The City of St. Petersburg has decided to buy the 35 acres next to the park from the St. Petersburg Country Club. It will not only guarantee the preservation of the land, but also keep it out of developers’ hands.

"The area we intend to purchase has been called a critical buffer zone,” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said. “It’s an ecosystem of its own, where threatened species can be found."

The strip of land was the center of controversy for years. The St. Petersburg Country Club initially considered a multi-million dollar offer from developers for the property, causing a large push-back from the surrounding neighborhood.

Mike Kiernan, President of the St. Petersburg Country Club, said the decision to sell the land to the City for $1.1 million is a win-win for everyone.

"We wanted to help the city, help us,” Kiernan said. “You can say wait a minute $3.2 million to $1.1 million, but it makes sense."

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is Judy Ellis’ home away from home. She teaches Tai Chi there twice a week and loves bragging about her neighborhood park.

"There’s no place else in the city that looks like this, we like it!” Ellis, who is the Lakewood Estates Civic Association President, said.

Ellis now knows the park she loves will stay just the way it is. She said the neighborhood can breathe easy now knowing developers will never be able to touch the golf course or the 245-acre park.

"Everyone lives there because of the way it is, because of what it is, because of where it is, and to think that overnight we could lose all this,” Ellis said.

The money to buy the land is coming from the city’s Weeki-Wachee Fund, cash reserved for recreation and environmental activities. St. Petersburg City Council will have to approve the purchase.