Renovations, expansion nearly complete at Opelika’s first all-inclusive park
BY DAVID BELL
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — The city’s first all-inclusive, state-of-the-art park facility is in the final stage of completion, with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting scheduled for Saturday, May 24.
Floral Park, located at Floral and Shamrock Streets, has been totally renovated and expanded to include amenities not found anywhere else in Opelika. The 30-acre site, which first featured softball fields and a dog park, now contains a field house, playground, splash pad, pavilions, restrooms, a full-size athletic field for football and soccer and more than 200 parking spaces.
“This park features playground equipment that can be used by everyone regardless of their physical capabilities,” said Laura Leigh Chesser, public relations coordinator with Opelika Parks and Recreation. “Everything has been designed and structured to be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).”
The park’s transformation is a result of the need for more recreational facilities. The city is expanding underutilized spaces to meet that need.
“Our football program had been playing at Moore’s Stadium, which is an older facility that wasn’t ADA compliant,” said Chesser. “The field itself was not even a regulation size. So, we’ve known for a long time that we needed a better location for that program. Also, our soccer program is outgrowing the space currently used at the Sportsplex. Therefore, Floral Park became the ideal place for a new multi-use regulation size field, along with some smaller fields that can be used for training and practice.”
The new field house includes press boxes, offices, restrooms and concession areas, and it will be manned by a full-time staff.
The new facility was designed by the architectural firm Seay, Seay & Litchfield, based out of Montgomery. Gamble Winter LLC of Auburn was hired as the general contractor, and Struthers Recreation of Pelham began construction on the playground in February 2024. The total cost of the project was $7.23 million.
“The athletic space in particular will be a new asset for Opelika by providing an additional facility to host tournaments, which will, in turn, attract more people to our city while providing better recreational opportunities for our local citizens,” said Chesser. “We invite everyone to come join us at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, for our grand opening. Mayor Gary Fuller will be there, along with our Parks and Rec staff, and the Chamber of Commerce will conduct our ribbon cutting. It’s going to be a great day.”
