Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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Efforts to re-imagine the urban core of Lake Wales as an attractive and shady pedestrian oasis filled with new businesses and restaurants continues to draw the support of both the public and private sectors. Congressman Darren Soto has announced that he is requesting a $1 million Federal grant to support street restoration in downtown Lake Wales. This project, one element of a multi-faceted effort, would revitalize 1st Street, which is a critical connector, unifying the...
Scenic Highway's passage through downtown Lake Wales will quite a bit more scenic upon completion of new efforts planned by city staff. Plans to add multiple new shade trees, shrubs, flowering plants and fencing are moving forward under the terms of a new lease between the City of Lake Wales and Florida Midland Railroad. The railroad owns a highly-visible corridor through the center of town which already hosts a number of buildings associated with the Lake Wales History...
Fearing damage due to Florida's summertime temperatures and humidity, the Lake Wales History Museum is reaching out to supporters and potential donors to raise funds to improve the 1916 railroad depot which houses many thousands of important documents and historical artifacts at the not-for-profit facility. According to Anderson Hanna, the museum's interim director, the historic Seaboard Airline railroad depot is "an optimal location" to house what he describes as "an...
Fearing damage due to Florida's summertime temperatures and humidity, the Lake Wales History Museum is reaching out to supporters and potential donors to raise funds to improve the 1916 railroad depot which houses many thousands of important documents and historical artifacts at the not-for-profit facility. According to Anderson Hanna, the museum's interim director, the historic Seaboard Airline railroad depot is "an optimal location" to house what he describes as "an...
A celebration of parks, trees, and all things "Olmsted" will draw families to Lake Wailes Park on Saturday, April 30. The all-day event will include food vendors, bands, games for the kids (and the family), lots of vendors, a beer garden, and plenty of prizes. Part of the nationwide celebration dubbed "Olmsted 200," the festival will include kite-building class and flying contest, a "family feud" styled game with a grand prize of a quad-copter drone, plus races and education...
The conception of the Lake Wales Connected plan and the growing awareness of the city's strong connections to the works of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. have combined to make Arbor Day an increasingly important event in Lake Wales. To mark the date this year the City of Lake Wales, in partnership with Lake Wales Heritage, is planting a 100-gallon cathedral live oak to observe the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day. Local residents are invited to witness the planting of the large oak...
Architect Frederick Law Olmsted may be best known for designing New York City's Central Park, but his many creative accomplishments also included the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and our own treasure, Bok Tower Gardens. Just before the Great Depression in late 1929, Frederick Law Olmsted and Edward Bok designed a master plan for Lake Wales, with plans to include small parks, plenty of trees, and a lovely place to stroll the downtown area. Nearly a century later, Lake...
Long before Frederick Law Olmsted left his generational "City in a Garden" imprint on Lake Wales -- and a decade before he transformed impoverished scrub into the lush gardens of Bok Tower – the first of his Florida landscapes was the verdant canvass of Mountain Lake. By early in 1915, the famed landscape architect who will be celebrated locally on April 30 – and whose work is the foundation for the city's current "Lake Wales Connected" redevelopment plan for the historic dow...
Volunteers and supporters gathered Saturday morning in Lake Wailes Park to mark the dedication of 34 young Magnolia trees which were planted on Friday, April 8 along Lakeshore Boulevard. The trees were a gift to the citizens of Lake Wales from Lake Wales Heritage, which is actively re-planting the lost trees of the landscape plan for the city, which was designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in 1930. Olmsted played a central role in the development of...
More than 40 young magnolia trees will once again grace the length of Lakeshore Boulevard's western stretch when work is completed this week on the replacement of the missing trees from the historic Olmsted landscape. The original trees, planted more than 90 years ago, were mostly lost to hurricanes over the decades. The project is the work of Lake Wales Heritage, the local group that has dedicated itself to restoring the historic "City in a Garden" streetscapes designed by famed architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. at the...
A Thursday-morning ceremony in downtown's new linear park saw plenty of smiles as a crew representing T Mobile presenting a mock-up giant check representing their company's grant of $48,623 that was awarded to pay for landscaping the park, which borders Scenic Highway opposite the public library. The grant is part of T-Mobile’s Hometown Grants Program to help communities across the country kickstart development projects that will enhance the area and help enrich the lives o...
A new Tree Advisory Board being created by City Ordinance will create a five-member board that will be charged with a host of tasks assisting the city's Horticulturist Lester Gulledge. "This board will be there simply to help our horticulturist and our horticulture program," said Michael Manning, assistant to the city manager, in presenting the item to the city commission at their workshop. "It was just about one year ago today that we started a horticulture program," Manning...
Some 300 Florida native plants and 1,052 Florida friendly plants have been planted in select areas by the City of Lake Wales Horticulture Department, and more are on the way, part of the city's new emphasis on reclaiming its original status as "a City in a Garden." New plants are now gracing various parts of the city including the Stuart Avenue and Scenic Highway parking lot, downtown Linear Park and the Lake Wales Family YMCA. "We're kicking up the charm in the city," Lake...
