The day we all celebrated the life of a dear friend and our Gulfstream Hotel in Downtown Lake Worth.

Monday, August 15th, 2016.

We gathered that day to celebrate the life and hard work of Loretta Sharpe on the patio of the Gulfstream Hotel on hearing the news, “The Petition for Writ of Certiorari is DENIED” (see below). Our dear friend Loretta was not there that day to celebrate with us.

Loretta passed away on January 26th, 2016. But it was acknowledged by all it was Loretta’s persistence and willingness to fight that saved the Gulfstream Hotel.

Click on image to enlarge:

This celebration last August was short-lived; shortly thereafter an appeal was filed. Then on March 31st, 2017 the 4th District Court of Appeals upheld the previous court ruling: nothing could now stop the Gulfstream Hotel project from moving forward.

Another photo from the north patio of the Gulfstream Hotel in August 2016.

Excerpts from The Lake Worth Herald last August, the news that brought everyone to gather on the patio of the Gulfstream Hotel:

A three-judge Appellate Panel of the Circuit Court unanimously issued a ruling that states: “The Petition for Writ of Certiorari is DENIED.”
     The decision is the Court’s rejection of an effort that would have resulted in thwarting the revitalization of the Gulfstream Hotel and the 12-block surrounding area known as Lake Worth’s Hotel District.
     In February, the City was challenged by three citizens, Linda Mahoney, Roseanne Malakates and former City Commissioner JoAnn Golden about whether construction of a 65-ft new building expansion of the Gulfstream Hotel was in compliance with downtown height limits.

and. . .

     Asked what their plans were now, Steven Michael of Hudson Holdings said, they plan on moving forward and said there were never any other plans. Hudson Holdings was unable to move forward until the lawsuit was over. City of Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo said she is thankful for Judges’ decision.
     “This community has longed for the reopening of our beautiful, historic hotel and this decision now clears the way,” said Mayor Triolo. “The Gulfstream Hotel will revitalize the community and serve as a catalyst in our Downtown, to bring in much-needed tourism for our businesses and great lodging for the friends and relatives of our residents.”

Daily Progress Report. Gulfstream Hotel, Lake Worth, Florida.

Wednesday, June 28th, 2017.

Click on images to enlarge:

For the Gulfstream Hotel Facebook page use this link.

To learn more: www.GulfStreamHotel.com

To see the “Daily Progress Report” for Tuesday, June 27th, 2017, use this link.

City of Greenacres’ Charter Review Committee: “Suggested Changes To City Council”.

News from Coastal/Greenacres Observer is below:

The Greenacres Charter Review Committee consists of twelve citizens. Former Council member Chuck Shaw was chosen as the Chairperson and Frank Simon the Vice-Chairperson.

and. . .

Shaw explained the consensus was to have six ballot questions on the referendum sent to the voters.

Here are the six ballot questions for the Greenacres City Council to study and discuss:

The first question would be a change in Article 1, changing the length of terms of the Mayor and Council members from two to four year terms. [emphasis added]

The second question would be to clean up Article 2, relating to Mayor, by eliminating the reference to a two year term for Mayor and establishing how to fill a vacant seat. The committee suggested, Council may elect one of their own to become Mayor (until the next Biennial election), providing such Council member will vacate his or her seat. If no member wishes to assume the Mayor’s office, the Deputy Mayor shall serve as Mayor pro-tem until the next biennial election. This partial term will not count against term limits.

Question three relates to Article 3, City Council. Eliminate reference to two year term and establish how to fill a vacant seat. Council shall elect a qualified individual to fill the vacant seat (until the next biennial election) and the term would not count against term limits.

Question four, relating to Article 4, Elections, would be to establish a term limit of three consecutive terms for Mayor and Council members. The term limit will not impact the Mayor from running for a Council seat, or a Council member from running for Mayor.

Question five relates to Article 8, Administrative Departments. This provision will eliminate the Civil Service Board and recommends creation of a “labor-management committee” as a replacement for the Civil Service Board.

Question six relates to Article 8. This provision defines the term “full Council” as used in Article 8 to mean the Mayor and all five members of Council. Charter change suggestions to be made by Ordinance, without a referendum Article 4, Elections, Section 3 provides for Election Day to be moved from March to November to coincide with Presidential and mid-term elections. Article 4, Section 4 will change the qualifying period.

Other changes suggested to be made without referendum pertain to how and when elected officials take office and the selection of duties.

Hudson Holdings: “Vocal residents swarm Delray meeting on historic district redevelopment”

Use this link to read the article by reporter Lulu Ramadan in the Post from yesterday. Interestingly, Ramadan’s article doesn’t make mention Hudson Holdings’ principal Steven Michael. The meeting at the Delray Beach Historic Preservation Board continued last night from Monday night and ended around 10:00.

