“and county parks and recreation officials to create the Snook Islands Natural Area. . .”
The news below is from ‘back in the day’ when local news about the environment was very big local news in Lake Worth and beyond the City limits.
Former Palm Beach Post reporter Lady Hereford focused a lot of effort on in-depth environmental journalism and she was later succeeded by another reporter who covered this City, an acclaimed environmental reporter in his own right, Willie Howard.
From December 2003. Front page news in The Palm Beach Post.
Click on image to enlarge:
Over strong objections from homeowners along the golf course and local environmentalists who wanted this area to remain ‘pristine’, former Mayor Rodney Romano pushed the project forward.
The Snook Islands Natural Area, a Joint Project with Palm Beach County, “Creating habitat in a busy city” is one of the most popular. So the next time you visit the Snook Islands remember all the hard work by people such a former Mayor Rodney Romano and former Palm Beach County Commissioner Warren Newell who later ended up in prison and claimed his only real crime was staying, “in my position as county commissioner too long.”
The good news is Newell remained on the County Commission long enough to push through the Snook Islands project!
The original idea for the Snook Islands was a boardwalk the entire length of the golf course and extending south past the Robert Harris (“Lake Worth”) Bridge allowing the public to walk a boardwalk from 16th Ave. North all the way to Bryant Park, “without ever having to cross a road”.
Twenty years ago, during the period when a future boardwalk along the Intracoastal Waterway was envisioned the critics began spreading rumors about selling the Lake Worth Municipal Golf Course and that the City was removing mangroves and all other kinds of nonsense. Despite the facts these rumors persist to this day, depending on how the political winds are blowing at the time.
But back in 2003 the public got tired of hearing those homeowners along the golf course that wanted to protect their view and turned a deaf ear to those who wanted a ‘pristine’ Intracoastal and then the dirt and sand began to move. . .
In the video below at the 7:40 mark Palm Beach is “fabulously endowed by nature” and “Lake” Worth (the Lake Worth Lagoon) is briefly shown at 8:10.
Then there’s a city with “kindly tradewinds”, West Palm Beach, a municipality without a beach.
Architecture and house colors are highlighted in an entertaining way. Watching this video one can understand why after World War II the population of Florida increased so fast. Following the Depression years and a second worldwide war who wouldn’t want, or seriously consider, relocating to Florida?
Very important: This bike ride the first Friday of each month is AT YOUR OWN RISK!
In some circles this event is still called the “LDub Critical Mass” ride. For those of you unfamiliar with the term ‘LDub’ click on this link for more information.
To be part of this ride show up this evening at Bryant Park along the Intracoastal at 7:00 between 1st Ave. South and Lake Ave. (use 30 S. Golfview Rd. in GPS). There is plenty of FREE parking close by for those transporting bikes by vehicle.
There are rules that must be followed. The ride begins exactly at 7:30 sharp. All traffic regulations must be followed by all participants. Bike lights are required (rear red light, white light on front). All children must wear a helmet. Bring along a container of water and plastic straws are prohibited.
Critical Mass rides are referred to as an “organized coincidence” with
no leaders or members. Routes are decided either spontaneously or by
popular vote and the ride ‘leaders’ (sometimes referred to as corkers)
are out front in front and mingled in with the group.
Here’s a blast from the past in LDub!
A pamphlet from 2005: a bike tour hosted by panagioti e. tsolkas. . .
“featuring visits to the sites of some of Lake Worth’s most heated issues. . .”
Well, anyhow. Continue reading to learn more about the monthly Critical Mass bike ride and tour of Lake Worth Beach.
Are you a Boomer? Hipster Millennial? A discerning World Thrift shopper? An Apatharchist? If you’ve never been on a Critical Mass ride you don’t know what you’re missing. Get on that Dutch Style 7-Speed Step-Thru Hybrid 44cm Cream Commuter Road bike and show up. Don’t have a bike? Use this link to locate the closest SkyBike kiosk.
