‘A quiet place to spend outdoors’: Wekiva River group aims to build pavilion at Katie’s Landing
On nearly any given weekend, throngs of canoers and kayakers will float their watercraft on the Wekiva River, meandering between north Orange County and the St. Johns River as they paddle along the treasured waterway.
One of the popular launching spots along the journey is Katie’s Landing, a small wooded park tucked off a rural road near the Lake and Seminole county line.
Although there are plenty of cypress, oak and other trees providing a rich, shaded canopy at Katie’s Landing, members of the nonprofit Friends of the Wekiva River and others say a covered shelter is needed at the increasingly popular park for educational classes, large picnics, meetings and other get-togethers.
Seminole commissioners agreed, and recently approved the county waiving any permitting and building fees as the Friends of the Wekiva launches plans to build a 1,056-square-foot open pavilion on the 6.5-acre property, just west of Wekiva Park Drive on the river’s eastern shore.
“Katie’s Landing has been a landmark here in Seminole County for many, many years,” Commissioner Lee Constantine said. “This would be a benefit, I believe, to the entire county, let alone the entire state.”
Katie Moncrief, who the park was named after, and her late husband, Russ Moncrief, managed the launch site and later sold the land to the state just over two decades ago. She said such a covered pavilion has long been needed.
“It’s so limiting when you don’t have some kind of shelter — especially when it rains, as it often does in Florida during the summer, and you want to rest and maybe eat lunch,” she said this week.
Weegie Henry — a member of the Friends of the Wekiva board of directors, who has paddled on the river for decades — said students and other educational groups use Katie’s Landing to delve into the river’s ecology, its ancient history or as field trips.
“Really, it’s just a place to rejuvenate your spirit and give you the security that, yeah it might be a rainy day, but I could still go there anyway,” Henry said in support of the pavilion.
Grey Wilson, also a member of the group’s board of directors, said the pavilion is estimated to cost about $90,000, including leveling the land, building a concrete slab as a base and installing electrical outlets. County staff figures waiving the permitting and development fees would save the group about $1,500.
Friends of the Wekiva is now looking for grants and donations to pay for the project. And members hope to have the project completed by the end of the year. It will then be donated as a gift to the state park.
In 1974, when the Moncriefs bought the property, it was an old fishing camp. They then operated it as a canoe launch, along with a nearby campground and RV park. A colorful billboard along nearby State Road 46 directed visitors to the attraction.
Katie’s Landing has been used for years by politicians to tout their environmentally friendly platforms, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops organizing activities, and weekend adventurers looking for a place to drop their canoes and kayaks into the Wekiva.
Russ Moncrief, who died in 2015, was often seen at Katie’s Landing giving friendly waves and directing visitors.
In December 2001, Seminole joined the state in buying Katie’s Landing. The price was $665,000, with Seminole kicking in about $120,000. The purchase protected the spot from development and granted public access to the river just west of Sanford.
State crews later removed the rustic and ramshackle buildings on the property and dug up the aging septic tanks.
A variety of ancient artifacts, including ceramics, have been found on the property, providing evidence the site was used by native tribes.
“This is a real gem,” Wilson said about Katie’s Landing. “And I think we’re really lucky to have someone like Katie Moncrief, who years ago had the foresight to bring attention to the Wekiva River. … And today, there is such a huge surge of users. People are looking for a quiet place to spend outdoors.”
