Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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An aggressive facilities expansion to add a high school to the campus of McLaughlin School of Excellence has been devastating to the landscape at the school, but help is coming from unexpected directions, according to McLaughlin Principal Dr. Debra Wright-Hudson. A local non-profit, private citizens, and the project contractor are seeing to the green side of things by assisting school leaders in providing new gardens around two sides of the school. Wright-Hudson lauded the...
A new 64-unit infill subdivision received approval from the Lake Wales City Commission Tuesday night after being heralded as "magnificent" by Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson for its compliance with the commission's set of eight "aspirations" for future development. The project is planned to include a mix of townhomes and single-family residences on a site that has long stymied would-be developers. Largely land-locked, the nine-acre parcel lies between Quails Bluff apartments, and...
After a sputtering start to the expected summer rainy season, a wetter pattern may soon take hold over the Lake Wales Ridge area, but it could open the door for a busier Hurricane season as well. The deadly "heat dome" that has baked much of the nation and lingered for months was caused by a static pattern of mid-level winds that is finally breaking down. The unusual atmospheric traffic-jam in the west-to-east flow of weather has caused Florida to fall under a regime of strong...
A relatively dry "monsoon" season has left many long-time residents wondering where all the rain has gone, but also glad to see the lack of tropical storm development. Now at last it appears that there may be more normal summer rains on tap for the Ridge area, coming without the immediate threat of hurricanes. The forecasts for coming days cite unusually high levels of moisture in the air, with precipitable water readings of more than two inches, which can often lead to...
A new business incubator funded in large part by the City of Lake Wales was celebrated at a recent ribbon cutting featuring a host of government and business representatives. The 3,570 square-foot incubator was developed from a former dental office by Florida Development Corporation, which will be moving its headquarters to the new facility from Tampa, according to city sources. Some 75 guests joined officers of the corporation for the celebration. The $1.2 million...
Bricks may become the new buzzword for downtown Lake Wales. The rapid changes coming to Park Avenue under the Lake Wales Connected project include a street completely resurfaced with traditional brick pavers to emphasize the historic significance of the downtown area. Now those bricks are being joined by the newly-exposed original brick facades of historic buildings that have been hidden behind stucco for years. The work is being undertaken by individual property owners,...
The sudden resignation of Bok Academy South Middle School Principal Damian Rosado has resulted in the quick appointment of Dr. Julio Acevedo to fill the role on a temporary basis. Dr. Wayne Rodolfich, superintendent of the seven-school Lake Wales Charter School System, said the resignation came as a surprise during the Polk State College backpack giveaway event Saturday morning, where he was promoting his "Read 20" program. He told LakeWalesNews.net that Rosado informed him...
Change is coming to Lake Wales. Are you worried? If so, your concerns are shared by thousands of your friends and neighbors. Ours is a growing community. This special place has been "discovered" by ever-larger numbers of people who would like to share in the unique qualities the city offers. As the agricultural basis of our economy is changing, so is the land use. Unproductive citrus groves decimated by disease are being offered for sale. Savvy developers are snapping up...
Former Lake Wales City Commissioner Kris Fitzgerald has filed to run for the US Congress from Florida's 15th district, which includes a portion of Polk and Pasco counties and much of Hillsborough County. Fitzgerald's formal announcement of candidacy is expected to come in a news conference next week. Her filing makes her the first challenger to Republican incumbent Laurel Lee, who won the seat only last year. Fitzgerald met with LakeWalesNews.net for an exclusive interview...
Teachers and staff preparing for a new school year at Spook Hill Elementary were the happy recipients of a complimentary "thanksgiving" lunch this week in gratitude for their efforts to teach children and positively affect their lives. Tammy James delivered a stack of pizzas and beverages which had been purchased by the Lake Wales Area Democratic Club as part of their "Teacher Appreciation Month." James had approached school principal Michelle Browning about the donation, and...
Lake Wales' first school building could become its newest as well if the efforts of the local Charter School Foundation are successful. They are preparing to launch a fund drive to raise $1.5 million, needed to complete the $6 million remodeling of the attractive two-story red-brick structure. "We want to take this eyesore out" to create a useful and beautiful new facility, Lake Wales Charter School System Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich told a group of 25 community leaders...
As McLaughlin Academy of Excellence completes its transformation from a middle school to a middle-high school, community organizations are stepping up to support the effort. Students at McLaughlin are as at home in Fine Arts Classes as they are in Electrical Technician training. The well-rounded nature of education at McLaughlin Academy of Excellence caught the attention of the Dyer Difference Award Committee, which celebrates the school and its dedication to producing...
A vision of Lake Wales as a city that embraces new neighborhoods built to traditional standards while preserving vast swaths of open space was presented to an eager audience Tuesday evening by city planners who painted a clear picture of that potential. City planners Victor Dover and Eric Pate of Dover, Kohl & Partners shared the status of the several reports included in the broad Lake Wales Envisioned plan. The process was initiated by the City of Lake Wales late last year...
