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Commerce's Main Street building, redesigning the tennis facilities, updating playground
equipment and creating a more open park.
Ledger, The (Lakeland, FL)
June 23, 2007
PANEL OKS DESIGN OF CITY HALL PLAZA
Author: MERISSA GREEN
AUBURNDALE - In its first step to redevelop the downtown park, the Community
Redevelopment Agency gave the approval this week for the design of City Hall Plaza, an area
that will be dedicated for more parking.
"We're eliminating parking in the middle of the park and accommodating for the loss in City Hall
Plaza," said Assistant City Manager Andy Stewart.
City officials said construction of the City Hall Plaza will begin once all permitting, plans and
bids are approved by the necessary agencies, such as the Southwest Florida Water Management
District and the CRA board. The CRA has $200,000 earmarked in the budget to complete the
project.
At its last meeting April 16, the CRA board wanted the project's planner to review the
engineering plans for the City Hall Plaza. Gary Warner of Glatting Jackson said there were
concerns that the proposed parking would encroach farther into the park's green space.
However, the proposed parking and layout the CRA board approved Monday night removes
most of the parking from the interior of the park.
Warner also said the approved plan developed by McVay-Woods, engineers for the project, will
replace the parking that is to be removed from the downtown park. Plans call for improvements
to East Park Street that would allow for the creation of an expanded parking area, a spacious
special events area, additional sidewalk network and a safer intersection at Main Street by
eliminating the horseshoe-shaped parking that exists now.
Stewart said the plans for City Hall Plaza will create a safer intersection from East Park Street to
Main Street. "A lot of times people run the stop on East Park Street, and they don't even realize
they're running it," he said. "It's an accident waiting to happen, and that will be eliminated."
Mayor Marvin Wiley said he's glad to finally see the plans come together for the redevelopment
of the downtown area and he likes the name of the soon-to-be-improved parking area. "It's just
icing on the cake for me being in this position that I can vote on it," he said.
In redeveloping the downtown park, the city plans to move the basketball courts to a proposed
community center and gymnasium on Bennett Street. The redevelopment plans also include
moving the Chamber Main Street building, redesigning the tennis facilities, updating the
playground equipment, eliminating the shuffleboard courts and creating a more open park.
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