Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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With a minimum of discussion, the Lake Wales City Commission this week unanimously approved a Special Exception Use Permit to allow a multi-family Planned Development Project for the redevelopment of the aging 120-unit Grove Manor public housing project. "We've been working on this a long time," said Mayor Jack Hilligoss as he called for a vote. The long-awaited project is the first phase of a multi-phased Master Plan which will take place on 24.74 acres of land that...
Jen Bricker-Bauer knows how it feels to sit on the deck and watch while everyone else has fun playing in the water. Born without legs and abandoned, One would think she was destined for a life of hardship. However, her amazing adoptive family gave her one simple rule, "Never Say Can't." Instead of bemoaning her fate, Bricker-Bauer has become an international aerialist, inspirational speaker and New York Times best-selling author, and the ideal keynote speaker and performer...
A tasty tour of nearly two dozen downtown Lake Wales businesses will be featured this Thursday, April 10 as Lake Wales Main Street presents their 6th annual Wine DownTown. Food samples from several downtown restaurants, including Melanie's Seafood Company, Mimi's Bakery, Cocoa Cakes Studio, The Thirsty Dragon, and The Peach and Pepper will be offered at each of the participating businesses. The food samples will be accompanied by free samples of fine wines and craft beers...
What has undoubtedly been the ugliest Lake Wales municipal election campaign in memory is coming to a conclusion on April 1, when voters will have a last chance to help select a mayor who will serve a new three-year term. Incumbent Mayor Jack Hilligoss is being challenged by former city commissioner Curtis Gibson. The campaign has been marked by a series of attacks using both direct mail and text messages funded by a "dark-money" political action committee based in Tampa. The...
Two new restaurants are among the immediate results of the investment in a renewed downtown historic district by the Community Redevelopment Agency and the City of Lake Wales. The city recently celebrated the opening of the re-imagined Park Avenue which, along with stretches of First Street, Scenic Highway, and the Market Plaza, have been turned into lush gardens lining brick streets intended to create an attractive setting for dining and retail. The Thirsty Dragon, an...
Restaurant choices for Lake Wales area residents continues to increase as four new operations are poised to begin serving in January. Two are well-known national chains while two are locally-owned. The city's sparkling reimagining of the downtown area, known as Lake Wales Connected, is attracting new investment in the form of two new restaurants, both in an extensively-remodeled building just across from the US Post Office. The Thirsty Dragon will open in a matter of weeks at...
The prospect of a transformative high-end development along SR 60 west of Lake Wales advanced with a unanimous vote in favor of the annexation of about 558 acres that will be the site of the proposed Lake Wales Commons at the most recent city commission meeting. Lake Wales Commons could host as many as 3,200 new dwelling units, along with more than a million square feet of light industrial and warehouse space on about 558 acres fronting along SR 60 West, Old Bartow Road, and W...
A tour of Lake Wales by an influential group of specialty builders may lead to interest in new "traditional neighborhood" housing in the area, according to organizers of the event. Several dozen members of the National Town Builders Association arrived by motorcoach to visit the area, with stops at Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wailes Park, and a walking tour through the downtown area. The group was led by Victor Dover, principal of the planning firm of Dover, Kohl & Partners,...
The ongoing construction work on Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales has had serious financial impacts on many businesses along the three-block stretch, but new assistance is being provided by the City of Lake Wales to help them survive the challenges. Restaurants, salons, and retail establishments dependent upon foot traffic are eligible to receive individual business-retention grants of $5,000 to help offset the disruptions they have faced. The Lake Wales city commission...
The Lake Wales History Museum will add a new kick-off feature to the popular annual Pioneer Days festival in October by hosting "Beers with Pioneers: A Fun Evening of Craft Beer and Local Heritage." Described as "a one-of-a-kind event," the fundraiser will take place on Friday, October 25th beginning at 6 p.m. A $20 ticket allows each adult participant to sample a wide variety of craft beers, according to Museum Director Angela Rosado. The tasting will run until 9 p.m. "This...
A controversial high-density development involving Lake Wales Country Club and Oakwood that was nixed by city planners earlier this year is returning with new designs even as new information emerges about Falgun Dharia, the principal behind the project, who had introduced himself last year as Frank Ghandi. (See our stories below.) The new conceptual site development plan still combines the two golf courses but relies more heavily on single-family home sites. Many residents at...
A long-vacant space in the Orange Grove Shopping Center in Lake Wales will soon be home to a large new Ollie's store amid a burst of new residential development in the area. Ollie's is a discount department store with 521 locations, and more opening this month in other states. There are several locations in central Florida, including one adjacent to the Lakeland Square Mall. Other nearby Ollie's locations include Avon Park and Kissimmee. Ollie's stores feature more than 20 sep...