One quite powerful statement in particular last night summed everything up nicely; will transcribe that when the video becomes available. Did not watch the entire meeting but would catch 5–10 minutes every now and then to watch the discussion.

The final vote on the Swinton Commons site plan appeared to be a unanimous “No” from the Historic Board in Delray. However, the audio from the Live Feed was hard to hear so am not absolutely sure about that.

This project will now go to the Planning and Zoning Board and then to the Delray Beach City Commission.

It was very professional and gracious, at the very end of the meeting, to hear Dir. Tim Stillings appear at the podium and thank everyone for their service on the board and he acknowledged all their hard work. It’s a lot to ask from volunteers to work well into the night two days in a row. However, they did their work and they all deserve credit.

Daily Progress Report. Gulfstream Hotel, Lake Worth, Florida.

Tuesday, June 27th, 2017.

Check back tomorrow for another Progress Report.

“From the highly combustible, dangerously explosive creativity of our friend George Peer. . .

. . . at the Mad Hatter Lounge comes these spectacular spectaculars in celebration of the 16th Annual Great American Under The Big Top 4th of July Raft Race!”

Last night Tim Rice and Ron Amodio hosted the NAPC at this years Annual Pre-Raft Race Party at the Mad Hatter with celebrity bartenders Mayor Pam Triolo and the Ever Argggggh-Full, Capt. and City Manager Mike Bornstein.

Of course, the one and only Godfather of the Raft Race, Herman Robinson was there with Vice Capt. Courageous, Scott Maxwell. All of these are destined to become Special Surprise Award trophies in this year’s Raft Race!

Half of the tips collected were donated to the “Longest Day” to help find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

UPDATE: Hudson Holdings and another Special Meeting in Delray Beach tonight.

It will be very interesting to read the Sun Sentinel report about what happened, or rather what didn’t happen last night vis-à-vis Hudson Holdings and their project on the agenda.

A second Special Meeting of the Delray Beach Historic Preservation Board will be held at 6:00 tonight (details below). The meeting last night ended after 10:00 with no action taken. Check this link periodically for the video from last night and would encourage you to watch the last ½ hour or so.

To watch the meeting tonight Live Streaming use this link.

This Special Meeting of the Historic Preservation Board will be held in the Delray Beach City Commission Chambers, City Hall, 100 NW 1st Ave. beginning at 6:00.

To learn more about this read the news report by Ryan Van Velzer in the Sun Sentinel titled, “Vote could decide fate of historic Delray Beach homes”. This Hudson Holdings project are the only 2 items on the agenda:

1. Call To Order.
2. Roll Call.
3. Approval of Agenda.
4. Comments from the Public. NOTE: Comments on items that are NOT on the Agenda will be taken immediately prior to Public Hearing Items. Speakers will be limited to 3 minutes.
5. Action Items. A) Certificate of Appropriateness, Class V Site Plan, Relocations & Demolitions (2016-073). B) Conditional Use (2016-101).

For residents of the City of Lake Worth wondering what is happening with the Gulfstream Hotel you may recall this news by Dan Weil in The Real Deal titled, “Lake Worth’s Gulfstream Hotel appears set for renovation”. The article was subtitled,

“Hotel will have two 87-unit hotel buildings, a restaurant, rooftop sky bar and parking garage”.

Here are two excerpts from that article in The Real Deal datelined January 29th, 2016:

“This is an iconic Palm Beach County hotel with enormous history,” Steve Michael, co-founder of Hudson Holdings, told The Real Deal. Sitting several blocks away from Lake Worth’s downtown, “it’s a focal point of the Lake Worth community and at the edge of the [town of] Palm Beach community,” he said.

and. . .

Michael says the development will be crucial for revitalizing downtown Lake Worth, which like downtown West Palm Beach to the north, has some vibrant areas and also some vacant ones. “This is a catalyst to downtown renovation,” Michael said.

Principal of Hudson Holdings said, “We love the building and want to restore it to the historic value it has.”

To read the entire article use this link. Here are two excerpts:

Florida-based real estate group Hudson Holdings has closed on its purchase [January 2017] of the Railway Exchange Building, one of the largest office buildings in the region that takes up an entire city block at 615 Olive St., in downtown St. Louis.

and. . .

Hudson Holdings Principal Steve Michael said the firm paid just more than $20 million for the building and plans to rehab it into a mixed-use development that would cost at least $250 million.
     “We’re still looking for the best use for the downtown area,” he said.

and Mr. Michael’s continues. . .

“We love the building and want to restore it to the historic value it has.”

