Draft:Bonnet Springs Park

The Lakeland Railyard

The site of Bonnet Springs Park was once home to one of Florida's largest railroad facilities. The Lakeland railyard, operated by what would become CSX Transportation, served as a major transportation hub at its peak handling approximately 25 trains per day.^[3] The facility closed in 1952, leaving the land—less than a ten-minute walk from downtown Lakeland—idle and increasingly contaminated.

Decades of railroad operations had saturated the soil with arsenic-based herbicides, among other industrial byproducts. Following the rail yard's closure, the site was largely abandoned, accumulating garbage and serving at times as an encampment for homeless individuals.^[4]

Vision and Philanthropy

In the early 2010s, a coalition of Lakeland civic leaders, philanthropists, and former park professionals began acquiring the former rail yard and surrounding properties to develop a public park. Carol Jenkins Barnett, who served as president of Publix Super Markets Charities from 1991 to 2016, made Bonnet Springs Park her final major philanthropic initiative before her death in 2021.^[5] Barney Barnett, David Bunch, and Bill Tinsley were among the community leaders involved in the park's founding.^[5]

In 2017, the Bonnet Springs Park Foundation hired Sasaki, a landscape architecture firm headquartered in Boston with offices nationwide, to develop a master plan for the park. Sasaki conducted a six-month community engagement process, gathering input from Lakeland residents to shape the park's programming and design.^[3]

Remediation and Construction

The remediation of the former railyard presented one of the project's central engineering challenges. The site contained approximately 300,000 cubic yards of arsenic-contaminated soil—enough to fill nearly 100 Olympic-size swimming pools—as well as an estimated 37 tons of accumulated garbage.^[3]

Rather than remove the contaminated soil from the site, Sasaki's design team treated the remediation as a design opportunity. The contaminated material was sculpted into two prominent hills, each rising 40 to 45 feet, which were then capped with two feet of clean soil.^[4] The approach transformed a liability into a landscape feature while avoiding the cost and environmental impact of off-site disposal.

Additional ecological restoration included the replanting of nearly 3,000 trees and the protection of 30 acres of wetlands. The park's stormwater infrastructure voluntarily treats runoff before it enters nearby Lake Bonnet.^[3]

Bonnet Springs Park opened to the public in October 2022.^[3]

Named Amenities

Several of the park's major features bear the names of donors and community figures:

• Crenshaw Canopy Walk – An elevated walkway through the tree canopy, one of the park's signature attractions
• Harrell Family Botanical Gardens – Curated plantings of native and ornamental species throughout the grounds
• Florida Children's Museum – An educational facility within the park focused on nature-based learning for children
• Carol Jenkins Barnett Endowment – The named endowment established to support the park's long-term operations

General Amenities

The park includes a butterfly house, treehouse playground, outdoor amphitheater, six miles of walking and nature trails, an event lawn, and boating access. On-site dining includes The Depot restaurant and a rooftop garden bar. A free ADA-accessible tram operates during peak hours.

The park is cashless; a reverse ATM at the Welcome Center converts cash to prepaid cards.

Education Programs

Bonnet Springs Park operates education programs for children and families, including:

• StoryWalk® – An outdoor reading program integrated into the trail system
• Play & Learn – Nature-based play programming for children ages 2–5
• School Field Trips – Curriculum-aligned outdoor programs for K–12 students