County holds groundbreaking for Dansville Community Park

12-acre park will offer new amenity in the Greater Ridgecrest area

Pinellas County officials and community leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for Dansville Community Park, a new recreation space that will be built around Mill Pond in the Greater Ridgecrest area of unincorporated Largo. The 12-acre park will feature a multi-use path, picnic shelters, benches and restrooms. The County conducted significant community outreach while planning the park, including two in-person project information meetings. “The journey to build this park began in 2019 when the county partnered closely with residents who understand the needs of this community,” Pinellas County Commissioner Brian Scott said. “One message was abundantly clear: Dansville deserved a place where families could gather, children could play and families could connect.” Dan Henry, a former sharecropper, founded Dansville in 1946. Henry’s vision and determination helped lay the foundation for what has become a close-knit neighborhood. He purchased two 40-acre tracts and shared the land with family and friends. Other families settled in the area, building homes and opening businesses. “Think about the vision that it took in 1946 to buy 80 acres and help build 80 homes and make a community out of that,” Scott said. “Dan’s family has carried on his legacy, embodying the pride and courage that define this incredible community. That is an extremely rich history that stands out as a unique part of Pinellas County’s heritage.”   The park is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and the Penny for Pinellas. Construction will begin this fall and is expected to take about one year. For more information or to check on project updates, visit pinellas.gov/dansville.