Florida Buys Development Rights for Cypress Gardens

TALLAHASSEE, FL-Cypress Gardens, the shuttered, 67-year-old, 150-acre botanical and water sports attraction in Winter Haven, FL, is expected to reopen May 31 under new ownership and with a new look–roller coasters and children’s rides.

The official announcement was made here by Gov. Jeb Bush. In an unconventional move, Bush and his six-member cabinet voted to spend $11 million in taxpayer money to buy development rights at the park from the Trust for Public Land, a Washington, DC environmental group. The development rights will permanently bar commercial development, such as apartments and office buildings, in Cypress Gardens.

After 10 months of negotiations, the Trust is paying the park’s owners, Larry Maxwell and William Reynolds, principals in First Gardens LLC, $22 million, or $154,930 per acre, for the park.