Heat #1: The little City of Lake Worth’s Great American July 4th Raft Race, 2015.

Still big news about City of Lake Worth: “Jupiter’s unique connection with Guatemala showcased in Lake Worth”.

Just in case you missed this. . .

Below are excerpts from the terrific City of Lake Worth news by Palm Beach Post reporter Bill DiPaolo (to read his bio use this link).

But first, just a few short months ago reading an article about our friends in the Guatemalan community here in the City of Lake Worth — news about the City’s Guatemalan-Maya Center or the El Sol in Jupiter — and not having the term “sanctuary city” used in The Palm Beach Post would have been unimaginable.

But the unimaginable is happening: that terribly divisive term is being eliminated from local news reporting and in the media as well. And it’s about time.

“There’s a lot of confusion and emotion around the term,” Castor [Florida Rep. Katherine Castor, 14th District in Congress] said. “I think it’s a trap. I think it was a term that was created to divide people and to demonize diverse areas.”

Here are two excerpts from DiPaolo’s wonderful article and details about the exhibit at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County* located in Downtown Lake Worth:

JUPITER — Paintings, weavings and the history of Guatemala are all rolled into the OneJupiter exhibit at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.
     “We are representing the people of Palm Beach County on our walls,” said Trish Halverson, manager of arts and cultural education at the center on Lake Avenue [in Downtown Lake Worth].
     The exhibit is a joint effort between the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum, El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center and the Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery and School of Art in Tequesta.

and. . .

     “Art can be an incredible icebreaker between cultures. People step out of their normal space and see what they have in common,” said Stuve [Jamie Stuve, the president and chief executive officer of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum].
     Paintings by Guatemalan artists such as Lorenzo Marroquin are also on display. Marroquin took art classes at El Sol. Many painters do their art work in between jobs at El Sol, said Andres David Lopez, El Sol communications director.

At the end of the article is, “If you go”:

• What: OneJupiter exhibit.
• Where: Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, 601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth.
• When: Until August 5th.
• Cost: Free.

*The Cultural Council galleries, visitor information center and store are open 10:00–5:00, Tuesday–Saturday. For a complete calendar of cultural activities in The Palm Beaches use this link or call 561-471-2901. To plan a personalized cultural itinerary, connect with the Cultural Concierge.

Additional recreational acres in western Palm Beach County.

More good news from SFWMD for County residents and tourism:

Now the public will be able to see Everglades Restoration, water storage, and southern sheet-flow up close. A press release datelined yesterday (6/8) from SFWMD is below.

For the entire press release use this link.

West Palm Beach, FL - The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board today approved public access to one of its major Everglades restoration projects, the A-1 Flow Equalization Basin (FEB). This action adds thousands of additional recreation acres in western Palm Beach County, where residents and visitors can enjoy the outdoors.
     “This Board remains committed to protecting public access of taxpayer-owned District resources,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Dan O’Keefe. “This is a win-win. The A-1 FEB has been providing tremendous benefits to the Everglades ecosystem and now the public will be able to enjoy all the area has to offer with hiking, biking, hunting, wildlife viewing and other activities.”

Have you ever seen a Cape Sabal Sparrow?

Learn more about SFWMD’s efforts to save our birds and the “Tremendous Progress on Kissimmee River Restoration Project” using this link.

Join the Lake Worth Jr. Lifeguards for a Summer of fun in the Atlantic Ocean.

Learn essential lifeguard skills from professional career lifeguards.

Contact Doug Yoakum for more information at 561-718-4304; email: DYoakum@lakeworth.org

Program runs July 3rd–August 9th, Monday–Friday, 10:00–2:00.

• Tryouts and registration: July 1st, 10:00, at the Lake Worth Beach.
• Girls and boys 10–17 years old (must be able to swim 200 yards unassisted).
• Cost: $400/child.

“Remains of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church at Lake Worth destroyed by hurricane.”

Image below is from Florida Memory: State Library & Archives of Florida, collection of photographs.

Year: 1928. General Note: “This original wood frame church was built in the fall of 1914.” (photonegative, b&w, 4 × 5″)

Use this link to see how St. Andrew’s looks today: “Serving God and His People for 103 years (1914–2017)”.

The photo above was taken following the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane that struck this City with devastating consequences.

The City of Lake Worth’s Wikipedia page: A good source for information — but not all factual — do you own research.

One of the first things you’ll learn on the City’s Wikipedia page (links and more information below) is the present-day City of Lake Worth is named after General William J. Worth, a military hero.

For several reasons, residents and elected leaders have suggested changing the name of the City, for more about that use this link.

