The Port District

The Port District is the City of Port St. Lucie's riverfront park and gathering area, stretching 1.5 miles along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River at 2454 SE Westmoreland Blvd. (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency).

The city's Community Redevelopment Agency page lists seven pieces: the 21-acre Botanical Gardens, an event lawn and riverfront stage, the History Museum and Education Center, the 9.75-acre Pioneer Park, a 4,300-foot boardwalk, The Grove dining area and the 13-acre Preserve (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency). It describes the whole as a mix of conservation land, open space, playgrounds, parks and entertainment venues meant to be a central gathering point for Port St. Lucie.

The Port District officially opened in June 2024, according to the city's August 2025 boardwalk announcement (city boardwalk completion news, August 8, 2025). The grand opening event, Port Fest, was held on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at Pioneer Park (Port St. Lucie Pioneer Park page). The district page also lists The Grove, which it describes as a riverfront dining destination with a full-service restaurant, rooftop bar and family food venues (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency).

Several older city parks connect to it. The district page lists Lyngate Park and Dog Park, Tom Hooper Park, Veterans Memorial Park and Veterans Park at Rivergate as connecting parks (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency), and the monthly River Nights concerts use its Event Lawn, as the Port St. Lucie events guide describes.

Pioneer Park, the 9.75-acre heart of The Port District just south of the Botanical Gardens, has a riverfront stage, event lawn, kayak launch, renovated historic homes and a children's playground whose hours run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Port St. Lucie Pioneer Park page).

The Port St. Lucie Pioneer Park page tags the park as autism friendly and lists the Parks and Recreation contact as 772-878-2277 (Port St. Lucie Pioneer Park page). Its sand play area has a playhouse and an excavator for ages 2 to 5, and the 5 to 12 area has an alligator and a pendulum swing.

The August 2025 city announcement puts the Port St. Lucie boardwalk at about 4,300 feet, fully connected after a final 704-foot segment was added under the Port St. Lucie Boulevard bridge (city boardwalk completion news, August 8, 2025).

The completion announcement, published August 8, 2025, says the final segment was installed on June 25, that the fully connected boardwalk opened to the public on Aug. 8, and that the walk runs from Rivergate Park to the preservation tract, more than three-quarters of a mile (city boardwalk completion news, August 8, 2025). The same project repaired damage from Hurricane Milton and raised the boardwalk from two feet above the high-tide line to six feet, which the city says improves storm durability and gives steadier shade for seagrass along the shoreline.

The Port St. Lucie Boardwalk park page describes the route by its parks instead: about 4,300 feet from Tom Hooper Park to the boat ramps and pavilion at Veterans Park at Rivergate, reached by two paths through wooded mangroves to a 10-foot-wide deck with an observation deck (The Boardwalk park page). It lists the boardwalk as open 24/7, built from recycled materials with lighting and thermoplastic handrails, and a popular fishing spot; its address is given as 2200 SE Veterans Memorial Parkway.

City pages give two lengths for the boardwalk. The Pioneer Park page, which carries no date, says the boardwalk extends beneath the Port St. Lucie Blvd. bridge and provides approximately 3,300 feet of pedestrian walkway (Port St. Lucie Pioneer Park page). The Boardwalk park page gives approximately 4,300 feet (The Boardwalk park page), and so does the city announcement published August 8, 2025 (city boardwalk completion news, August 8, 2025).

The Preserve is a 13-acre conservation area at the southern end of The Port District with walking trails, wetland overlooks and a canoe and kayak launch, open from dawn until dusk (The Preserve page).

Construction on the Port St. Lucie Preserve began in August 2025, and a ribbon cutting was held on March 4, 2026 (The Preserve page). The city funded it through the Parks Impact Fee Capital Improvement Project and a grant from the Florida Inland Navigation District, and lists it under the Naturally PSL: Green Spaces and Places Initiative, which aims to widen residents' access to parks, trails and natural areas.

The Preserve connects to the riverfront boardwalk, and its amenity list adds fishing, parking, accessible restrooms and trails (The Preserve page). The city page offers a downloadable wildlife flyer and photos of the trail entrance and boardwalk connection at the Port St. Lucie site.

The Port District holds the 1952 Peacock Lodge and the 1917 Peacock House, moved from western Port St. Lucie in 2018; the lodge now houses the Port St. Lucie History Museum and Education Center at 2456 SE Westmoreland Blvd. (History Museum and Education Center page).

The city page says both buildings were relocated with state support and then given secured access, reinforced foundations, new shingle roofs and fresh exterior paint (History Museum and Education Center page). In 2022 the city completed a full refurbishment of the Peacock Lodge, which the Port St. Lucie Historical Society operates as the museum, with exhibits, a gift shop, meeting and office space and community programs. The page says future restoration of the 1917 Peacock House is planned as part of the city's Capital Improvement Program.

The museum contact listed on the city page is 772-877-3020 (History Museum and Education Center page). The history of the riverfront itself is told on the district page: in the early 2000s about 2,000 feet of boardwalk was built north of Port St. Lucie Boulevard to link Veterans Park at Rivergate and Tom Hooper Park, and in 2015 a public charrette at the Botanical Gardens drew more than 100 residents, whose ideas shaped a conceptual master plan approved later that year (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency).

The city's Parks Impact Fee Fund, collected when new homes are built, was the main funding source for The Port District, with state grants and Florida Inland Navigation District money filling in (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency).

The Port St. Lucie district page explains the impact fee as a charge collected at the time of construction of new residential development so the city can provide parks for new residents (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency). The relocation and restoration of the historic homes was partly funded by State of Florida Division of Historic Resources Special Category Grants, and the Riverwalk Boardwalk received Florida Inland Navigation District funding over several fiscal years. The boardwalk extension and park project also appears in the General Fund Capital Improvement Budget, account 301, of the city's five-year Capital Improvement Program.

The district page links a full Port District Master Plan and a presentation, describing a plan built on the boardwalk, Pioneer Park, the historic homes and the Botanical Gardens, with event spaces, dining and expanded conservation areas added (The Port District page, Port St. Lucie Community Redevelopment Agency).

The Port St. Lucie parks hub lists the city's other parks. Last verified: October 22, 2026, with the Port District, Pioneer Park, Preserve, boardwalk and history museum pages and the August 2025 boardwalk announcement reviewed again for acreage, hours, lengths and project dates.