OSPREY, Fla. (SNN TV) — With the snip of a ribbon, Sarasota County opened up an improved Scherer Thaxton Preserve.
The Osprey preserve is named after two people: the late Elsa Scherer Burrows, and former Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton.
“I don’t think any suburban area is complete without a green space,” said Thaxton.
Thaxton has been an environmental advocate for decades. He credits county leaders, especially in the park services, for this 287-acre preserve and 20-acre lake and views it as a “green oasis.”
“We have an interstate and a major county road to the east of us,” he said. “We have condominiums to the north. So this green oasis in between all of that will provide future generations access to wildlife.”
But the ribbon cutting wasn’t for the park’s grand opening; it was a reopening for improvements. And accessibility is a key feature, such as the new fishing pier with guardrails of different heights.
The difference in height allows small children to cast a fishing line without the help from their parents, whereas adults can take the higher spots on the pier.
Also new are the restrooms, a shaded pavilion, walkways to access the new amenities, and a kayak and canoe launch.
“It’s a secure shoreline so that when people are walking and dragging their boats along it, they don’t create erosion,” Thaxton explained. “They don’t slip, they don’t fall, and it gets them to the water’s edge so they safely get in their boats and paddle in the lake.”
And accessibility at the preserve is being touted for a simple reason: the more people who can enjoy it, the better.
“They will see this green space not just as a refuge for animals but a refuge for people as well to escape the paved surfaces, the shopping malls, the traffic,” said Thaxton.
Thaxton added that a nature-themed playground to attract kids to the preserve is something he hopes will be the next feature added, with playground equipment fashioned after trees and logs.
Scherer Thaxton Preserve is located on 13125 Honore Avenue in Osprey.