Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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A vision of restored brick streets and sidewalk cafes under the shade of umbrellas and spreading Live Oaks changed many viewers' ideas of the future of downtown Lake Wales Thursday evening. Those images were among many shared during a 90-minute presentation by consultants and engineers hired by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to create the "Lake Wales Connected" plan. The plan is designed to attract crowds, and thus business investment, to the neighborhood...
This is the tenth 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. Best Bang for the Buck Trees are the best. Their mere presence improves individual property values. Collectively they improve the town's tax base as a whole. The improved value comes from the purchaser's desire to buy the advantages of appearance and aesthetics. Not only do trees...
Efforts to beautify and green Lake Wales streets got another boost Saturday as community volunteers led by the Lake Wales Woman's Club prepared three street "triangles" along Lakeshore Boulevard for new floral plantings. "I'm totally stoked!" said Bonnie Poller, who is chair of the Environment Committee of the Woman's Club, which is spearheading the project. "Neighbors came out to help." More than a dozen volunteers participated. "This was only Phase one," Poller added....
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...
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...
The GFWC Woman's Club of Lake Wales will participate in the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) efforts in Conservation. The GFWC Conservation Community Service Program encourages awareness of our natural resources and caring for the world around us. It offers information and ideas to promote environmental appreciation and protection. The Florida Federation of Women's Club, and particularly the Preservation Committee chairwoman May Mann Jennings, took a deep interest...
Lake Wales Breakfast Rotary Club's plans to plant 200 southern live oaks around Lake Wailes lake hit a snag recently when homeowners along Lakeshore Boulevard South complained that the trees eventually would block their view of the lake. Club member Dick Howell on Aug. 21 updated the city commission about the project, noting the 50 trees planted in the spring of 2018 on the north side of the lake were "thriving nicely." After the second 50 trees were planted in May of 2019...
Urban planner Victor Dover was man of the hour Tuesday, receiving applause and high praise after presenting a draft Lake Wales Connected plan for redevelopment of the city's downtown and northwest business district. About 75 interested persons, including numerous downtown merchants and community business leaders, listened attentively as Dover described the potential to turn Lake Wales into a popular destination, returning to city founders' concept of a city in a garden, as des...
A "City in a Garden" with landscaped streets, a redeveloped Grove Manor featuring a mix of housing types, and a new "town square" were among the ideas presented to Lake Wales citizens Friday evening to cap a week of intensive study by the planning firm of Dover Kohl. Most of the 100 in attendance were excited by the possibilities. The week-long effort, sponsored by Lake Wales Mainstreet and funded by local businesses, included gathering ideas and suggestions from the public,...
Bok Tower Gardens has finished third in a USA Today reader's choice poll of Best Botanical Gardens in the nation conducted by USA Today and 10best.com. Bok Tower's famed Mountain Lake Sanctuary, actually older than the tower itself, was designed by the Olmsted landscape design firm. The term "landscape architecture" was coined by firm founder Frederick Law Olmsted, who was renowned for his designs of such landmark parks as New York's Central Park, the grounds of the US...
Bok Tower Gardens is currently ranked third in a USA Today reader's choice poll of Best Botanical Gardens in the nation. The voting is ongoing, and the poll allows readers to vote for their favorite garden once a day. The poll leaderboard may be found at 10Best.com. In the final days of the contest, the leaderboard is not visible, so the winner will be a surprise. Bok Tower's famed Mountain Lake Sanctuary, actually older than the tower itself, was designed by the Olmsted...
Traveling by car in Central Florida in 1929 wasn't easy. In the late 1920s, many Florida roads were clay. Yet, thousands of cars full of curious people headed to Lake Wales to see the President of the United States and to see Edward Bok's Bird Sanctuary. On Feb. 1, 1929, President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower, now known as Bok Tower Gardens. It was a very rare occasion to see the President in those days. To have the opportunity to...
