Governor Charlie Crist recently signed off, to maintain and expand them. The Department of Environmental Protection is putting a million dollars toward 9 local parks in Alachua County. Each year, recreational organizations apply for this particular grant. The maximum amount they can request per project is $200,000. And the park superintendent for Alachua County is thrilled to receive the full amount they requested. Their main concern now is this year's budget cuts.

"We can't build those facilities and just do nothing with them. We need to then staff it, maintain it, produce it," says Robert Avery of Alachua County Parks.

Avery says the plan right now is to take the grant agreement to the County Commission and ask if they'll pay for the annual operating costs of the facilities. Until then, he says they'll focus on smaller projects such as road maintenance.

By Thalia Hayden, WCJB TV20 News.