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Donner Park and Gail Baker Community Center
Welcome to the Atlantic Beach Turtle Crawl! If this is the first turtle you’ve found, there are 23 others scattered throughout our park system, in places of historic significance, and even in some unexpected locations. If you’re up for a scavenger hunt to find every turtle on our Turtle Crawl, you can find a map HERE.
Named for its massive block-like head, the Loggerhead Sea Turtle is the most common sea turtle found in Florida. The symbol of Atlantic Beach is a world traveler who comes here to lay her eggs between May and October. A sea turtle nest can contain up to 125 eggs and incubate for approximately 60 days. The same female turtle will return to her nesting beach every two to three years an average of four times a season. Once hatched, the young will dig out of the nest and crawl to the ocean. Survival rate of the young during their first year is low as they have an extensive number of predators in the marine environment.
Historically, Donner Park has been a part of the Atlantic Beach parks system for decades, beginning in the 1950's when E.H. Donner sold a roughly 1-acre parcel of land to the Town of Atlantic Beach to be used as a public park and/or recreational playground. During this time, E.H. Donner was a large landowner and influential resident in Atlantic Beach who owned and subdivided much of the land around the current sites of both Donner and Jordan Parks. In 1940, he dedicated a road to the Town of Atlantic Beach at the southern end of “Donner’s Subdivision” that was then designated as “Donner’s Road” by the Commission. In 1977, Roberts Mount Pisgah AME Church sold the city a roughly one-half acre parcel of land adjacent to the original parcel obtained from Mr. Donner to also be used as a public playground. The remaining land that currently makes up Donner Park was acquired by the city in the early 1990s through several separate land purchases.
In 1996, after years of efforts, the Donner Park Community Center was completed to provide local children with after school and educational programs. Marcia Gail Baker was the activities director for the Donner Park Community Center at this time and, with the help of Atlantic Beach Director of Recreation Timmy Johnson, assisted in getting a community center at Donner Park. In May of 2014, the Donner Park Community Center was renamed the Gail Baker Community Center to commemorate Ms. Baker’s years of service as the community center’s director as well as her contributions to the local children in the community.
Gail Baker Community Center has a large community room and a full kitchen available to the public for rent. The Center has activities that include fitness classes, afterschool and summer camp programs through the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida, senior activities, and much more. For more information, call 904-247-5828.
Donner Park, located in the Marsh Oaks area at the corner of Dutton Island Dr. West and George Street, consists of over 5 acres of parkland. Donner Park has a full basketball court, a softball field, pickleball courts, a large sand playground area, and the Gail Baker Community Center. This park is shaded by oak and pecan trees and is home to many of the City’s community activities, including, fall festival, flag football, baseball, and pickleball.