Two seasons ago, the Boca Grande Farmers Market packed up at 305 Wheeler Road and moved to The Bayou near the Pink Elephant while Lee County rebuilt the park. On Friday, November 20, the market comes back, and the park it returns to has new courts, new lights, new shade, a second restroom and a county ribbon still to be cut. For anyone on Gulf Shores Drive who spent the last two winters going down to the Village for Friday-morning produce, the island's weekly gathering point is moving back north. It also has more to offer than it did when the market left.
A ballfield that kept changing its job
Wheeler Road Community Park has carried a different name for most of its life. Lee County's facility page gives a short history, and it shows how often the site has been adapted to whatever the island needed.
- 1979: The Boca Grande Ballfield is built.
- 1997: The field is sprigged with bermuda grass, and the outfield fence is moved to make room for soccer.
- 2001: A new field lighting system goes in.
- August 2004: After Hurricane Charley, the field becomes a dumping site for storm debris.
- 2007: Two new tennis courts are built.
- 2022: The Boca Grande Ballfield is renamed Wheeler Road Community Park.
- September 2025: Construction on the current renovation begins.
- June 22, 2026: The new pickleball courts open for play.
The 2007 tennis courts are the key to the latest chapter. Nearly two decades of salt air and Gulf sun wore them down, and replacing them grew into the largest change the site has seen since it stopped being a ballfield.
What the renovation actually built
In 2025 the Boca Beacon reported that a June 3 Lee County consent-agenda item covered a contract amendment with Stultz, Inc. for $1,708,472.83. The money came from Community Park Impact Fees. The Beacon also reported that work was set to start on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, and run about a year. According to the Beacon's June report, construction began in September 2025 and the courts opened on Monday, June 22, ahead of that year-long estimate.
According to Lee County's October 23 announcement, the project produced:
- Two new tennis courts, replacing the two deteriorating ones
- Three new pickleball courts
- New parking spaces, sidewalks and fencing
- New lighting and shade structures
- An additional restroom facility
- Freshly repainted shade structures inside the fenced Boca Grande Dog Park
When the Boca Beacon ran photos of the new courts in March, it noted that the pickleball area has its own bathroom and described the courts as "public, and available to all." The county lists the pickleball courts as open daily from dawn to dusk, and parking at the park is free.
One addition doesn't appear on the construction list. In August, Lee County Public Safety and Lee County Parks & Recreation installed an Emergency Response cabinet at the park, stocked with an Avive AED and a Stop the Bleed kit. It is one of 81 AEDs the county has placed at Parks & Recreation facilities, out of 267 countywide. The county says it responds to 20 to 30 cardiac-related calls at park locations each year. Busy courts and a weekly market make this a sensible spot for that cabinet.
The facility page lists everything the park now holds: an off-leash dog area, on-leash dog walking, tennis and pickleball courts, restrooms and a parking lot. The county's park rules apply to all of it.
Tomorrow at 11 a.m.: the ribbon cutting
The courts have been open since June, but the official celebration is tomorrow, Friday, November 13, at 11 a.m. at 305 Wheeler Road. Brief remarks are planned from Lee County Commissioners and other officials. The county's event listing runs from 11 a.m. to noon. If you can't be there, the ceremony will be livestreamed on Lee County's YouTube channel and Facebook page.
The county's announcement celebrates its 2026 improvements across Boca Grande, so the ceremony covers more than the courts. Several of the projects on its list were done with the Friends of Boca Grande Community Center and paid for by community donations:
- Crowninshield House has been repaired from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, renovated inside and given an additional restroom. The Historical Society has moved there from the Teacherage House.
- The Community Center has completed hurricane repairs, replaced all of its electrical and data systems, raised and refinished its floors, and added a new sidewalk, landscaping and golf cart parking.
- The Island School has a new addition with its own lunchroom and office space, and a fire sprinkler system throughout.
Lee County DOT work on Belcher Road is also on the list. Boulders now replace the damaged guardrail to keep vehicles off the beach, and the turnaround has been repaved so drivers no longer have to back into homeowners' driveways.
Free parking is available at Wheeler Road for the ceremony. The county asks anyone planning to visit other island sites the same day to check its Boca Grande parking information first.
November 20: the market comes back
A week after the ribbon cutting, the Boca Grande Farmers Market returns to Wheeler Road for the 2026–2027 season, as the Boca Beacon reported. According to Local Roots, the market runs Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., from November 20 through April, with on-site parking.
The holiday weeks change the schedule. The market closes for Christmas, and a make-up market is set for Monday, December 28.
| Date | At 305 Wheeler Road |
|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 13, 11 a.m. to noon | County ribbon cutting, also livestreamed |
| Friday, Nov. 20, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Farmers market season opens |
| Fridays through April, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Weekly market, Christmas excepted |
| Monday, Dec. 28 | Make-up market |
| Daily, dawn to dusk | Pickleball courts open |
Local Roots lists vendors that include Dynasty Guacamole, Dynasty Paella, Mr. Fun Guy, Love For Honey, Naples Artsy, The Shrimp Man, Blue Pagoda, Naturally Healthy Juice and The Happy Pickle. Expect a mix of prepared food, seafood, honey, juice, pickles and crafts. The lineup can change from week to week as the season goes on.
One address, one parking lot, a full Friday morning
For the past two seasons, the market, the courts and the dog park sat in separate places, and one of them was a construction site. This season they share a single address, and the improvements change what a Friday morning there looks like.
The courts open at dawn, hours before the market's 9 a.m. start, so a morning match can end with shopping at the stalls without moving the car. The repainted shade structures in the dog park, the new shade by the courts and the second restroom all serve a crowd that spends a few hours on site, not just a quick stop. The parking spaces added in the renovation share the free lot.
The library is part of the morning too. The Johann Fust Community Library now has a Book Bike, donated by the Triad Foundation and run with the Johann Fust Library Foundation. The county says it brings books, library card sign-ups, simple crafts and mobile tech to the bicycle path, the farmers market and community events. The library's county page and the Johann Fust Library Foundation carry updates.
The 1979 ballfield has been a soccer pitch, a lit field, a hurricane debris yard and a pair of tennis courts. Now it is the closest thing the north side of the village has to a weekly commons. For a Gulf Shores North household, it puts a dog run, a court booking you don't have to make, a library card and the week's produce at one stop, with free parking, at a time of year when parking anywhere else on the island takes some planning.
The opening Friday is November 20, with the market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and courts open from dawn.
If those Fridays at Wheeler Road have you weighing where on the north end you'd like to spend your season, Rich Taylor knows Gulf Shores North street by street. Request a private consultation, and we'll talk through which addresses put the park, the pathway and the beach within easy reach.