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Paul “Andy” Stewart
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Tab 11
Ledger, The (Lakeland, FL)
December 21, 2007
A'dale's City Hall Plaza Gets Finishing Touches
Author: Merissa Green
AUBURNDALE In the second phase to redevelop the downtown park, city workers put the
finishing touches this week on construction of the new City Hall Plaza, which includes parking
and road improvements. The redesign of the parking lot on East Park Street between Main Street
and Bobby Green Plaza provides a better visual for cars entering Main Street from Park Street,
said Assistant City Manager Andy Stewart.
"We're fortunate we haven't had a major accident at the intersection," Stewart said. The project
cost $130,000, which included streetscaping, sidewalk networks, landscaping and repaving of the
parking lot and East Park Street. The 61 diagonal parking spaces replace the horizontal ones that
existed before. The aesthetically appealing area will also feature signs that say City Hall Plaza
that will serve as gateways to the parking lot. The new parking area will be open today.
Mickey Etherton, the city's public works director, said the city was able to complete the project
in a short period of time because city employees pulled together to help with the installation of
the brick pavers, landscaping and moving utilities. "It's definitely a safer route for the city
residents in the downtown area," he said. "It really has been a great project."
The redesigned parking lot area allows motorists wanting to patronize the downtown shops to
find parking without interrupting the flow of traffic at the East Park Street and Main Street
intersection. The project's first phase involved demolishing the downtown shuffleboard courts.
The courts have become open space with park benches, decorative brick pavers and foliage such
as magnolia trees.
The Community Redevelopment Agency set aside $652,000 in its 2007-08 budget for the park
redevelopment plans, which will cover the construction of City Hall Plaza, updating the
playground equipment, and adding sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.
The rest of the redevelopment plans call for improvements to East Park Street that would allow
for the creation of an expanded parking area and a spacious special events area. The intersection
at Main Street would be improved by eliminating the horseshoe-shaped parking that exists now.
The next step in the redevelopment plans is to eliminate the horsehoe-shaped parking next to the
Auburndale Chamber Main Street building and to move the playground equipment to where the
horseshoe parking is now.
Other plans include moving the basketball courts to a proposed community center and
gymnasium on Bennett Street. The plans also call for the possibility of moving the Chamber of
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