Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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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....
Marcus Kirby, a former associate pastor at HighPoint Church in Lake Wales, has been ordered to serve 10 years' probation and pay $67,491 in restitution to his former employer, the Lake Wales Care Center, after pleading no contest to bilking two of the center's clients whose financial accounts he was overseeing. Kirby, 41, who also was a trustee on the Lake Wales Charter School Board, faced up to 3½ years in prison had he been convicted at trial, according to state...
Frostproof's limited dining options will expand with the addition of one new choice Friday, March 31 as the highly anticipated Frostproof BBQ Company is slated to open. Although several other popular dining places are already operating, many locals are quite excited to have another choice. The Frostproof BBQ Company will make owner Joel Vann's eighth location, following in their duo's work with Lakeland BBQ Company and Polk City BBQ Company. Preparations at the new business...
An upbeat assessment of activities during the past year and a positive look toward the future was offered by Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligoss at the annual "State of the City" luncheon sponsored by the Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce Friday. The event drew some seventy area residents to the Performing Arts Center at The Vanguard School. In a speach running about 25 minutes Hilligoss cited the implementation of a "180" utility city area, which "establishes the footprint" of...
It's that zany time of year for thousands of celebrants who will participate in the annual Lake Wales Mardi Gras, with festivities running from February 11 through 21. Between two book-end events, the heart of the traditional event will fill two days with music concerts and a colorful parade on the weekend of February 18. The long-standing tradition of Mardi Gras in Lake Wales typically attracts thousands of visitors, filling streets, restaurants, and other area establishments...
A new business park may eventually rise on newly-annexed land south of Hunt Brothers Road near Loves Travel Stop and the city's soccer complex on large parcels are currently in citrus production. The City Commission Tuesday night approved the annexation of 47.31 acres of land owned by Hunt Brothers, and agreed to the future land use of BPC, allowing the same uses as the nearby Longleaf Business Park. The accompanying zoning will allow for warehouse uses as well as light...
An invitation to view and assess potential community investment opportunities in Lake Wales drew representatives from financial institutions looking for opportunities to invest in the community. Several banks and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency responded to the invitation to participate in a tour of the city, which was led by staff of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency and the Main Street organization Thursday. Several reportedly left impressed with...
A Lake Wales zoning ordinance will create "a new district in form...architectural standards...and parking requirements," and give it economic incentive by "permitting and allowing," according to Amy Grove, a planner with Dover Kohl. The "downtown mixed-use" district is at the center of efforts to revitalize the area. Groves' remarks were made at a final public forum on the mapping of a new zone, which drew fewer than two dozen residents to hear a presentation by planners from...
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...
A spurt of new restaurant development will soon be offering a wider range of choices for Lake Wales residents. The growing list has risen to seven new food and beverage outlets. The first to open is expected to be Locorrito, a new effort from area restaurateurs Matthew Brock and his partner, Dwayne McQuillen. The new "fast-casual" spot will open in late September in a former pizza-outlet location at 218 SR 60 East, next door to Citizen's Bank. The building has been...
While two independently owned and operated new restaurants are planned for opening on Highway 60, including Locorrito and Brake Burger Garage, and two more are planned to open on First Street downtown and on Lincoln Avenue, three more are aiming for construction on US 27 near the Eagle Ridge Mall. All three new restaurants will be located on the east side of US 27, and will occupy among the last of the rapidly-filling mall outparcels. A Starbucks coffee outlet is planned for...
Thomas D McKeon, D.C., 72, of Reunion, Florida passed away Tuesday morning August 30, 2022, in Orlando, Florida. Tom was born August 26, 1950, and was a devoted chiropractor and community leader. Always ready with a joke or a story, Tom’s sense of humor and skill as a chiropractor made him a popular doctor in Lake Wales with many patients seeing him for decades. His commitment to his hometown, his dedication to community service, and his ability to get things done made him a...
Two new restaurants are being developed in the historic districts of Lake Wales, and both are receiving inducements from a special grant program. "Smokin' DJ's" anticipates opening early next year at 122 1st St N, Unit #4. The new restaurant will offer table service and the signature barbecue ribs already popularized locally by the "D on Wheelz" food truck. Co-owner Jennifer Leeks told LakeWalesNews.net that they are tackling the extensive renovations required to convert the...
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...
A portion of Third Street between Park Avenue and Crystal Avenue will be permanently closed to vehicular traffic on Wednesday, April 6 in order to become a segment of a new pedestrian and bicycle trail linking the popular Lake Wailes Trail with downtown Lake Wales. Bollards will be installed at both ends of the short block in order to prevents motorized vehicles from entering, but are designed to be removable to permit special events such as food-truck rallies to take place. T...
Downtown Lake Wales is seeing a significant uptick in property transactions that some see as the result of ambitious street renewal plans being advanced by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency. The CRA plans to invest some $18 million in renovations across a wide swath of the historic city center. In the latest transaction Monday, investors Stephen and Tammy James have acquired four additional parcels from the Park Avenue Building Company. The couple had purchased...
