Civil Municipal View Feb2023

46 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2 District. The Lakes District could bring in 18,000 residential units based on currently developable land including multi-family housing that is in the pipeline, according to Auburndale Assistant City Manager Amy Palmer. The Lake Myrtle Sports Park is a multi-purpose sports complex that consists of nine collegiate- size baseball fields, sodded with Bermuda grass on all playing surfaces and 11 lighted soccer fields. It is home to a version of quidditch, the fictional game popularized in the Harry Potter books, and hosts various water sports activities. A large Margaritaville RV Park sits nearby. Events hosted at Lake Myrtle vary from the National Dog Agility Championships to regional rugby championships as well as lacrosse, flag football, and the Russ Matt Central Florida Baseball Invitational, the largest collegiate baseball tournament in the nation. Lake Myrtle Sports Park is just one example of the emphasis on activities and drawing in tourists to the area, Womble says, adding,“there are events hosted there every weekend.We expect it to keep growing and remain a great source of (outside) revenue to the community.” Another example of outdoor living is the investments made in the Auburndale TECO Trail which connects Lake Myrtle and the Sports Park area in Auburndale with Polk City, where it meets up with the General James A. Van Fleet Trail. The Auburndale TECO Trail is flat and invites walkers, joggers, cyclists, and inline skaters. It includes an observation area on the south end to watch wildlife, with the potential for spotting a rare bald eagle. “We’re always aiming for more walkability and the TECO Trail is just one example of that,” Palmer says. Auburndale’s Lake Ariana Park (known by locals as Mac’s Beach) is in the process of being redesigned and eventually rebuilt into a new 20,000-square- foot facility. It is expected to include a new amphitheater, boat ramp, pavilions, playground, open lawn overlook, great lawn, rain garden, and a larger parking lot. Some beach access will remain. On the hospitality side, the city is excited about