A face and voice familiar to most Polk County residents will soon be sharing lots of information about Lake Wales as Ken Suarez begins his duties. No stranger to the camera, the long-time Tampa Bay-area broadcaster recently left his full-time job as a television journalist to begin serving the City of Lake Wales as part-time host of a video series about events in the area. Suarez worked for years at WINK TV in Fort Myers before moving into the Tampa market almost 35 years...
Lake Wales area residents concerned about future growth and development will have yet another opportunity to help shape the future of the community this Tuesday evening, July 11 at the James P. Austin Community Center. A two-hour meeting will start at 6:00 and include "a review of updated plan concepts and initial implementation strategies," according to lead planners at Dover, Kohl & Partners. The "work-in-progress" update will give citizens a chance to add their ideas and...
Continuous access to downtown businesses will be maintained during construction of the transformative Lake Wales Connected designs, representatives of Gomez Construction assured gathered merchants at a Tuesday morning meeting. Project manager Mahmoud Heda said that, despite unavoidable traffic detours, "sidewalks will never be shut down during business hours." The 8:30 am gathering at The Marketplace Café allowed Heda and Main Street Manager Ronni Wood to explain the complex...
A 600-acre solar farm on the north side of Lake Wales containing some 170,000 to 200,000 solar panels has passed the 50% completion mark and is expected to come online before the end of the year. According to a press release issued by Tampa Electric Media Spokesperson Cherie Jacobs at the time of the application, the project will generate 74.5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 11,500 homes. Jacobs noted that the project will produce no emissions and generate virt...
A new bicycle and pedestrian trail will continue the expansion of a growing network connecting neighborhoods across Lake Wales following city commission approval of an interlocal agreement with Polk County on Wednesday. Creation of a functional network of trails is a repeated recommendation contained in the Lake Wales Connected plan, cited as a significant contributor to the health and well-being of residents. The Ridge Scenic Highway Trail segment will extend 3,975 feet and...
A 300-unit "luxury" townhome development may soon provide a different option for home-buyers in Lake Wales. The complex dubbed Ridge Luxury Townhomes will include 55 new buildings to be located off Old Scenic Highway adjacent to the Duke Energy maintenance facility. Lake Caroline, a small lake just south of the nearly 30-acre site, will offer views for some units, and a community center with a proposed water feature will also be constructed. The project is one of several...
An accepted phase one final plat for a new subdivision will allow construction to begin at Harper Estates, a 67-lot development that was approved by the Lake Wales city commission last year. The first phase will consist of 29 lots. Harper Estates will lie adjacent to Orange Lake, a small body of water on the south side of Mountain Lake Road just west of US 27, near Speedway Auto Sales. The site is also adjacent to a tract of the Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge,...
Lawyers for the city of Lake Wales are asking a circuit judge to rule that Ray Brown lied to city commissioners about his financing and progress in redeveloping the historic Walesbilt Hotel and that those fraudulent representations led commissioners to deed the hotel to him in 2011. If Circuit Judge William Sites rules for the city, it would pave the way for returning the partially renovated hotel, dating to 1926, back to the city. The city is suing Brown's company, Dixie Wale...
Access to the busy Lake Wales Care Center Thrift Store will be restricted until after the Independence Day holiday as crews from the Williams Company reconstruct curbing and resurface the parking lot at the store. The lot is connected to the Park Avenue reconstruction being performed by the contractor as part of the Lake Wales Connected project. Closure of one access point to that street and the redesign of sidewalks and curbs caused significant impact, which led to the...
Two large residential developments proposed by the same developer recently met with very different responses from the Lake Wales city commission. After unanimously approving a 930-lot single-family subdivision known as the Grove at Orchard Hills, the commission's 3-2 vote rejected a neighboring 300-unit project brought by the same developer. David Waronker of Celebration has been the developer of record for several large subdivision projects in Lake Wales, including the expans...
Nearly 100 guests joined the elated leadership of the Circle of Friends to celebrate their new campus with a ribbon cutting ceremony and reception on June 22. The longest day of the year was perhaps symbolic of the long effort of the local charitable group to achieve their dreams of a permanent home. Dedicated to supporting, teaching, and perhaps in the near future, housing permanently-disabled adults, the Circle of Friends Ministry recently relocated from their cozy downtown...
A new market analysis by a prestigious firm has identified a large measure of demand for Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) residences in Lake Wales and Polk County. The study indicates that there is a potential market for new housing units within new traditional neighborhoods in Lake Wales which would amount to more than ten percent of all new housing demand in Polk County. Some developers have expressed doubt that they could sell "traditional" neighborhoods here. The...
