Quote:

By Gary White THE LEDGER Published: Friday, February 28, 2014 at 5:41 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, February 28, 2014 at 5:41 p.m. WINTER HAVEN | Two of the most cherished features of the former Cypress Gardens attraction have been closed to the public since Legoland Florida opened at the site in 2011. That is about to change. Legoland Florida is almost ready to unveil the newly restored Florida Pool and Oriental Gardens. Legoland announced Friday that those previously closed sections will be open to visitors starting Thursday. The attraction plans to hold a media event Wednesday morning to present a first look at the two areas. The Florida Pool, a peninsula-shaped reservoir bordering Lake Eloise, was built as a set for the 1953 Esther Williams movie "Easy To Love." The pool had suffered from years of deterioration before Legoland Florida acquired the property in 2010, and the approach to it had been fenced off. A canal separates the Oriental Gardens from the Florida Pool. "We are very excited to reopen two of the most beloved sections of Cypress Gardens, the Florida Pool and the Oriental Gardens, this upcoming week," Legoland Florida spokesman Chris Jones said. "Legoland Florida has paid careful attention to the two since the park's opening in 2011, restoring and preserving these iconic areas of the gardens nestled at the center of the park." The original Cypress Gardens was one of Florida's earliest tourist attractions. Dick Pope Sr. began staging water-ski shows on Lake Eloise in the 1930s and created a botanical area intersected by canals and filled with flowering plants surrounding a banyan tree. Cypress Gardens gained national prominence, and many TV shows and movies were filmed at the attraction in the 1940s through the 1960s. The name Cypress Gardens originally covered the entire 150-acre attraction. Legoland retained the name for the 30-acre botanical area in the heart of the property. The botanical area is under consideration for a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The review board of the State Historic Preservation Office voted unanimously last week to forward the application to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. That office is part of the National Park Service. Bob Gernert, recently retired executive director of the Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce, assisted a state agency in preparing the application. "I think this really makes the botanical gardens whole in terms of what the public can experience," Gernert said Friday. "Both of these are iconic parts of the botanical gardens, and I think the general public, especially the people in this area, are going to be very happy they can get in there and see both." Gernert said the Florida Pool won't look quite like it did when constructed for the 1953 movie. It originally had a cracked tile deck in shades of turquoise and blue, but the deck crumbled over the years as the dirt around it settled. Gernert said it would probably require a historic preservation grant to recreate the pool deck. Legoland is currently closed on Wednesdays, making Thursday the first day the public will be able to see the restored areas. The botanical gardens are protected under a 2004 transaction arranged by the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit conservation group. Polk County bought the gardens and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection bought a conservation easement that ensures the parcel will not be developed. Polk County Attorney Michael Craig has said Legoland is obligated under the terms of the 2004 agreement to restore all areas of the botanical gardens and open them to visitors. Two additional areas, the French Garden and the Big Lagoon overlook, remain closed. Legoland Florida officials have not set a date for opening them.