The Critical Mass ride in LDub is always on the first Friday of each month and begins at 7:30 sharp. The start time is a major rule.
Here’s a video of a previous LDub bike ride:
“We meet in Bryant Park for a 10–12 mile bike ride 1st Friday of every month”.
“Brought to you by the Good People of Lake Worth”, so leave your sociogeoanarchopolitical agendas at home!
Things to remember:
The ride is AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Helmets for children 16 years old and younger ARE REQUIRED BY LAW.
Lights are REQUIRED (Red [rear] and white [front]).
Pay very close attention to the “corkers”.
But the ultimate rules of the road are enforced by PBSO:
A “corker” can’t give you a traffic ticket. But a PBSO deputy can.
A traditional reading of Popul Vuh is below, an ancient Mayan prayer originating from what is now called Guatemala.
This ancient prayer is from a compilation of prayers by author Ted Brownstein and the Lake Worth Beach Interfaith Network* in the 2014 expanded edition of The Interfaith Prayer Book:
This Expanded Edition adds prayers from eight additional traditions; Native African, Native American, Zoroastrian, Taoist, Confucian, Shinto, Jain and Sikh.
[T]he story of creation according to the Quiche Maya of the region known today as Guatemala. [emphasis added] Translated as ‘The Council Book’, ‘The Book of the People’ or, literally, ‘The Book of the Mat’, the work has been referred to as “The Mayan Bible” although this comparison is imprecise. The Popol Vuh is not regarded by the Maya as ‘the word of God’ nor as sacred scripture but rather as an account of “the ancient word” and the understanding the Quiche had of cosmology and creation before the coming of Christianity.
Included in the chapter titled, “Native American Prayer” in The Interfaith Prayer Book:
Harmony with nature is a predominant theme in many native traditions, ranging through North, Central and South America. The world is structured according to the four cardinal compass points, east, west, north and south, and by the vertical axis linking Mother Earth below with Father Sky above. All of creation, mountains and plains, plants and fruits, humans and animals are seen as interconnected sacred elements. The well-being of each is dependent upon the whole.
Now to the “Maya prayer for visitation to sacred sites and reading the creation epic, Popul Vuh” from p. 23 in author Ted Brownstein’s prayer book:
Make my guilt vanish, Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth; Grant me a favor, Give me strength, give me courage In my heart, in my head, Since you are my mountain and my plain; May there be no falsehood and no stain, And may this reading of the Popul Vuh Come out clear as dawn, And may the sifting of ancient times Be complete in my heart, in my head; And make my guilt vanish, My grandmothers, grandfathers, And however many souls of the dead there may be, You who speak with the Heart of Sky and Earth, May all of you together give strength To the reading I have undertaken.
*The Lake Worth Beach Interfaith Network is a group of individuals and faith-based communities dedicated to promoting acceptance and understanding among our diverse spiritual traditions through devotions, education and compassionate action.
Remember this “$21 Million Outstanding” next time you read another one of those verbose, repetitive, and tiresome storiesfrom the usual suspects about our Code Enforcement Dept. here in the City of Lake Worth Beach.
Click on image to enlarge.
Commentary published in The Lake Worth Herald, May 23rd, 2002.
“Pride should kick in at some point and help clean up this mess.”
TAKE NOTE: The public meeting scheduled for tonight (Feb. 6th) has been rescheduled.
