- April 25, 2024
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The planning, designing and construction of Ormond Beach’s now-finished Andy Romano Beachfront Park started in 2011.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
It started as an idea in a goal-setting meeting four years ago, and now it’s a piece of Ormond Beach’s landscape.
The city's new Andy Romano Beachfront Park opened Saturday, Feb. 23, and many of those involved in its planning have hopes of it becoming a local "crown jewel."
“I have a real feeling of pride and accomplishment,” City Commissioner Troy Kent said. “I am so proud of my city. I am so proud of my best friend Andy Romano. And I have a great sense of accomplishment that we, as a city, have come through and delivered. And I believe we have delivered the best beachfront park in Florida.”
Kent suggested, back in that initial goal-setting meeting, that the city try to establish a park with plenty of parking for residents. Then, in 2010, when the parcel of land, at 839 S. Atlantic Ave., became available, the City Commission put the land purchase up for public vote, and it was approved by residents.
The city worked with a group called the Trust for Public Land, which helped with the purchase, and partnered with Volusia County, for assistance funding the approximately $8 million price tag.
Then, it came time for the design and planning.
“The whole goal was to make it represent Ormond Beach,” City Commissioner Rick Boehm said. “We really wanted it to be family-friendly and to represent the city, which we think it does.”
Boehm was on the Leisure Services Advisory Board, where he had served with Andy Romano for seven years, when the project was initially brought before the commission.
“While he was on the leisure services advisory board with me, he was our Mr. Beach,” Boehm said. “He would update us on the beach all the time.”
Before Romano was on the Leisure Services Advisory Board, he was the city’s first lifeguard, opened the city’s first beach concessions stand, fought in World War II and worked in Ormond Beach schools for more than 30 years.
“The guy is a living history of the area,” Boehm said. “He has been on the beach his whole life. That’s why he’s such a great person to name it after.”
The city began, April 5, 2011, the long process of planning possible park designs with various city departments and residents.
“That took time,” Mayor Ed Kelley said. “But I think it’s time well spent, because I think the finished product is ... fantastic.”
The finished product, which many residents saw for the first time Saturday, features more than 190 parking spots, plus multiple family pavilions, restrooms, concessions and walkways.
“People act like it was an easy thing,” Kent said. “It was a very difficult thing and very stressful processes. (But) I haven't met anyone that's said (Romano) wasn't deserving.”
