Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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An attractive renovation of the historic Crystal Lake Apartments was unveiled in Lake Wales Tuesday, showcasing a development which will contribute to ongoing efforts to increase residential uses in the city's downtown area. The two-story building at 282 East Park Avenue offers eight fully-remodeled one and two-bedroom apartments. Officers and directors of the Lake Wales Care Center hosted some 100 guests who toured the like-new facility and enjoyed refreshments following the...
The $11 million Park Avenue reconstruction project is entering its final phase with the reconstruction of the intersection of Scenic Highway with the important downtown street. The work will require the closure of Scenic Highway at that location for approximately 90 days, according to construction plans and officials. A statement issued by the City of Lake Wales says that the closure will begin Tuesday, October 22. Once this final phase in completed, the entire length of Park...
In a colorful and welcome respite from hurricane clean-up, area residents will have an opportunity to enjoy shopping for new flowering plants and garden items from among thousands on display at the annual Plant and Garden Festival this weekend. The free two-day event, October 19 and 20, is hosted by the GFWC Woman's Club of Lake Wales and will feature vendors and nurseries from across Florida who will offer their growing things. Decorative annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees...
The long-awaited opening on a second stretch of a reconstructed Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales is a reality after construction crews removed barriers, allowing traffic to flow on the newly-bricked street. Along with the new travel surface comes a lush new landscape of oaks and ornamental plantings and new wider sidewalks designed to accommodate sidewalk dining. Still to come are new streetlights to create the proper evening ambiance. Merchants have struggled during the...
A happy city staff, as well as grant consultants Lee Hale and Hilary Waers of Hale innovation, were celebrating before, during, and after the city commission workshop Wednesday. In a room decorated with balloons, City Manager James Slaton made the happy announcement that the city had received a grant award of $22.93 million from the US Department of Transportation. The RAISE grant for "Complete Streets" will assure the completion of the Lake Wales Connected plan, a...
A new Park Avenue is steadily emerging in downtown Lake Wales as work continues on the first phase of a multi-million dollar reimagining of the city's heart. The ongoing work is creating a shady pedestrian oasis in the heart of the city, replete with rows of spreading live oaks, new benches, lighting, wider sidewalks, and brick-paved streets and parking areas. The stretch of Park Avenue between First and Market streets is rapidly nearing completion, offering business owners an...
The popular network of walking and biking trails weaving through Lake Wales is about to grow a great deal better, thanks to grants received by the city. New planned segments include the Ridge Scenic Highway Connector Trail that will connect the western end of the Lake Wales Trailway to the new Park Avenue Trail near Crystal Lake. It will run south along Third Street from a point just west of the Lake Wales Little Theatre, thereby also accessing the Lake Wailes Trail. That link...
BARTOW - A Circuit Court ruling Thursday has set the stage for reverting ownership of the historic Walesbilt Hotel in Lake Wales back to the city, ending a years-long legal battle for control of the 10-story building. Circuit Judge William T. Sites ruled that the current owner, Dixie-Walesbilt LLC's Raymond Brown, fraudulently induced the city into contracting with him to redevelop the property, and ultimately to sign the deed over to Brown, according to the ruling. The...
Three challengers seeking two seat on the Lake Wales City Commission held the stage at a Monday evening candidates forum after both incumbents failed to show up for the 90-minute event. The election is four weeks away, slated for Tuesday, April 2. Carol Gillespie, seeking seat 4 on the five-person commission, along with Brandon Alvarado and Crystal Higbee, both seeking seat 2, shared their ideas and responded to questions from the audience at the forum sponsored by the...
Voters will have two chances next week to see and hear incumbents and candidates for seats on the Lake Wales City Commission air their views and positions on a wide variety of topics during two candidate forums. Events are planned for both Monday and Wednesday evenings, March 4 and March 6, giving registered voters within city limits extra opportunity to become informed. Five candidates will vie for two seats on the commission in the April 2 vote. Although candidates must...
While the ribbon-cutting and dedication of the newly reconstructed portions of Park Avenue and First Street remains in the planning stage, the newly-completed stretches of West Park Avenue and North First Street are now open to two-way traffic. The opening comes concurrent with the closure of the eastern portion of Park Avenue, a situation expected to last most of the year as the pavement is removed, utilities upgraded, and new sidewalks and brick streets are installed. Shoppe...
