Posted on July 31, 2018
Clermont’s Victory Pointe project officially opens Friday. After the ceremonial ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m., officials will give tours of the $9.5 million stormwater system/urban park, and at 10:45, visitors can just turn 180 degrees and watch the Cypress Gardens Water Skiers perform on Lake Minneola.
Victory Pointe is in downtown Clermont, and is designed to free up property in the area for development or redevelopment. The bonus, on the environmental side, is cleaner water going into Lake Minneola.
And there’s one more thing.
The series of Victory Pointe ponds, the most visible part of the stormwater system, is the closest thing to a lake that has existed on that little bit of Clermont real estate for well over 60 years.
Admittedly it is a “lake” with boardwalks and concrete walls and a lot of piping, hidden out of sight; but it is open water, with cypress trees and aquatic plants, recently planted, and at least a hint that the “bird mecca” predicted at last year’s groundbreaking may actually come to be.
The area where the ponds have been built is known as West Lake, and for a long time, it really was a lake. The original 1884 plat of Clermont shows a 9-acre lake there, connected to Lake Minneola by a man-made canal. But by the time the first Clermont phone and street directory appeared in1956, the map accompanying it showed no lake at all.
The Victory Pointe project includes four interconnected ponds and a man-made stream that channels the treated stormwater from the ponds to Lake Minneola. It also includes an observation tower, trails, and a pier, as well as an event area suitable for staging races, or just for entertainment.
James Kinzler is the city’s point man for the project. Going over what’s left to do, he lists grading, dredging, landscaping, concrete work, and a little bit of wiring.
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“I was originally worried it wouldn’t fill up fast enough,” Kinzler said. “It’s coming together. This rain, it’s a been a blessing and a curse.”
He says he’s looking forward to re-opening that stretch of Minneola Avenue that goes right over the first pond.
Source: Daily Commercial
