A respectful gathering at the Gulfstream Hotel

You've probably heard by now that JoAnn Golden et al continue their monkeywrenching and paperwrenching ways to stop the hotel from ever opening again. This tactic is also used to demoralize and depress the public mood. Don't let that happen. It's important that everyone excited about the Gulfstream redevelopment stays excited and involved.

It's also very important to attend meetings and contact your elected officials. 

Remember, there was a time back in late 2012 and early 2013 when the mood was at its most bleak. Almost everyone involved in saving the Gulfstream was demoralized and there wasn't much fight left in us. Or so it seemed.

That was until Loretta Sharpe got angry and forced the issue: a 45′ height limit would doom the hotel and like so many other historic hotels in Florida, become a pile of rubble. Loretta was the force behind the Friends of the Gulfstream PAC which put the focus on the 'height issue' and the hotel's future.

Friends gathering on the north patio of the Gulfstream.

The Gulfstream Hotel is like an old friend too. It's one that has witnessed the ebb and flow of our Lake Worth community. It stands quiet, for now, a sentinel at the west end of the bridge over Lake Worth Lagoon and has done so for 91 years.

I imagined what it will be like in the future when visitors arrive on the 21st Century Brightline or a supersonic airliner for transport to our hotel downtown and juxtaposed that with all those who arrived in the early 20th Century on one of Flagler's trains on the FEC Railway to escape the Northeast cold.

Gatherings like this will be common once again. Much like they were in the era of Henry Flagler.

Like the community that surrounds this historic structure, I believe the hotel's best days are yet to come. That was the spirit of the people who came together to honor that vision, including that of a former citizen, while welcoming the future revitalization of the hotel property. It's alright to be optimistic and please stay involved.

Attend meetings and get involved in our future. We'll forever be a low-rise City with a downtown hotel district—the way it should be.