A person or persons have been doing yeoman’s* work for the most part on the City’s Wikipedia page. First, some things to be aware of:

• Checking the page regularly is important. There have been multiple attempts to hijack the City’s Wikipedia page with false information and data.
• When you visit the Lake Worth Wikipedia site scroll down to the very bottom and look for this (as the line appears today, 5/27): “This page was last modified on 20 June 2017, at 17:17.” Why? Because if this information changes the next time you visit someone has accessed the page and changed or altered some data.
• The footnote section can be a clever “end-around” to get false/alt information onto the page.
• Wikipedia pages can be edited by almost anyone: not all the information (e.g., history, statistics, percentages) is up-to-date or even factual. The lesson? Do you own research.
• Page sections such as “Sister cities”: The City no longer has a Sister City program and “Sopot, Poland”, one of the cities listed, was never Lake Worth’s Sister City. 
• “The [Beach] pier is home to a tide gauge . . . showing an above average rate of sea level rise.” Learn more about that using this link, learn that “3.56 mm  =  ≈⅛ inch per year”.
• And, of course, there’s the ever-changing historical revisionism on Wikipedia. There should be a “Fiction” section on our Wiki page just for information such as this and titled, “For Entertainment Purposes Only (not to be taken seriously)”: 

Be very skeptical of all information about the Lake Worth Beach, Casino complex and pool:

For example: “The city’s public swimming pool has been restored. . .”. Not true.

The information about the City’s pool at the Beach is inaccurate. For the facts use this link.

Ready to check out the City of Lake Worth’s Wikipedia page for yourself? Use this link. Have fun and visit on a regular basis to learn more about our little City:

The city was severely damaged in the 1928 hurricane, toppling the bell tower on the elementary school (today the City Hall Annex) and destroying the beachfront casino and automobile bridge over Lake Worth. This led to a severe economic decline within the community, during the Great Depression. Things were so dire in the city in the 1930s, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration built a striking, moorish-styled “City Gymnasium” on the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway. The building today serves as City Hall.

Learn more about the devastating 1928 Hurricane using this link. Hurricane season officially begins June 1st. Another image from that terrible storm:

For the City’s “Hurricane Planning” website use this link.

*Yeoman. Adjective: performed or rendered in a loyal, valiant, useful, or workmanlike manner, especially in situations that involve a great deal of effort or labor: “He did a yeoman job on the problem.”

Latest about “The Cottages of Lake Worth” Just in case you missed this.

“I love self-publishing success stories.”

“Sometimes success comes just by chance and sometimes by thoughtful decisions and a commitment to quality. The book, Living Large in Small Spaces: The Cottages of Lake Worth is the latter case.”
—Quote. Book designer Michael Rohani, June 2nd, 2017.

An order for 2,000 more “Cottages of Lake Worth” hardcover books has been made and will be arriving in 2–3 months. This is an amazing publishing story. No one is regretting the decision to sell this book “locally” and not go “global” with an online bookseller.

All the thanks go to the “many local advocates, beneficiaries, and stakeholders” involved in this project, and of course, people like Michael Rohani who designed this wonderful book.

Two more quotes by Mr. Rohani in this article titled, “Book project, Living Large in Small Spaces: The Cottages of Lake Worth”:

The book brings together popular topics that are of interest to audiences everywhere—inspiring cottage photography, garden design ideas, and solutions for living in small spaces. But getting almost instant success comes from having many local advocates, beneficiaries, and stakeholders such as the cottage owners featured in the book, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, and various supportive individuals and local businesses. There are also many local venues and opportunities for selling the book. So, not surprisingly, I received this email shortly after the book was published:

Hi, Michael—“Can you believe it, we are going for our second printing of our book? On Monday, the board gave a collective thumbs up for more books. . . . We are down to fewer than 150! Thank you again for making our book so, so successful!”

and. . .

     A big part of the book’s success comes from the creators’ decision to go beyond self-publishing. That started with creating their own publisher identity to become an independent publisher. They carried this through, following publisher best practices with the editing, design, branding, printing, and marketing strategy. They were receptive to professional guidance and made decisions guided by marketing ideas that you would expect from an acquisitions editor at an experienced publishing house. The result is a book that anyone would find interesting and enjoyable to look through. Not only does it not look “self-published,” it is easily competitive with the best books in its category.

A creative design idea by Mr. Rohani is a printing technique called, “Spot Varnish” for the book covers.

From a book review by Carleton Varney in the Palm Beach Daily News (aka, The Shiny Sheet):

“If you delight in color, charm and old world Florida, The Cottages of Lake Worth is a must for your home library! I just cannot say enough good things about this book.”

Stay tuned. When the next order of books is ready for shipping you will be updated.