Bat Tower to Find Home at Scout Park

The Temple Terrace City Council has come to a decision on where to build the historic Temple Terrace Bat Tower.

The council Tuesday unanimously approved the location in the northern area of Scout Park at 911 West River Drive.

It was one of three locations that the council has been considering since July. The other contenders included Riverhills Park near the tennis courts and two areas of Rotary Park near Fisherman’s Landing Apartments.

Council members Bob Boss, Alison Fernandez and Eddie Vance said Tuesday that Scout Park was their first choice. It has a riverside location, adequate parking, easy land access and a tree buffer to neighbors, they said.

“I prefer the Scout Park site,” Boss said, “because I think it’s further away from any of the residences, it gives itself a closeness to the river … it still gives itself availability to parking, opportunity for people to walk there, to bicycle there, to golf cart there, to drive there, to use bathrooms and facilities there, to be a place to go to that doesn’t interfere with a lot of the other activities that go on there like the Arts Festival.”

Scout Park was also the preferred location for city staff from a recreational and maintenance perspective, and the Florida Bat Conservancy liked either the Scout Park or Riverhills Park site.

Council members Grant Rimbey and David Pogorilich said the Scout Park location was their second choice. Rimbey favored the site at Riverhills Park, while Pogorilich’s first choice was either of the two locations in Rotary Park.

After a lengthy discussion, council members chose Scout Park.

They also directed City Manager Gerald Seeber to prepare a construction and lease agreement between the city and the Temple Terrace Preservation Society, which has been working for more than a decade to rebuild the tower in Temple Terrace.

Did the council make the right decision? Tell us in the comments.

See also:

• Council Expected to Make Bat Tower Decision Tuesday
• Meet One of the Bats That Would Live in the Temple Terrace Bat Tower
• Bat Tower Site Possibilities Narrowed Down
• How Many Bat Roosts Are on City Property?
• Preservation Society Withdraws Request to Build Bat Tower in Riverhills Park
• Bat Tower Plan for Riverhills Park Withdrawn: What People Are Saying
• Bat Tower to Rise in Riverhills Park
• Temple Terrace Bat Tower: What People Are Saying
• Bat Tower to Be Safe, Educational, Environmentally Friendly
• Supporters Attend Bat Tower Talk