What follows is an updated public notice published in TheLake Worth Herald:
CITY OF LAKE WORTH BEACH
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM PUBLIC MEETING Please join the City of Lake Worth Beach for a Public Meeting to discuss the upcoming Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for Fiscal Year 2020–2021. During this meeting City staff will describe eligible uses of CDBG funds and solicit public input on how these funds should be used. DATE: February 27, 2020 TIME: 6:00 P.M. LOCATION: CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL 7 NORTH DIXIE HIGHWAY LAKE WORTH BEACH, FL 33460 The actual allocation of CDBG funding for Fiscal Year 2020–2021 has not yet been announced. It is estimated that it will comparable to the CDBG allocation of $235,870 that the City received for Fiscal Year 2019–2020. Eligible uses of these funds includes the following activities:
Acquisition of real property for a public purpose
Demolition/clearance
Infrastructure installation and improvements
Public facilities and improvements
Historic preservation
Code enforcement
All eligible activities must meet one of the following National Objectives of the CDBG Program by:
Benefitting low and moderate income persons;
Preventing or eliminating slums or blight; or
Meeting an urgent community development need.
PUBLISH: The Lake Worth Herald, Thursday, January 30, 2020
End of public notice.
Support your LOCAL newspaper. Support LOCAL small town journalism.
Newspaper clipping from the Lake Worth Forum dated July 8th, 2003. The Forum is published by the Sun Sentinel for distribution in Palm Beach County.
The caption beneath the photo reads in part:
The pier at Lake Worth Beach, first opened in 1954, was recently renamed by the city commission for long-time activist William O. Lockhart, who died in April at age 71.
Article continues on p. 6 . . . three excerpts:
“William Lockhart was a friend of society and a proud member of this city,” said Paul Martin, who was overcome with emotion at the unanimous vote [July 1st, 2008 at City Commission] to change the name. Martin, along with others in Lake Worth, started a grassroots campaign months ago to raise funds to pay for the lettering on a new sign showing that the pier is named in Lockhart’s honor.
and. . .
Along with his charitable efforts, Lockhart was a city commissioner in the late 1980s who attended many meetings around the city’s neighborhoods. After retiring from his city job in 1991, Lockhart was a volunteer with the Lake Worth Citizens on Patrol and was president of Lake Worth Citizens on Task. But it was the city’s pier that Lockhart spent many years of his life.
and the article concludes. . .
Commissioner Nadine Burns took time at the end of last week’s commission meeting to recall what she thought Lockhart meant to the City of Lake Worth. “I was cleaning out one of the file cabinets here at city hall and I realized William Lockhart was one of the most repeated names,” Burns said. “We did a good thing tonight.”
The William O. Lockhart Pier was one of the sites visited by writer Lori Durante* of the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in a blog post dated Oct. 2012 titled, “Black Bahamian descendants from Miami tour historic Lake Worth”. According to Durante former Palm Beach Post reporter Willie Howard provided research on Lockhart’s ancestry.
Another stop on the tour was the St. John’s Episcopal Church in the City of Lake Worth: “Lake Osborne Addition was once Lake Osborne ‘Colored’ Addition that was settled around 1917 by black Bahamians.” Durante then states that in 1999 the City deleted the derogatory term ‘Colored’ from City plat maps.
Durante’s tour also visited the Grant AME Chapel, “[E]stablished in 1922 and is the oldest black church in Lake Worth. The church organization originated in the neighboring Town of Lantana.”
More history about the William O. Lockhart Pier: the hurricanes of 2004–2005.
After the pier was renamed in 2003 and according to reporter Kari Barnett some thought the name change would be “confusing for some visitors” and others wanted the name to remain the “Lake Worth Pier” a much bigger issue came along in September 2004. What no one could have predicted and very few were prepared for: hurricanes Frances and Jeanne and then Wilma visited the very next year.
Here is news from 2006 as reported by Palm Beach Post staff writer Nicole Janok on, “Lake Worth moving to rebuild pier”.
“The $2.8 million project is slated to begin in January and take approximately 10 months”.
LAKE WORTH — Longtime surfer James Linkins remembers the days when Lake Worth Beach had sandbars that produced killer waves. But ever since Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne destroyed the William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier two years ago [2004], the waves haven’t been the same.”
Newspaper clipping from October 28th, 2006.
