Orange County to build new public park along Little Econ River, near UCF

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A new public park is coming to east Orange County and it will give people the opportunity to take advantage of the last undeveloped, pristine land left along the Little Econlockhatchee River.

The state just came through with a $3 million grant, which was the only way the county said it would pay the other half.

"We'd like to keep it as quiet as possible and I think all my neighbors agree on that," said homeowner Richard Grace.

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They're surprised, yet happy to hear Orange County will be buying the land to make a public park, just west of the University of Central Florida and south of the Seminole County line.

The county will use the state grant to preserve the property, with parts of a mid-19th century iron bridge and cypress trees that are hundreds of years old.

"We would rather have, I think, a county park than four houses per acre which would cause a lot of congestion, a lot of traffic," Grace said.

County leaders believe the project would give the community an opportunity to enjoy the land, without major development destroying it.

Grace agrees but said he worries about the type of people it will bring.

"We're kind of concerned that, you know, how people are, they get kind of rowdy," Grace said. "They'll be going in canoes in the back of your property, discarding beer cans or whatever they want to throw away."

But after living here for 40 years, he said this option is the lesser of the two evils.

"All in all, I think it'd be probably the best solution rather than just coming in with a bulldozer and mow everything down," Grace said.