Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 403
Downtown Lake Wales shoppers have one more week to submit copies of their June receipts to possibly win a prize. Lake Wales Main Street is sponsoring the Shop & Win program to encourage more people to shop in the city's historic downtown. Main Street Director Karen Thompson said during the program's first month shoppers submitted more than $1,500 in receipts for purchases made downtown in May. "The Shop & Win program was initially intended to help with the restaurants closed...
This is the seventh installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. The Dover-Kohl plan is much more than an update of the well-worn 1973 improvements to Downtown. The plan covers the town's historic core. It is thorough, comprehensive, and doable. The entire plan can be viewed at: https://www.doverkohl.com/lakewales. Appropriately named "Lake Wales...
Lake Wales has long been known as "The Crown Jewel of the Ridge," but that didn't happen by accident. It took the efforts of Edward Bok and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. While many are familiar with Bok, the name of Olmsted, arguably the more significant historic figure, is an enigma. It was Olmsted who designed Bok's famous gardens, as well as Mountain Lake, and scores of private landscapes there. It was Olmsted who designed the Colony House, and our familiar Town Clock. And it...
Lake Wales Charter Schools officials have selected a contractor to do phase one and phase two work this summer in getting the new Bok North Academy campus ready for opening this fall. Whitehead Construction has been awarded the contract that includes converting the former Boys and Girls club building into classroom space, and potential renovation and updating work on the old cafeteria building at the historic 1919 Building site, which the charter system purchased from the...
Lake Wales city officials are hoping the state will help provide funding for needed repairs at one of the city's most historic structures. The Historic Stuart House on Central Avenue near downtown was damaged in 2017 when Hurricane Irma swept through the city, according to Lake Wales Museum Director Jennifer D'hollander. She said temporary steps to mitigate damage to the roof of the house were undertaken then, but that long term repairs are still needed. "Rehabilitation is...
Bookstores aren't dead! Need proof? Make your way to downtown Lake Wales and visit The Book Shelter. Tucked away in The Arcade at 229 E, Stuart Avenue The Book Shelter is a bookworm's dream. It is owned and operated by Jacqui and Sam Terry and has been a hidden gem for over two years. It is a small store that focuses on quality over quantity. Instead of seeing how many books they can accumulate, their goal is to have a collection that includes only bestsellers. The best part...
This is the sixth installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. First, let's talk about where we are headed, and next, about one of the trouble spots we may confront in getting there. Where We're Headed. The Dover-Kohl plan, entitled "Lake Wales Connected," is a comprehensive plan for the revitalization of the Lake Wales historic core. It connects...
The Lake Wales Breakfast Rotary Club is hosting a Free Community Shred Day Saturday, June 13 to help with post quarantine cleaning. People with material to shred can drive up to the parking lot at the Peterson Myers law office at 100 W. Stuart Ave. in downtown Lake Wales between 9 a.m. and noon. Rotary volunteers, who will wear masks and gloves, will unload the materials so people don't have to leave their cars. Things that can be shredded include: paper, credit cards, paper...
Lake Wales Finance Director Dorothy Abbott tried to calm commissioners' fears at the first 2020-2021 city budget workshop June 3. She said she's been preparing city budgets for 19 years and if she's not panicking over the likelihood of reduced revenue, neither should they. "Everybody just stay calm, tell us what you would like to see and trust your staff to bring back a budget document," Abbott said. "If I'm not too worried yet, please don't be too worried yet." Abbott said sh...
Lake Wales City Manager Ken Fields and the city commission agreed Tuesday June 2 to part ways in something akin to an "amicable divorce" but it took a lengthy discussion to reach agreement on the terms for the split. "I hope I am viewed as someone who has made Lake Wales a better city," Fields said, noting leaving two years before his contract expired wasn't his choice but he was resigned that it was time to go. Fields' departure was effective immediately, but everyone made...
Toward the end of their June 2 Lake Wales City Commission meeting is an agenda item labeled "Status of the Employment of the City Manager." Commissioners asked for the item to be placed on the agenda after Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson at the last meeting suggested it was time for Ken Fields to consider early retirement. Gibson said it is time for a "new voice" and new leadership to oversee from the ground up the city's ambitious downtown redevelopment initiative. But Gibson also...
When Gus hops on the bus he may have some extra stop options in Lake Wales. Erin Killebrew, director of external affairs with the Citrus Connection, gave city commissioners an update on the four local routes at their May 19 meeting. Killebrew said the current routes take riders from Lake Wales to Haines City, Lake Wales to the Eagle Ridge Mall, the mall to Legoland and the mall to Babson Park. The transit system is asking the city to nearly double its annual contribution to...
