by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Driving north on University Boulevard past Ft. Caroline Road, you go through a quiet neighborhood that looks like it hasn’t changed much in decades. Hundreds of brick homes on wooded lots line the side streets making the area look a lot like a vintage country club environment.
Actually, it was that kind of neighborhood many years ago with a golf course and clubhouse and backyards of homes ending where the fairway of a long par-five began.
“When I was a kid, it was an 18-hole course. Then it shut down and a developer wanted to convert the property into a subdivision,” said Lake Ray, who has represented Arlington as the District 1 City Council member for the past eight years. Ray, like seven of his colleagues who have also served two terms in office, will wake up the morning of July 1 as a former Council member due to the term limit legislation.
Ray grew up in the neighborhood, attending Arlington Elementary and Ft. Caroline Junior High before he graduated from Terry Parker High School.
When he was elected to the Council, he set his sights on reviving the Blue Cypress site. What had been an abandoned open space and home to little more than weeds for years has been transformed into an expansive interactive park and nature preserve.
“It worked on getting the funding for the park my entire first term and it was two years into my second term before it was finished,” he said.
Today, there is a nine-hole golf course that attracts golfers young and old who obviously enjoy being able to knock some balls around just a few minutes from home. The former club house at the south end of the park has been converted into a community center with a pool where swim teams practice. A short walk north through the park, there are two soccer fields and a couple of tennis courts next to a playground and picnic area.
Past the golf course club house where you can get a lesson or a hot dog and a cold beverage, there is a health trail installed as his Eagle Scout project by Ray’s son, Forrest. A short distance down the trail is an elevated riverfront boardwalk that connects Blue Cypress to Arlington Lions Club Park’s boat ramp and picnic area.
Ray said the project inspired him as a way to connect the people in his district to some Arlington history while preserving almost 200 acres of natural beauty along the St. Johns River.
“This park was essential. It’s beautiful property and a great opportunity.”
He considers the project a work in progress and hopes what he started at Blue Cypress will be connected all the way to the 102-acre Reddie Point Preserve, part of the City’s Preservation Project.
In his final weeks in office, Ray said he is, “Getting the funding in place to move an old historic hotel from New Berlin to Reddie Point. It might even be a bed-and-breakfast one day.”
Ray also said he is confident his successor, Clay Yarborough, will continue the work to expand and improve that area.
“He has watched things unfold here for eight years. I believe he shares my vision.”
Moving out of his office at City Hall next month will allow Ray to focus on his career as a professional engineer. He’s the project director for the new Mitsui freight terminal at Dames Point, but he hopes his days of public service aren’t over.
“There’s no higher honor or greater responsibility than serving the people. I’m planning to run for State Rep. Stan Jordan’s seat. He’s term-limited like I am,” he said. “You’ll see my name on a ballot again.”