Click on image to enlarge:
On Sept. 4th, 2004, Hurricane Frances pummeled Lake Worth — then two weeks later we got hit by Hurricane Jeanne — winds estimated 120 mph. Then along came Wilma in 2005. Fast forward to 2009. . .
The William O.
Lockhart Municipal Pier held its grand reopening on May 9th, 2009 and Lockhart has kept his place in
City of Lake Worth history.
*Does the name Lori Durante sound familiar? It should. Durante is one of Lake Worth’s greatest ambassadors. She was featured in an article by Palm Beach Post business reporter Jennifer Sorentrue: Delray Beach resident Lori Durante launched Taste History Culinary Tours in 2011, combining the idea of a narrated bus tour with the growing popularity of food tastings. She started the venture in Delray Beach, and then added tours in Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth [emphasis added], and West Palm Beach’s Northwood Village neighborhood and Arts and Entertainment District.
Support your LOCAL newspaper and support LOCAL small town journalism.
As most newspapers managed by oversized corporations retreat from local small town news reporting it’s LOCAL newspapers like The Lake Worth Herald that continue to serve the public.
And did you know the Herald still costs only ¢50. At the end of this blog post today is subscription information and how to contact the editor too.
Here is a recent feature news articleabout the upcoming BiblioArte! Festival and headlined, “BiblioArte! Features Raúl Colón”:
LAKE WORTH BEACH — On February 8 [this Saturday!] the fourth BiblioArte! Festival will take place in the Lake Worth Beach Cultural Plaza, 414 Lake Avenue, from 11 a.m.–3 pm. Free and open to the public, this year’s BiblioArte! is celebrating the art and books of Raúl Colón, an awarding winning artist and illustrator. With many hands-on art activities and music provided by Lake Worth Beach school bands this festival will be fun for the whole family.
The BiblioArte! Festival marks the end of BiblioArte! Week in Lake Worth Beach. This special week is celebrated with the personal appearances Raúl Colón will be making in Lake Worth Beach schools. At each school Raúl will meet with students and tell the story of how he became an artist, what inspires him, and explain his style and favorite techniques. BiblioArte! Week also features an exhibit of Raúl Colón’s illustrations at the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. The Cultural Council is located at 601 Lake Avenue. Its exhibits are free and open to the public. Opening at 11 a.m., the BiblioArte! Festival will provide opportunities for children to enjoy and participate in a variety of arts and crafts activities including painting and creating recycled art. Playing with magnets and sidewalk chalk will be available for the younger set. Music will be provided by Barton Elementary Tribal Rhythm, Highland Elementary Band and World Drum Core, North Grade Band, and South Grade Band. Through the day Raúl Colón will be available to speak with attendees. He will speak at 2 p.m. in the Lake Worth Beach City Hall Annex and give away signed copies of his books. Each family attending the festival will be given a signed copy of Colón’s Imagine! to take home [see YouTube video below]. Literacy vendors will have tables with information and activities. Free face painting will be available. Food and drinks will be sold at the Cultural Plaza. During the BiblioArte! Festival the Lake Worth Beach Visitor Information Center and the Lake Worth Beach Historical Museum will be open to the public inside the Annex. The Lake Worth Beach Public Library will be closed so that the staff can assist with the festival. BiblioArte! is a project developed by the Lake Worth Library and supported by the City of Lake Worth Beach.
The YouTube video about artist Raúl Colón’s picture book titled, Imagine!
Make plans to attend the BiblioArte! Festival on Saturday, February 8th from 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. at the Cultural Plaza in downtown Lake Worth Beach and remember. . .
Now more than ever it’s important to support LOCAL news reporting and support LOCAL newspapers.
Pick up this week’s print edition at Studio 205, the City’s newsstand located at 205 N. Federal Hwy. in the downtown. To subscribe to the online and/or print edition of the Herald click on this link. To contact the editor call 561-585-9387 or email: Editor@lwherald.com
An interesting look back at the beach in Lake Worth Beach. Note the orientation of the Casino property plat, the “Boulevard” and the parking in front of the former Casino.