The boom in development of new fast-casual restaurants in Lake Wales is continuing unabated, pacing the area's fast-growing residential population. New conceptual applications have been submitted for both a Chipotle Mexican Grille and a Chick-fil-A restaurant. Pre-application meetings have been completed for both, according to city officials. Most of the newly-announced sites are clustered around the Eagle Ridge Mall on US 27 at Chalet Suzanne Road. An announced new Dunkin...
An upbeat message of economic progress was shared with more than 100 area business leaders during a Business After Hours event at the Eagle Ridge Mall Tuesday evening. The event was sponsored by the Lake Wales and Winter Haven Chambers of Commerce. Eagle Ridge Mall General Manager Curtis Gibson told the gathering that the mall "belongs" to the people of the Ridge, from Frostproof to Winter Haven, and touted the expansion of business that has been happening there. When he took...
A new Panera Bread restaurant is expected to rise soon on a vacant parcel adjacent to the Aldi grocery on US 27 north in Lake Wales. City officials have revealed that they have conducted a pre-construction meeting with the developer, and construction should begin within weeks. Panera is the latest in a wave of chain restaurants finding sites on the fast-growing corridor near Eagle Ridge Mall. Panera Bread, based in St. Louis, MO, offers a bakery-café style restaurant that...
The Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce is inviting golf enthusiasts and local business owners to get involved in their annual outing. The Chamber will host its 2024 Golf Scramble, on Friday, April 26 and feature raffles and a variety of prizes for the "top winners", according to Lori Beyer, Services & Events Coordinator at the Chamber. The tournament take place at the Lake Wales Country Club and offers area golfers an afternoon day of fellowship and some zany fun. The outing...
A population boom is expected in Lake Wales in coming months and years as design work or construction is advancing for at least 40 projects within the city limits, in addition to others outside the city. A LakeWalesNews.net calculation shows a total of more than 15,660 new residential units have already met some level of approval by the city commission, with many having already received final plat approval for construction, even as other projects are nearing completion. If the...
New life is being breathed into a significant building in the historic center of Lake Wales after actions taken by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday. The city commission, sitting as the CRA board, also agreed to a new loan program to help local investors fund the renovation of five downtown retail units. "This is new, this is the first one," CRA Executive Director James Slayton said of the $100,000 loan toward a First Street property owned by Tammy and S...
A long-anticipated wave of new restaurants is coming into existence in Lake Wales with the pending openings of three new fast-food outlets. The new restaurants are part of a spate of new construction on US 27 in the vicinity of the Eagle Ridge Mall. The growing population of Lake Wales is a primary justification for the investments being made by the several restaurant chains, according to local officials. Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers and Slim Chickens are both...
Lake Wales will become a healthier city if traditional neighborhood design standards are applied to future development proposals here, according to studies shared by Dr. Joanna Lombard of the University of Miami. Lombard, who has dual appointments to the university's medical school and the school of architecture, was the lead panelist on a webinar hosted this week by 1000 Friends of Florida to discuss the health and wellness impacts of where we live. The significant increases...
Owners of the rapidly-growing number of electric vehicles in the Lake Wales area, as well as travelers passing through the city on SR 60, will be pleased to find four new electric vehicle chargers in a handy location. A project of AdventHealth Lake Wales Medical Center and Duke Energy EV Division, the chargers have been installed in the hospital parking lot immediately behind the Lake Wales Arts Center at 1099 SR 60 East. They are readily accessible from 11th Street. A large...
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...
You can expect to meet crowds of bargain-hunters on one area roadway as the 16th annual Ridge Scenic Highway "39 Mile Yard Sale" takes place on on Saturday, November 4th. The event typically draws thousands of visitors from across central Florida and beyond, coming to seek unusual finds and great bargains brought forth from barns, garages, attics, and other treasure storerooms. The sale runs from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm along the entire length of the Ridge Scenic Highway,...
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...
Heather Danielle Strickland of Lake Wales passed away Thursday, May 25, 2023, at Advent Health Lake Wales. She was born August 11, 1984, at 8:11 in El Paso, Texas; She lived in Indialantic and then Melbourne Beach as a child and teenager. She moved to Lake Wales from Melbourne Beach seven years ago. Heather was a business manager for Frontline Protection Systems, US Integrators LLC, and did sales for high end integration systems. Heather was an excellent student and worker....
