Lake Wales is planning a do-over on the transformation of one section of a downtown street.
City commissioners, meeting as the board of directors of the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency, voted unanimously Sept. 10 to allocate about $138,000 for adjustments to the makeover of a stretch of Park Avenue.
Commissioners approved a contract change order addressing two problems that arose during the project. Bricks laid on the street’s surface shifted under the weight of vehicles, and the drainage system around a two-block stretch has not functioned well.
Commissioners approved funds during the meeting for a contractor to fix both problems.
The redesign of Park Avenue between First Street and Wetmore Street is among dozens of projects the city is pursuing through Lake Wales Connected , a guideline for revitalization downtown and in the Northwest Neighborhood.
The blueprint, developed by the private firm Dover, Kohl & Partners, adopts elements of a blueprint from 1931 that envisioned Lake Wales as “a city in a garden.” Frederic Law Olmsted Jr. drafted the plan soon after designing Bok Tower Gardens and Mountain Lake Estates, a private community.