This is a cool piece of history that I recently found. It is dated 1935 and is a plat drawing of the Casino building area on the Atlantic Ocean. A few important things to note. Its purpose was to show the location and connection for new wells when the pool at the beach was saltwater. It shows the location of the pumphouse at the beach which drew saltwater to fill the pool. All this was south of the tunnel that went under A1A along with the boardwalk along the eastern side of the road. Notice the limited parking area and the L shape of the building.
The western wing contained locker rooms and lasted until the ‘new’ pool was constructed in 1971. Then check out how nigh the waters of Lake Worth Lagoon are to the Casino. That waterway is now referred to as the Intracoastal Waterway.
Following the disastrous 1947 hurricane plans were put in place to fill the area west of the Casino building. That is where the main parking lot is today. It is also the new location of A1A, or South Ocean Boulevard as the locals refer to it. The area west of A1A north of Lake Ave. wasn’t created yet by infill. Condominiums run along the west side of the roadway along the Intracoastal where there was only a brackish lagoon before.
Recognizing the historic significance of the beach property the former City of Lake Worth is now called the City of Lake Worth Beach — a name change by voter referendum in March 2019 — making the case once again the one constant in this City is constant change.
The historical connections between New York City and Lake Worth are numerous including this interesting fact: There are only two historical monuments in Manhattan that serve as mausoleums: one is Grant’s Tomb and the other is an obelisk in honor of General William Jenkins Worth, who Lake Worth, Florida is named for:
See link below which explains this plaque (dado) on obelisk in NYC.
FYI: In 1842 then-Colonel William Jenkins Worth
declared victory when the defeated Seminoles were forced far into the
Florida Everglades seeking safety from the American forces. John Horse (1812–1882) was a fighter of African and Seminole Indian
ancestry who fought in the Second Seminole War against the American
Army. The vanquishing of John Horse was the deciding defeat for the Seminoles and for which officer then Col. William Worth was promoted to General Worth.
As
a side note, the Town of Lake Worth was incorporated in 1913 which
included the beach.* As the Seminole’s retreated many from the Town of
Lake Worth from places up north headed west and draining the Everglades
as they went creating what would later be called John Prince Park,
further to the west the City of Atlantis incorporated in 1959 and the
Village of Wellington was incorporated in 1995.
General Worth was a military herowho fought in the Mexican-American War between 1846 and 1848. He died of cholera in 1849 and was originally buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn; but in 1857 his body was moved to Manhattan and placed under the Worth Monument. The monument was designed by James Goodwin Batterson and dedicated on November 25, 1857. The obelisk contains four sets of bands with the names of 16 places of importance in the life of Major General Worth. On the south facing front of the pedestal is a bronze tablet with a high relief of General Worth on horseback, with dress military uniform holding his sword in his right hand while pointing it forward. Above this figure is a complex trophy depicting cannons, swords, flags and eagles.
The dado on the east side of the obelisk contains the inscription:
DUCIT AMOR PATRIAE
*The Town of Lake Worth, the municipality, became the City of Lake and in March 2019 the name was changed to the City of Lake Worth Beach (LWB). Vast uincorporated areas west of LWB are still referred to as “Lake Worth”.
The City’s Park of Commerce (POC) has been a major topic of debate for many decades. Many previous commissions and administrations have failed at the POC. Then in 2001 there came a major breakthrough. Then that failed too. The POC continued to languish once again for another fifteen years until another breakthrough in Feb. 2016 courtesy of the Federal Government and then in March 2017 another breakthrough courtesy of the State of Florida.
And then on March 31st, 2018 is a brief eight-second video (see below). The City Commission heralding in new infrastructure and road construction along Boutwell Rd.
In this video, from left to right, are commissioners Herman Robinson (District 4) and Omari Hardy (District 2), Mayor Pam Triolo, Vice Mayor Pro Tem Scott Maxwell (District 1), and City Manager Michael Bornstein. Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso (District 3) was in Washington, D.C. on City business.
