time when public sentiment is the opposite direction. If we’ve learned anything these last few years, Floridians do not want their public parks commercialized.

Whispering Pines attracts a wide variety of users. Parents, kids, senior citizens, leashed dogs, business people, families — you name it. If the city point-blank told folks it can’t afford the upkeep and an RV campground is the only way to keep the park functioning as it is, well, by golly, we’d have the start of a conversation.

By the way, this discussion is for all of Citrus County, not just Inverness. Whispering Pines is the largest public park in the county. We all have a stake.

Now is the perfect time for this conversation. With the city preparing a new lease to take Whispering Pines into the next generation, let’s take a look at what we have, what we want, and how to get there.

What a cool, cool park. So glad it’s ours.

Have a great Monday, friends.

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