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PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE UPON RECEIPT"
LAKE WORTH
COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY
29 SOUTH J STREET, UNIT 1
LAKE WORTH, FLORIDA 33460-3787
www.lakeworthcra.org
LAKE WORTH COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AWARDED $72,000 GRANT FROM PALM BEACH COUNTY SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY
Lake Worth, FL; February 11, 2016 - The Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is excited to announce that our agency was recently awarded a $72,000 grant from the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority (SWA).
The funding is courtesy of SWA's Blighted and Distressed Property Grant Program. The Lake Worth CRA was one of seven applications approved by the SWA Board of Commissioners this past week. This grant is intended to assist in the cleanup and beautification of distressed, blighted or otherwise impacted properties within both the unincorporated and incorporated areas of Palm Beach County. This grant is offered as an incentive to improve the quality of the life and provide a safer, healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the residents.
The CRA applied for this grant to further improve and enhance the exterior of the Lake Worth Arts Center located at 1121 Lucerne Ave. in downtown Lake Worth. Funds from the SWA grant will be used to:
• create a safe outdoors experience for our resident artists and visitors by adding decorative fencing
• removal of an obsolete irrigation system
• removal of old/dead plants along the perimeter of the building
• replacement of former plantings with new drought resistant, low maintenance ground covering
• decorative fencing/screening between the property and the railroad right-of-way to promote safety
• new garbage bin enclosures
Last year, the CRA invested over $150,000 in new interior improvements to this City owned property courtesy of funding from the State of Florida.The CRA Board and Staff are extremely appreciative that the SWA reviewed and approved our grant application.
Bidding and procurement of services for these new exterior improvements will begin this spring. All work is expected to be Additional information regarding this grant or any of the other Lake Worth CRA's neighborhood initiatives can be found by visiting the CRA's website: www.lakeworthcra.org or by calling the office at (561) 493-2550.
About The Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency
The Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency is governed by a seven (7) member Board of Commissioners which is appointed by the City of Lake Worth Commission. Their role is to direct CRA activities within the Community Redevelopment Area in accordance with the approved Lake Worth Redevelopment Plan. Revenue is generated for CRA projects through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). For more information, visit www.lakeworthcra.org
14 comments:
I'm still furious that they took out all our shuffleboard courts. How much did that cost?
Me too, I remember seeing a lady playing there one time about 8 years ago. It's a tragedy I tell ya.
The city stopped maintaining the courts. Illegals hung out and were obnoxiously rude to those who played there. They trashed the place and used it for a bathroom.
The city, in all its wisdom, once again did not listen to the people who wanted to keep the courts (even after two city community meetings) because they could NOT afford the upkeep or didn't want to afford the upkeep. It was a better deal to budget for seminars, trips to Washington DC, Colorado and the Grand Ole Opry. Of course it was the city's fault it went down the tubes. Then they turned over the property to the CRA for a buck a year who then turned it over to the Arts Armor.
We are a city that would rather give our stuff away rather than maintain it. Pathetic, isn't it?
We need a change.
Ya, and there's tons of grant money out there for maintenance of shuffle board courts.
For nearly 100 years, we maintained our courts until this administration. They can't do anything and are full of excuses for failure. After all, the Mentoring Center was only there for 2 years before Stanton kicked them out.
Actually, if you keep them up, there is not that much maintenance. We have 4 courts where I live and the cost is minimal. It's when you 100% neglect an asset is when you have cost problems.
There are lots of 55+ Communities that maintain shuffle board courts. Your is just one of them. Lake Worth Towers, one of the structures that give Lake Worth its "low rise charm", also has them. Lots of them. And they are three blocks away. They would probably LOVE to have someone interested in using them.
Problem is Lake Worth was once populated by more elderly folks. Those who were more inclined to play shuffle board. The courts were almost NEVER used. I applaud the CRA for having the vision to make something exciting out of this underutilized city asset. With the improvements to the exterior, this will soon be a fully functioning attraction to Lake Worth.
Add this to the Urban Arts Lofts, Benzaiten Center, soon to come West Villages development and you start to see how the CRA is moving improvements WEST of the tracks into the part of the city that needs it most.
It is amazing that an agency of the city is actually transforming a eyesore hangout for illegal aliens into a vibrant activity hub and all you get here is belly-aching about losing courts nobody ever used.
I believe that I said they were used and gave the reasons why people stopped coming there.
This city has to work for many people, not just poor, starving artists. We still have, anonymous, a senior population of at least 14% but all ages play shuffleboard.
As far as the exterior goes, it looks like hell.
Nicely done and congrats to the LW CRA! Leveraging tax money and obtaining grants is the way to go!
It is amazing that an agency of the city is actually
stealing the usual & customary tax base increase of
the people and giving the money to unelected,
unaccountable & unwatched group! Have you noticed
the streets are a mess and most projects/grants do
not cover the 'meat & potatoes' but the whip cream
on dessert!
ACE would like to participate in the arts at home
w/set rules & conditions - but no - they must be
where the powers that be decide they shall be and NOT
WHERE THEY WANT - they proudly claim it's organic
but that is BS as the choice isn't the artists but
someone who has decided they are the deciders!
CRA cheerleaders need to do the math (ROI) and what
the people want vs what taxpayer money is begged back
(like dixie hwy hookers) from the state or fed!
Suzanne is right. We should immediately stop applying for grants that effectively double or triple our money for projects like parks and housing. We looked much better with the abandoned houses that were overgrown and nobody was taking responsibility for.
Other communities could better use the over $30 million the CRA has brought in for improvements in Lake Worth's most neglected neighborhoods. Who wants to live in new, energy efficient safe housing anyway.
It's all word salad.
LOL @ 4:42.
It's the mindset of our country now. What is the debt these days? $19 trillion and growing like a weed? Just think if Bernie gets elected.
It would be nice if the CRA went back to its mission of getting rid of slum and blight.
This CRA news Is wonderful, turning a grossly under utilized asset into usable space that fits into the artist village scene.
This and other appropriately zoned ares are where the A.C.E. people need to focus their energies on. Allowing businesses to establish or relocate into the residential neighborhoods is crazy... People buy homes in residential neighborhoods because they want to live in a residential neighborhood not next door to a printing press, welding shop, or an art school
The best commission ever didn't maintain them and turned them into an immigrant day labor center. They stayed there because that's where they were to stay. It hasn't been used as shuffleboard courts in a long time. This commission didn't do anything but make it functional again.
At the time, LW had triple the number of immigrants hanging out on Lake and Lucerne for day labor pick-ups. It was Jeff Clemens who was the swing vote on this for various reasons. Isn't he one of yours? Without Clemens, this never would have happened. But that was a long time ago and was used for 2 years until Susan Stanton stopped it. In the meantime, illegal immigrants are still hanging out but not in near the numbers as it was 8 years ago. The fact is, the Mentoring Center was given the building NOT the outside and where the courts were. The city FAILED to maintain them--big time--and have always failed to maintain anything that we own. As far as the city goes, nothing is "functional" unless they give it away or lease it away.
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