Although most Lake Wales residents aren't even aware of it, Lake Wales is famous for thousands as the site of the largest group of landscape designs ever created by the legendary firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. So how did it come to be that the firm responsible for creating New York City's Central Park and for designing the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. played such a vital role in the planning – and now future – of Lake Wales? Our destiny as a "City in a Gar...
A portrait of a city undergoing numerous changes was delivered to about 100 community and business leaders Friday at the annual "State of the City" report delivered by outgoing Mayor Gene Fultz in a darkened auditorium at the Vanguard School. It was the first opportunity for him to deliver the speech since 2019 due to the impacts of Covid-19. He will be leaving office this year after nine years as the city's first elected mayor. Citing an aggressive pursuit of improvements...
When Lake Wales gathers April 30 to celebrate the life, legacy and work of Frederick Olmsted Sr. at "Olmsted Day in the Park," local residents will be paying homage to more than just the famed landscape architect whose influence is still very much alive in the city today. By 1929 when Lake Wales civic leaders hired his son Frederick Olmsted Jr. to create a master plan to enhance the city's "Garden City" concept – developed in England 1898 by Ebenezer Howard – Lake Wales and...
An April 30 event at Lake Wailes Park is more than a local celebration, it's part of a much broader celebration of a famous father-son duo who changed the face of North America. April 26, 2022, marks 200 years since the birth of American landscape architect and social reformer Frederick Law Olmsted, who championed the idea of public parks in the United States. Lake Wales Heritage is among more than 120 organizations nationwide have banded together as "Olmsted 200: Parks for...
A "family fun event" this spring will recognize the legendary figure who created the city's original streetscapes, as well as Bok Tower Gardens and Mountain Lake. The all-day event will feature bands, food, games and contests, awards, plus plant and vendor sales. "Olmsted Day in the Park" will be held April 30 in Lake Wailes Park, part of a nationwide celebration in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed many of America's most...
As the price of fresh cut Christmas trees rises due to a national shortage, perhaps it's time to consider a different kind of Christmas tree. "Instead of buying a cut Christmas tree that you will throw away in January, why not spend that same $50 and buy a Southern Live Oak that will live for hundreds of years?" That's the question posed by Lake Wales Heritage, the local not-for-profit working to plant the thousands of street trees called for in the 1930 Lake Wales...
"Getting back to museum basics" was a large part of the motivation that moved Anderson Hanna, former director of the Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida, to apply for what might at first appear to be a less-authoritative role as Curator of Collections and Exhibits at the Lake Wales History Museum. Hanna doesn't see it that way at all, and is very happy with his career decision. "It's about getting to your specialty," he said, in describing the change that also brings him...
The Lake Wales Highlanders advanced to the Class 6-A Regional semifinals after a solid game against the Port St. Lucie Jaguars Friday night, emerging victorious by a 35-0 score. Quarterback Trent Grotjan, a Junior, tossed two TDs in the first half to put the Highlanders in command of the game. The first score came on the squad's first offensive play when a toss to Carlos Mitchell covered 52 yards. Xavier Marlow carried the ball across the finish line in both the second and...
After concluding their regular season play with an 8-2 wining record, the Lake Wales Highlanders advance as 6-A District 7 runners-up to the Florida High School Athletic Association playoffs, meeting the PSL Jaguars in Port St. Lucie Friday night. Their single loss to Auburndale by a 14-8 score left them with a 3-1 record in District play. The Jaguars finished their season with a 7-2 record, but remained undefeated with a 3-0 record in their Division play, giving them a home-f...
Bok Academy South students turned out in force Saturday morning to add their contribution to a city-wide effort to recreate a historic landscape plan for Lake Wales. Led by educator Nicole Sealey, students and a few parents helped to clear grass and re-bank "wells" around each of thirty young trees planted last month along Fourth Street. Many of the young trees showed fresh growth, and a few were surprising project leaders by showing signs of going into bloom. The plantings...
After seeing their District title hopes dashed in a 14-8 loss to Auburndale two weeks ago, the Highlanders came back to best the Palm Bay Heritage Panthers last week by a 37-30 score, setting up a final District 7 battle with Kissimmee Gateway for a possible ticket to the playoffs. Lake Wales is favored over the 2-6 Gateway, confusingly also nicknamed Panthers, who are winless in the tough District 7. The game will kick off at 7:30 pm. this Friday night in Kissimmee. The...
In what is likely to be the deciding contest of the 2021 football regular season, the Lake Wales Highlanders will face off against the undefeated Auburndale Bloodhounds Friday night at Legion Field. The Bloodhounds have already dominated district rival Heritage Palm Bay by a 20-0 score, and Kissimmee Gateway 47-7. Lake Wales has yet to face either of those teams. The Highlanders have played only a single district game, a 43-27 victory over Melbourne Eau Gallie. There has been...