Improvements to the Lake Wales Northwest Recreation Complex on Florida Avenue are on the way after the city received a $50,000 recreation grant from the state. The sports facility is the home of Frasier Field and hosts a variety of other recreational activities along with picnic facilities. The grant from the Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program, known as FRDAP, will pay for improvements to basketball and tennis courts, two new picnic tables, and fencing at the...
In nothing less than a transformation, the formerly dreary stretch of Park Avenue west of First Street is swiftly becoming an attractive green oasis intended to help draw pedestrian traffic to the heart of Lake Wales. The three-block-long stretch of the street west of Scenic Highway is the heart of the $20 million investment being made by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency to reinvigorate the city's urban core. Conceived as "Lake Wales Connected" by a team of...
A CRA grant will help a local not-for-profit save an aging historic building that serves as an important civic space in downtown Lake Wales. The Lake Wales Woman's Club was awarded a $50,000 grant that will help the 100-year-old organization pay for a new roof for their auditorium at 275 East Park Avenue. The funds will also help remediate mold, according to CRA staff. The grant meets three of the goals cited in the Lake Wales Connected plan recommendations, Assistant City...
A series of free downtown street concerts will enliven evenings downtown over the coming months, thanks to an alliance between the Lake Wales main Street, Lake Wales Arts Council, and the City of Lake Wales. The shows kick-off with the Outta Hand Band on Friday, November 10. "Lake Wales Live" will offer residents good reason to visit the downtown area, and perhaps get a sneak peek at the ongoing transformation of the area as the Lake Wales Connected plan proceeds, according to...
The changing face of downtown Lake Wales is moving forward as contractors begin the second phase of a multi-part project to reconstruct Park Avenue between Wetmore Street and Scenic Highway. A closure of a block of First Street will begin Monday morning, August 28, and is expected to last until November. At that time the street will reopen along with the completed western block of Park Avenue between First and Wetmore, which will then be open to two-way traffic for the first...
A million-dollar reconstruction of block-long stretches of Orange and Crystal Avenues is anticipated thanks to a federal grant and an intergovernmental agreement. The dramatic change will see new streetlights, street furniture, curbing, and the installation of numerous trees and other plants installed in rain gardens that will help absorb stormwater, . The work will include the resurfacing of the two streets east of First Street through and including their intersections with...
Lake Wales area parks and recreational facilities may stand to get a funding boost as a result of a grant received by the state of Florida. The Department of the Interior announced the distribution of $14,323,172 to the state of Florida today as part of the $295,582,830 granted this year from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. The funds from this year's distribution will be available until fiscal year...
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...
Crews from Gomez Construction have made substantial progress on a block of West Park Avenue between First Street and Wetmore Street. The reconstruction is part of the $11.5 million transformation of that street and, eventually, the adjoining eastern blocks and the adjacent MarketPlace. The Lake Wales Post office and adjacent businesses are being served from a parking lot accessible from Orange Avenue, one block to the north. Signage has been placed to direct traffic to the...
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...
Crews from Gomez Construction will be barricading a block of West Park Avenue between First Street and Wetmore Street on Monday, March 6 to begin the $11.5 million transformation of that street and, eventually, the adjoining eastern blocks and the adjacent MarketPlace. The project is the first major undertaking of the ambitious $20 million project defined by the Lake Wales Connected plan, which was developed with wide public input. The finished product will feature a brick-pav...
A major effort to develop a master plan to govern the future development of seven parks in the city of Lake Wales is the goal of a new contract Catalyst Design Group. The project was recently approved by the city commission. The planning effort will cover Lake Wailes Park, Kiwanis Park and Crystal Lake Park, which form the core of the city's park system. It will also include the city's soccer complex on Hunt Brothers Road, the Northwest Complex/Frasier Field park, the Little...
Balancing improved public access to the natural beauty of Crystal Lake Park with parking needs and traffic circulation and the effect upon views and wildlife drew a small crowd to a special meeting Wednesday evening. The meeting at the Lake Wales Tourist Club in the subject park sought to gain public input. Consultants presented conceptual drawings representing potential alignments and configurations of the proposed trail which will "close the loop" around the small namesake...
A special public workshop at Crystal Lake Park will give residents an opportunity to discuss ideas and options for a new connecting bike-and-pedestrian trail segment. Engineers and planners will be on hand to share design ideas and preliminary drawings. The proposed trail, linking Lake Wales Library and the Bok Academy North neighborhood with Park Avenue and the Lake Wailes Trail, will parallel Sessoms Avenue on the north side of Crystal Lake, and is expected to offer views...
