What brings people downtown on a weeknight when no band is booked and no festival is on the calendar?
For most of downtown Bonita Springs' recent history, the answer was Riverside Park and whatever was scheduled there. That changed on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, when the City of Bonita Springs cut the ribbon on Banyan Square and its new splash pad at 27381 Old 41 Road. The Fort Myers News-Press covered the unveiling, and the paper's photo gallery from that night shows children playing in the water during the Happy Haunts Halloween Stroll.
Riverside Park depends on its bandshell, its calendar and the permits behind each event. Banyan Square has its show built into the hardware. The fountain is wired and programmed to perform after dark without anyone booking the space. It opened while Riverside Park's second construction phase was still on the city's schedule. That means this holiday season is the first time downtown Bonita has two draws on Old 41 Road, and only one of them depends on an event.
What 74 Lights and Nozzles Do After Dark
The city's release describes two modes. During the daytime "play fountain" hours, water sprays reach up to six feet, which suits younger children. The evening mode is the bigger change. In the city's announcement, water surges up to 20 feet through nozzles that can be controlled individually or in groups.
"The new splash pad brings together 74 lights and nozzles to deliver an engaging experience throughout the day and evening."
The News-Press quoted that line from the city's release in its opening coverage.
The design reaches past the splash pad itself. The city says the color lighting is synchronized with 54 more lights in the banyan tree that gives the square its name and four in a neighboring oak. Four 360-degree speakers around the fountain's edge carry the music for choreographed shows. The first show was a 10-minute Halloween program that ran nightly during the Happy Haunts Stroll from Oct. 22 through Oct. 31.
The trees are part of the show. The banyan was on this lot before the fountain was, and the city lit it rather than building around it. The city also notes that the splash pad uses an integrated filtration and chlorination system comparable to those in community pools, which matters to parents deciding whether to let a toddler run through it.
The Park the Square Was Built Alongside
Banyan Square was planned alongside the park. In an April 8, 2026 downtown update, the city said Riverside Park's first phase was complete and the second would begin the second week of April. In the same update, it described the splash pad and new restrooms as under construction on the Banyan Lot. Both projects, the city wrote, were on track for a grand opening in winter 2026.
Banyan Square arrived first. The city's downtown projects page lists Riverside Park's phase-two construction as April 2026 through November 2026, with the park finishing "by winter 2026." The park's only break in that closure was a temporary reopening for Star Spangled Bonita on July 4. The Riverside Park page says the bandshell is closed for renovations and plans to reopen in "late fall."
During the closure, the city steered organizers to the Liles Hotel Plaza and the green space between the Liles Hotel and the park. That is why the Liles Hotel shows up so often on this season's calendar.
What Phase Two Is Building Toward
The city has posted a final-phase construction layout for Riverside Park so event organizers can plan ahead. It marks where these pieces will go:
- Vendor stalls
- A synthetic-turf lawn
- A shade sail with a picnic table
- A Veterans 360 bench
- A bike rack and an art sculpture
- Veterans Memorial pavers
The plan says the final layout and furnishings remain subject to permitting and as-built conditions. Those labels add to a park that already holds the Historic Liles Hotel, the Artist Cottages, the Butterfly Garden, the bandshell, the Veterans Brick walkway and Veterans Memorial, shelters, benches and its own fountain. Vendor stalls and a turf lawn are event infrastructure, which shows how the two spaces divide the work. The park is being rebuilt to host markets and gatherings better. The square runs on its own schedule.
Parking Changed First
Anyone who hasn't parked downtown in a year will find the lots have changed. The city's downtown page says the Bamboo Lot stopped serving as public parking on Dec. 1, 2025. That property is being developed through a public/private partnership with Barron Collier DT Bonita LLC into a mixed-use project with retail, residential units and public parking facilities.
Until that project delivers its parking, the city points visitors to on-street spaces and the Felt's Avenue lot. The city's description of the Barron Collier development also lists public open space with water access points, a fire pit, bike racks and restrooms, tied into the Imperial River vehicular and pedestrian crossing.
The Bamboo Lot closed to public parking about a year before the fountain opened this fall, and the city's schedule has Riverside Park's renovation finishing by winter 2026. Over the coming months, each project on the Old 41 corridor builds on the ones before it.
December on Old 41 Road
The holiday calendar is where the square and the park first operate side by side. Visit Fort Myers lists the Bonita Springs Holiday Stroll for Dec. 1, 2026, through Jan. 1, 2027, featuring Riverside Park lights, decorations and photo opportunities. The same listing names Holiday in the Park and Kris Kringle Village as part of the season. The city's approved special events list fills in specific dates, and a community organization has added an evening walk.
| Date | Event | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 1, 2026 – Jan. 1, 2027 | Bonita Springs Holiday Stroll | Riverside Park lights and displays | Season-long |
| Tue., Dec. 8 | Stardust Memories Big Band | Riverside Park | 7 – 9 p.m. |
| Wed., Dec. 9 | ABWA Imperial River Bonita Holiday Lights Stroll | Starts at Canary Club, 10610 Founders Way, Suite 140 | 5 – 8:30 p.m. |
| Sat. – Sun., Dec. 12 – 13 | Kris Kringle Village | Liles Hotel | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Bonita Springs Concert Band | Riverside Park | 6 – 8 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Christmas Eve Candle Light Service | Riverside Park | 6 – 8 p.m. |
The ABWA Imperial River Holiday Lights Stroll shows how the corridor now connects. The route heads north on Old 41 and stops to view the Riverside Park lights. Kris Kringle Village is scheduled at the Liles Hotel, the same plaza the city kept open for gatherings during construction. Four of the listed dates are booked for Riverside Park itself, and they line up with the city's "by winter 2026" completion target.
Before Bringing the Family
The city's opening materials describe the daytime play mode and the evening shows but don't post a fixed daily schedule. The City of Bonita Springs takes questions at 239-949-6262, and that call is the simplest way to confirm hours before planning a visit around a show. The Banyan Lot project included a restroom facility in its design, which helps with small children. For parking, the Felt's Avenue lot and on-street spaces are the options the city names. On a night when Kris Kringle Village or a Riverside Park concert is drawing a crowd, arriving earlier gives the most choice.
A December evening downtown can now string together several stops along one stretch of Old 41: the lit banyan at 27381 Old 41 Road, the Liles Hotel, and the Riverside Park lights the Holiday Stroll is built around.
Downtown Bonita's public projects keep changing what an address near Old 41 Road means for daily life, from where the parking is to what's lit up after dark. At Potter Trinity, our builder and commercial partners follow projects like Banyan Square, Riverside Park and the Barron Collier development closely, and we're glad to walk you through how they affect the blocks around them. Schedule Your Consultation.
