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Grey Preserve to Reopen Sunday

Jessica Bair/SUNCOAST NEWS

ELAINE SMITH, the New Port Richey parks and recreation director, at one of the newly installed information signs in the city’s James E. Grey Preserve. The 85-acre nature sanctuary along the Pithlachascotee River, above, is reopening after $1 million in improvements.

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By Jessica  Bair | The Suncoast News

Published: November 17, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - It's one of few places in the New Port Richey area that has been left untouched by man. No high-rise condominiums or commercial strip plaza sits on this protected slice of west-central Pasco County.

Pine and mossy oaks trees line the river and canals that flow through the 85-acre nature park.
Wildlife like coyote, wild boar, manatee, deer, gopher tortoise and 144 native bird species call New Port Richey's James E. Grey Preserve home, says Elaine Smith, the city's park and recreation director.

The preserve, which is set to reopen tomorrow, Sunday, at 2 p.m., will hold a number of outdoor family activities by many community agencies to celebrate the reopening of this historical landmark in New Port Richey.

The community is encouraged to bring their kayaks or canoes to enjoy the river or borrow one from Makai Kayak and Canoe.

Every 20 minutes new activities will be offered including a lady bug release by Covanta Energy, oral history by West Pasco Historical Society, meet and greets with Parks Departments mascots like Smoky the Bear, Pasco County's Parky the raccoon and Parker the frog from Inverness.

There will also be guided bird watching tours by West Pasco Audubon Society, Curious Creatures Kids Zoo sponsored by Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department showcasing live educational animal shows and wooden craft building with Home Depot, among others.

City police and fire departments will provide a boating safety and float plan seminar for boaters exploring the Pithlachascotee River and other waterways, says Smith.

Hot dogs, trail mix, soft drinks and water will also be provided at no charge.

The $1 million park improvement project included installing new walkways, trails, fishing piers, restrooms, parking spaces and signs.

Workers on Wednesday were putting the final touches on the fishing pier, boardwalk and mulching the walkways.

"It's so nice to have this in our own backyard," Smith says of the city-owned lands. "It used to be quite a hike, but it's made a huge difference," she says of the new, shell-lined roads with 100 new parking spots.

The park, which officially opened in 2003, was named after James E. Grey, the first male child born in New Port Richey, in 1915, according to Terry Kline, president of the West Pasco Historical Society. James Grey's father, F.I. Grey, was a New Port Richey pioneer and the founder of the F.I. Grey & Sons realty firm.

In 1997, the city purchased the land from James Grey's sons, John and Chuck Grey, and their families, paying just $119,000 of the $775,000 price tag. The majority of the purchase price was paid by a state grant program that protects environmentally sensitive lands.
Approximately 50 acres of the Grey Preserve are protected wetlands.

Some of the early inhabitants of what is now the New Port Richey area, the Tocobaga Indians, dug up clay in what is now the preserve, Kline said. The Pithlachascotee River runs through the preserve and its banks yielded the clay the Indians were seeking.

Archeologists have found pottery fragments and tool pieces from what was probably a seasonal hunting camp used by prehistoric Indians dating as far back as 2500 B.C. on the property.

Around the 1950s, says Kline, the spot within the Grey Preserve where people now launch canoes and kayaks was used as the local swimming hole and camping site for New Port Richey children. Back then the spot was referred to as "First Landing."

"It's a special place to kids who grew up in this area," Kline says of the once green rolling hills where families would picnic in the grass. "It's just a great place."

For directions to the park and other information, contact New Port Richey Parks and Recreation Department at 727-841-4560.

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