PORT ST. LUCIE – The City of Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie Public Schools have partnered once again to provide additional open-space fields, sports courts and playground areas for residents to enjoy in the evenings, holidays and the weekends. Certain outdoor areas at West Gate K-8, 1050 NW Cashmere Blvd. and Manatee Academy, 1450 SW Heatherwood Blvd. are now available for public access on school days from 5:00 p.m. to dusk, and on weekends and holidays from 8:00 a.m. to dusk.

“By pooling our resources, we provide greater recreational benefits to our residents than working independently,” said Sherman Conrad, Port St. Lucie’s Parks & Recreation Director.

There are now four shared recreational facilities that provide: outdoor basketball courts, multi-purpose fields featuring soccer goals and baseball backstop and playgrounds near the basketball courts.

· Bayshore Elementary: open-space fields, sports courts, and playground area
· Southern Oaks Middle School: open-space fields and sports courts
· West Gate K-8: open-space fields, sports courts, and playground area
· Manatee Academy: open-space fields

These sites were chosen because they were the most accessible to the public and least costly to make the expanded recreation use possible. For example, fencing was installed to restrict access to the school campus. The City’s Parks & Recreation staff will not be stationed on-site during these additional hours.

This program is an expansion of last year’s pilot program of utilizing two existing schools, Bayshore Elementary and Southern Oaks Middle Schools, for residential leisure time.

The City of Port St. Lucie is proud to be a hometown where people live, learn, work and play, and celebrate all of life’s opportunities. With over 195,000 residents, Port St. Lucie is Florida’s seventh largest city by population (South Florida’s 3rd largest city). The City occupies an area of 120 square miles in St. Lucie County on Florida’s east coast, about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach, half way between Miami and Orlando. The City provides most traditional municipal services including law enforcement, water and sewer, and public works. For more information, please visit: www.cityofpsl.com

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