PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Gilchrist Park is back open after a community-wide cleanup in Punta Gorda.
Your Fox 4 community correspondent, Miyoshi Price, spoke with folks as they were grabbing their rakes and getting this park back into shape.
Watch Fort Myers Community Correspondent Miyoshi Price's report of the clean up:
Over 200 people filled out waivers and rolled up their sleeves to rake leaves and debris scattered over the park.
They say by sunrise, folks were using the park, walking dogs, and taking in the view, which has not happened as often since it has been closed.
With the amount of damage left behind, people were ready when the police department called out for some help.
"We want to get them back here in the park," said Lt. Justin Davoult with the Punta Gorda Police Department. "The city has worked with the state and other third party companies. We got all the boats, I think we had nine sailboats here in the park. We got those removed. This is kind of the final push to be able to get the snow fencing down, get the last debris picked up, and be able to open this place back up."
Newly appointed councilperson-elect, Janis Denton, like many others, headed off to a specific section of the park to get started.
A few folks were eager to clean up the tennis and pickleball courts.
"I want to clean up the dinghy dog area," Denton said. "There's a lot of garbage that blew in or swept in from the boat club, and there stuff in the water. My husband's already in there pulling out. There are mattresses and TVs and chairs and stuff. And we want to sweep up the pickleball courts and tidy it up."
The bathroom and gazebo will remain blocked off while the park is open.
The park is now open from dusk to dawn because there are no working lights.
"There's still some cleanup that has to be done. We do have Ponce Park, Ponce de Leon Park, that still has to be cleaned up," said Davoult. "So we're probably going to do another push for that when we're ready for that."
Reach out to the Punta Gorda Police Department if you would like to help.
