Starkey Ranch’s Cunningham Park will include 60 acres of outdoor amenities.

ODESSA – The Starkey Ranch master-planned community is designed to connect neighbors with nature and with each other and, at the very center of the 2,500-acre community, work is about to begin on an amenity that is focused on a wide offering of fitness and outdoor recreation.

Cunningham Park is a 60-acre oasis where the Starkey Ranch trail system converges between Cannon Lake and Beckett Pond with the addition of 1.5 miles of new 12-foot-wide asphalt trails, fitness stations and a boardwalk along the lakeshore.

A selection of kayaks and canoes will be provided for resident use, along with a range of classes and programs that take advantage of the watercraft. Access to the water will be via a launch beach.

“We’re creating a pump track encompassing both BMX and mountain bike uses for cyclists,” project director Matt Call said. “This continuous loop of dirt berms and mounds is designed for riders to maintain a steady speed without pedaling—just using the pumping motion of their bodies. It’s a great work out and a lot of fun for all ages.”

A 2,000-square-foot multipurpose building will feature a wall of glass overlooking Cannon Lake. The building will be programmed with classes, club meetings and “fitness on demand” technology, and will be available for group activities or for rental by residents as a party venue. The park also includes a big picnic area under an oak hammock and the community’s third dog park.

A master gardener will tend the lakeside Community Garden, working alongside neighbors who want to expand their gardening skills and enjoy the harvest.

  Call said Cunningham Park is named for the brothers Dave, Howard and Ernest Cunningham who were Jay Starkey’s partners in what was then known as the CS Ranch from the mid-1930s until the 1950s. The waterways are named for Starkey’s friends Odell Cannon and Ham Beckett.

Cunningham Park is scheduled for completion by summer 2017.

For information about Starkey Ranch, go to starkeyranch.com.

Photos courtesy of ChappelRoberts.

Starkey Ranch | Pasco County | Odessa | Community Park | Tampa Bay Reporter

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