New park includes slides, seesaws and climbing features

Walton County District 5 Commissioner Cecilia Jones announces a grand opening for Mission Play Park on Thursday, March 10 at 10 a.m.   The park is located at the end of Moll Drive in Santa Rosa Beach, west of County Road 393 and south of U.S. 98.

As a part of Helen McCall Park in Santa Rosa Beach, the park offers a number of climbing features, slides, seesaws, and other activities for children on a safe surface.  The facility includes a pavilion with restrooms, sidewalks and benches under large oak trees.   It is located adjacent to the popular well-used sports fields contained in the complex to provide recreational opportunities for younger children.   An adjacent eighty-space parking area is also under construction that will serve both the park and the sports fields.

Mission Play Park was conceived by a group of moms who recognized that the South Walton area was missing many of the vital recreational requirements for a successful family community.  With the increasing number of children in the area, both full time and visitors, the county needed more places for them to play and for families to connect.   The group spoke before the Board of Commissioners in April 2007 with a request for a park.

Since that time Cathy Potter, Jenny Dargavell, and Rhonda Cloutier of south Walton have worked closely with District 5 Commissioner Cecilia Jones to champion the cause of getting the park built.   Using land purchased earlier in 2007, a plan was designed for the park, funding identified, and construction was begun.  The project has moved slowly at times because of other demands on county resources, but it is finally complete.

The public is cordially invited to attend this grand opening to celebrate the newest addition to Walton County’s recreational facilities.