Mayor Brian Aungst Sr. calls Coachman Park a ‘catalytic project’ for Clearwater
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 23, 2023

Coachman Park, which anchors the $84 million Imagine Clearwater project, is just under a week away from its grand opening.

Planning for the transformation of the downtown waterfront began several years ago, and the park has been under construction for the past two years. The 19-acre park includes The Sound, a boutique music venue on the waterfront that has 4,000 covered seats and a lawn space that could seat up to 5,000 additional guests.

The park is a “catalytic project” for Clearwater, said Mayor Brian Aungst Sr. He previously told the Tampa Bay Business Journal he believes Coachman Park will shine a spotlight on the many opportunities still available in downtown.

The park is approximately 19 acres and will become a center for activity downtown. There are four-to-five acres of green space at the center of the park, called The Green, where there will be room for picnics, live music or other entertainment, festivals and markets.

Families will enjoy the splash pad area — complete with several sunshades, spigots, ‘bamboo shoots’ with full rainbow spectrum LED lights and bathrooms — and the pirate-island themed playground, which includes wheel-chair accessible equipment. The playground has natural sand ‘beaches’ and is centered around a large net climbing structure that connects to two ends of a ‘pirate ship.’

Toward the on-site parking lot is a lake area with a boardwalk and picnic pavilions. The city will have various equipment throughout the park, including Adirondack chairs and benches.

There are just under 200 parking spaces adjacent to Coachman Park. However, there are approximately 3,000 spaces within walking distance. An additional 2,000 privately owned parking spaces are also nearby. There is a turnaround on Cleveland Street as well as an Uber drop-off area.

Aungst said the water taxi that comes back and forth from the beach and Dunedin, as well as the Jolley Trolley Park and Ride shuttle service, will help with transportation to and from the park and hopefully reduce the number of people wanting to bring their vehicles to the site.

A botanical garden highlighting the many unique vegetation found throughout the state, a bluff walk, a dockmaster office plaza, “bier pier” and the upper and lower civic gateways are also found throughout the park.

During construction, more than 50 trees were relocated to an on-site nursery and have now been replanted in the park. Red reflectors throughout the walkways display paths for emergency vehicles, making the entire park accessible in case of emergencies.

Public art is found in nearly every corner of the park. A massive mural will soon be added to the wall near the bottom of the “grand staircase” leading down into the park, concrete walls along the path to The Sound will feature works from local artists, and five metal torches sculptures that were custom-made for the project are installed at the edge of The Green.

The Sound, which Ruth Eckerd Hall manages, will feature a minimum of 35 events a year, drawing thousands to the park. The venue has an area for food trucks, has multiple restrooms on site and offers an “elevated experience” — a ticketed area that includes an air-conditioned room complete with a wet bar, catered food area, restrooms and seating as well as an upper-level balcony that overlooks the stage and Coachman Park.”

The grand opening celebration will — hosted by the city and Ruth Eckerd Hall — will run from June 28 to July 4 and will culminate in the city’s annual July 4th Fireworks show. Per its venue license agreement with Ruth Eckerd Hall, the city can have 10 events a year at The Sound, on top of the July 4 and July 5 celebration.

Skanska USA is the general contractor and Stantec led the design for the project.