Lake Wales City Commissioners at their May 19 meeting approved hiring a Clearwater consultant to determine the feasibility of building a sports and recreation complex that might attract tournaments and other special events. The city will pay Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA) $42,500 plus travel expenses for the study, which would be one element of an overall recreation master plan funded by recreation impact fees. Rather than do its own request for proposals the City...
Creating the menu for Granny's Kitchen, Stephanie (Granny) and husband Bob chose from the many experiences Bob could draw on having owned several successful restaurants featuring New England seafood. One of the specialties of the house is New England Clam Chowder, Bob's own recipe, that has won multiple awards in Newport, Rhode Island. Stephanie is the more outgoing personality, and loves marketing. She worked 25 years in sales and customer relations in Virginia. Stephanie...
This is the fifth installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. Dover, Kohl & Partners is an internationally known town planning firm working out of South Miami. Among their many achievements are nationally recognized revitalizations of traditional communities much like Lake Wales. Victor Dover is co-author of the definitive work on the subject...
This is the third installment in the Lake Wales Renaissance series. Lake Wales City Commissioner Robin Gibson serves as deputy mayor and chairman of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. CRA Created. Lake Wales formed its own Community Redevelopment Agency in 1985. The original purpose was to build on the downtown improvements completed in 1973 by capturing the benefits coming from the CRA's unique Tax Increment Financing tool. (The difference between property values befo...
I would like to thank Lake Wales News.Net for allowing me to become a guest columnist. The City Commission, sitting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, has unanimously adopted what is known as the "Dover Kohl Plan." The Plan, entitled "Lake Wales Connected," will serve to redevelop the historic core of our town – by connecting the Town and Bok Tower, building connections between Downtown and the Northwest Neighborhood, and between Lake Wailes and the Downtown. I will be w...
Lake Wales Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson surprised his fellow commissioners at the end of their Tuesday May 19 meeting with a call for City Manager Ken Fields to begin planning for an early retirement. Gibson said he met with Fields Monday and told him he wanted him to leave on a positive note after he helps prepare the 2020-21 budget, which takes effect Oct. 1. Fields' current contract expires in 2022. "I want when there is a parting for everybody to respect each other and for th...
Lake Wales city officials are asking commissioners to green light a study to determine the feasibility of building a sports and recreation complex that might attract tournaments and other special events. The study would be one element of an overall recreation master plan that would be funded with recreation impact fees. At their May 19 meeting commissioners will be asked to approve a contract with Clearwater-based Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA) for $42,500 plus travel...
Faith communities around Central Florida are making decisions about re-opening for services and one church in Lake Wales has decided this Sunday, May 17, is the time to re-open their Sunday Morning Worship Celebration to the public. This service, which begins at 10:30 a.m. has been live-streamed since before the pandemic and will continue to be shown on four platforms. The lead pastor at First Baptist, Dr. Scott Markley, reports the views on those platforms have been good...
March 20 will be a day not soon forgotten by Steve Manwell. It was the first day he and his wife opened Melanie's Seafood Company at 120 Park Avenue, becoming the inaugural local eatery to take advantage of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency's Restaurant Incentive Program. It also so happened to be the same day Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state's new stay-at-home guidelines. Suddenly, months of planning and renovation work at 120 Park Avenue seemed...
"Small gestures in everyday life," like showing compassion and performing random acts of kindness, help us feel loved. During this time of the Covid-19 "Stay at Home" rules that so many are diligently upholding, what happens to those elderly and infirm people who don't have the luxury of being in their own homes with their loved ones around them? They are stuck in a nursing facility where they cannot interact with other residents and everyone looks strange in their masks and g...
Edward Earl Pilkington, 81, passed away and joined the Lord on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend. Edward was born on June 18, 1938 and raised in Miami, where he graduated from Jackson High School and started his career as an architect. He opened his own architectural firm, Edward Pilkington, A.I.A., Architect, P.A. in 1973 in Miami, before moving to Lake Wales in 1982. He continued...
Lake Wales voters Tuesday re-elected Commissioner Robin Gibson for another three-year term. Gibson took 63 percent of the vote against challenger Bob Wood. Turnout was not quite 15 percent, with only 1,420 of the city's approximately 9,770 voters making a choice. The final tally was 898 votes for Gibson and 522 for Wood. The 2019 city election drew a little over 1,800 voters. The COVID-19 virus scare made campaigning difficult and apparently kept some people away from the...
Lake Wales City Commissioner Terrye Howell has been declared re-elected for another 3-year term following the withdrawal of her opponent Greg Massey. Massey submitted a signed statement to Lake Wales City Clerk Jennifer Nanek Tuesday, March 10 indicating his decision to end his campaign. It is possible Massey would have been ruled ineligible to run since he had a felony conviction for second degree murder and hadn't had his voting rights restored. City officials were awaiting...
