Five city of Gainesville parks are now enjoying better lighting after upgraded lighting was added.

According to a press release, in Fiscal Year 2025, the Gainesville Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs (PRCA) reported that many of the users of the department’s 90 parks encompassing 3,268 acres requested more and better lighting for nighttime play on diamonds, courts and multipurpose athletic fields.

Gainesville’s Wild Spaces & Public Places (WSPP) Department worked with PRCA and completed a nearly two-year project that brings sports lighting upgrades to five parks across the city. The lighting project is currently ranked as one of the highest priorities in the city’s park master plan.

“The majority of this was improving existing lighting,” says WSPP Director Betsy Waite in the press release. “We had lights within the City of Gainesville that were over 25 years old. They’d reached the end of their useful life, and the light levels from 25 years ago are not really what people expect today.”

WSPP installed new state-of-the-art LED lights at all five parks on the project list. Facilities that already had some outdoor lighting were outfitted with replacement technology that provides brighter, clearer and more energy-efficient illumination. Other parks with no outdoor lights at all were significantly transformed by the addition of brand-new systems, making nighttime play possible for the first time.

“At Fred Cone Park, we lit a basketball court that was not previously lit,” said Waite, “and we also lit a multipurpose field. So now people have another place to play during the winter months when we have shorter daylight hours, expanding the use of the facility.” 

The new LED sports lighting has been installed at the following parks:

Albert “Ray” Massey Park – Softball Field, Basketball Courts, Baseball Fields & Tennis Courts

• Upgraded LED lighting on the softball field, basketball courts and baseball fields 1 and 2 to support evening play and improve field illumination.
• Upgraded LED lighting across all eight tennis courts, featuring 48 state-of-the-art luminaires. Courts are now fully illuminated from dusk until 10 p.m. and can be reserved through Play Tennis Gainesville.

Cora P. Roberson Park – Basketball Courts

• Upgraded LED lighting on the basketball courts to provide more consistent, energy-efficient illumination.

Fred Cone Park – Basketball Courts & Multipurpose Field

• Installation of new LED lighting for the basketball courts and multipurpose field, expanding opportunities for nighttime recreation

Greentree Park – Baseball Fields

• Upgraded LED sports lighting on the baseball fields for enhanced visibility and safety.

Tom Petty Park – Softball/Baseball Fields, Tennis Courts & Multipurpose Field

• Upgraded LED lighting for softball/baseball fields and tennis courts, plus new lighting for the multipurpose field.

Improvements at Tom Petty Park are still underway, including eight fully-lighted pickleball courts. That project also will have new landscaping, a stormwater pond, an expansion of the existing trail, and a new restroom, concessions and storage building. Construction is expected to wrap in the spring of 2026.

The citywide park lighting project, at a total cost of $2,579,550, was fully funded through the voter-approved WSPP half-cent sales tax.