Orange County opens Bentonshire Park

A year after breaking ground and after a $1.8 million investment, Bentonshire Park opened Thursday, July 10, marking the 114th park opened in Orange County. 

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson hosted the grand opening to cut the ribbon and welcome Horizon West residents to their new park.

“Quality of life isn’t always about where the red light is located or the timing of traffic on I-4,” Wilson said. “It’s also about what we do in our spare time, about where we connect with our families, about places that we can grow our community and our sense of self.”

The 5-acre park includes a dog park, a large covered playground and an open field with newly planted trees. Picnic tables and grills are scattered across the grass to enhance the use of the space.

“This space is only one of many beautiful Horizon West community parks that have made good on the promise to locate parks and schools within communities that they serve so that we can preserve spaces for shared recreation and relaxation,” Wilson said. 

Wilson said she already can feel “lifetime memories” beginning to form at the playground. She loves that it serves as a place not only for kids but also for adults to continue prioritizing their health by using it to walk and jog. 

While construction took only a year, the design process occurred over several years. Wilson said the county sent out a survey to the community asking what they would like to have included. 

The community responded with desires for a dog park and a playground. Those two features take up about one-third of the park, while the rest is left as open grass. Because the community members voted on having an open field, it will remain that way, Wilson said. 

More than a dozen members of the community came to watch the ribbon cutting and celebrate the birth of their new park. 

“The dog park has been a big draw,” Horizon West resident Steve Howard said. He brought his black Labrador to celebrate the ribbon-cutting. 

Howard and his friend, Rick Helbling who has lived in the area for 17 years, saw the entire process of the project. They went to the groundbreaking a year ago and got a glimpse of the blueprint of what was to come. 

“It  came out pretty close,” Helbling said while reflecting on the original blueprint of Bentonshire Park. 

He’s enjoyed getting to use the new walking paths that came with the park as he walks down to a nearby lake almost every day to watch Florida’s sunsets. 

Others are new to the area and also rejoicing in its completion. 

Molly and Daniel Staton came into the neighborhood in May from Celebration. The Statons have a newborn son and said the park was a large selling point for their move. They believe a park is important for his upbringing. 

“It’s is right out our front door,” Daniel Staton said of the park. “That’s the nice thing: When he gets older, there’s a peace of mind that I can be like, ‘Oh, if you want to go run around the park,’ I can sit on the front porch and watch him. I don’t have to take him in the car, pack everything up.” 

In Celebration, Molly Staton said they had to drive 10 minutes to their nearest park; now, Bentonshire Park feels like part of their front yard. They already have utilized the trails the park offers and are excited to have their son grow up with the amenity. 

A main reason Orange County Parks and Recreation chose Bentonshire Park’s location is to provide residents with a park within walking distance. 

“Orange County commits to families and this is a part of that commitment,” Demings said. 

He wants to continue to find ways to enhance families lives and having recreational space is a key element. 

Behind the playground lies a tall grassy area that will eventually be transformed into an elementary school, Demings said, continuing to grow the space for families. 

“Our goal with the Board of County Commissioners is, as we grow responsibly as a county, to preserve as much green space as we possibly can,” he said. “With the support of our board, we have now allocated $100 million to move forward to continue purchasing environmentally sensitive lands throughout our county.”

Demings said there are 800 to 1,000 new residents who move to Orange County every week. Currently, the county has 23,000 acres of parks, and he wants to double that number in the future. 

Growth in the Horizon West area has surged over the last couple of years with its close location to the theme parks. Both Demings and Wilson want to continue to provide to those new residents with more projects like Bentonshire Park.