Enjoy the video.
About that place called the POC. . .
Below is a map, and another video (this one with music!), helpful images, and much more information as well about that now-legendary place in this City.
The best news of all is in March 2018 Florida Gov. Rick Scott DID NOTline out an item in a spending bill, $1.4M in the 2018 State budget for the POC which made Lake Worth Commissioner Scott Maxwell very happy. Despite all the slings and arrows Maxwell fought for the POC for many years and even lobbied the governor in person that year. Again.
This item in previous budgets was lined-out three times in a row by the governor three years in a row.
Maxwell wasn’t alone. Mayor Pam Triolo and now-Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso fought hard for the POC. Traveling to Tallahassee and back so many times everyone lost count. And to see their faces on learning that the governor lined out the POC for the third time in 2017 was heartbreaking. But the next year it finally made the state budget and was passed into law.
And for years groups opposed to the POC staged all kinds of nonsense and PR stunts, for example just a few years ago the POC was, according to a former ‘reporter’ at WPEC/CBS12 was the site of a “forced relocation” akin to the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during WWII and a news report in The Palm Beach Post had to be retracted as well.
Past city commissions have tried, and failed, to make this area (see map below) a major contributor to the City’s commercial tax base giving homeowners
less of a burden. Some former electeds were so desperate to have something happen in the POC, anything, even a chicken farm was suggested. Really. That’s true. Luckily, that idea didn’t go far.
The POC one could say has had its share of “ups and downs” over the years which included floods, overflowing canals, mobile home
residents fleeing ahead of major storms, crime, pestilence, and also
home to many wonderful French-Canadian Snowbirds each Fall/Winter season and persistent talk of voters too with out-of-state vehicles who
miraculously appeared every year just in time to send in their absentee
ballot.
Welcome to the “Lake Worth Park Of Commerce”:
This image will surprise many of you and is explained later in this blog post.
New residents in this City, if they’re not cautious where they get their information from, will be misinformed by ‘facts’ on other blogs, social media, or even news reporters that don’t understand the entire story.
To see this map for yourself go to the City’s zoning map. And while you’re at it you can see how your neighborhood is zoned.
In the map above is the POC: Roughly it’s the dark shaded area west of Boutwell Rd., east of the E-4 (Keller) Canal, north of Lake Worth Rd. (the County’s John Prince Park) and south of 10th Ave. North. Now that you understand where the POC is, how long has this been a matter of debate in the City?
Let’s look at one example of many (the first image above is the front cover of this “Citizens’ Master Plan”).
Click on image to enlarge:
The Lake Worth Park of Commerce Citizens’ Master Plan, Charrette Draft Report prepared by the TCRPC in October 2001.
Over nineteen years ago. I have this original report prepared by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC); if you would like to borrow it let me know (my email address is wesblackman@gmail.com).
Recognize anyone? Ever heard of a gentleman named Dana Little?
There are names throughout this document many of you will recognize. Enjoy this charming video I did of the POC back in 2014, a small area in the City with so much potential, “the P-word” if you will:
The Solid Waste & Recycling Division of Lake Worth Beach has created a new booklet for 2020 with all the answers to all your questions about trash, bulk, recycling and vegetation pickup.
Pick up the new 2020 booklet at one of the following locations:
City Hall, 7 N. Dixie Hwy.
City Hall Annex, 414 Lake Ave. (at the intersection of Lake Ave. and Federal Hwy.).
City Library (across the Cultural Plaza, just to the west of the City Hall Annex).
![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUL75cv6zJQFjX15ojOIIz9AjnbqH4asHJTYSDhnGnYr7rJZRha1NcNTirj2xPcId158vkz5Hw-wXgOfrlztj8Zr8jLFFCfuEN6PyV44ZlpMRmJ68xbtFL9vzxNiG7xDs_HJvm/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
