Back To The Future. . .

History is not static, styles morph and sensitivities evolve while never really going away.  When it comes to the beach building, the submission by Lake Worth’s own Living Designs Group fully embraces this concept.  They are best known for designing the Eco Center, and have a proven track record for environmentally friendly and  sustainable buildings.

For their beach building proposal they have teamed with Micheal Singer, who provided the design for redeveloping the property at the beach, resulting in a fresh, visually exciting  and environmentally responsible approach.  Like the Art Deco style of our new downtown Publix, this design is pure Florida and its green features reflect Lake Worth’s commitment to the environment.

Incorporating cisterns to capture rainwater, recirculated exhaust from air conditioner coils will heat the pool, and a recreational garden on the roof will help cool the building while adding  more green space.

Click on image to enlarge.

While green design is important and will result in lower operating costs, it is the design’s architectural style and layout that will attract people and business to Lake Worth’s beachfront.  The west side will now invite passersby to visit with its children’s aquatic play area, new pool entry and clean Art Deco look visible from A1A .

Click on image to enlarge.

Recreating the 1920’s casino is appealing, however many of the designs submitted fail to hit the mark and look more like the ubiquitous Mediterranean design than the real thing.  Additionally, the Living Design submission better captures the essence of a city that is able retain the best of the past while at the same time is willing to embrace the future.

Some details of the proposed design:

Lake Worth’s Newest Pain. . .

A steady procession of cars,  many of them stained with  road salt from their trip from Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio and other northern states pull in to 1200 North Dixie Hwy.  Business at the newly opened pain clinic is so brisk that two golf carts zip around the parking lot, directing cars to open spaces or to the lot across the ally as the main lot becomes full. The owner of a nearby business estimated that more than 2,500 cars visited 1200 North Dixie on the day the pain clinic first opened about two weeks ago. In the span of 15 minutes Tom’s Page counted more than 20 cars pulling into 1200 North Dixie and the two men in the golf carts appear to provide “security”  for the business as well as directing traffic.

The building is very large and does not display any signage to indicate what type of business it is; but a steady flow of  people, some with young children in tow, move quickly in and out.  There are so many people visiting the building that traffic often backs up on Dixie Hwy.

Often it is what is allowed to be legal that is the real crime. Palm Beach County has enacted an ordinance prohibiting these types of pain clinics and many nearby local municipalities have either already enacted or are in the process of enacting similar laws leaving Lake Worth a sanctuary for those seeking pain killers to use or resell.  The profitability of reselling the drugs is illustrated by the willingness of people to drive such long distances to obtain them here in South Florida.  It is worth noting that almost without exception every car pulling in to the clinic had at least 3 people in, often many more; each one of the occupants eligible for their own prescription and purchase of pain killers.

The issue of pain clinics such as the one at 1200 North Dixie has been heavily featured in the media for months and City of Lake Worth should have been proactive about prohibiting them here as so many other communities have.  Measures must be put in place immediately to prevent more from opening, once they are established here legally it will be all the more difficult  to close them down and clean this newest blight from our streets.

That Sinking Feeling. . .

In today’s Lake Worth Herald there is a photo of the houseboat that Tom’s Page posted about on February 8th (click here to read the original post).  The Harald’s photo shows the houseboat close to the seawall  and the last sentence of the caption reads “All was put back in order and no damage to the new facility”.

Tom’s Page went to Bryant Park this morning and found that all was not in order; the boat remains anchored perilously close to the seawall and the company doing the seawall reconstruction is concerned about it continuing to pose a threat.  Gary, from AA Engineering, told Tom’s Page that he had secured the boat himself with a concrete block anchor and some rope when it first drifted to the seawall.  He said that he had to prevent the boat from damaging the wooden forms used to build the cement seawall and expressed frustration that the boat owner has not removed it.

While at the park Tom’s Page ran into a boat with Palm Beach County emblems on the sides of its hull being launched at the ramp.  Speaking to its crew about the situation with the houseboat they said that they were unaware of it but would “make some calls” to see if anything could be done by the county.

After talking with them a Fish and Wildlife Enforcement truck pulled in to the park.  Talking with the officer, who declined to have his photo taken and did not want to be identified, Tom’s Page learned that he was there to check on the houseboat and follow up with its owner, who apparently is a Lake Worth resident.  The officer said that tracking down the owner was difficult due to many of the reasons listed in the original post about the houseboat, namely that it had been sold several times and had not been properly registered.  The officer went on to say that they were actively working on the houseboat in an effort to solve the problem.

He added that they were also investigating the larger sailboat that has sunk off Byrant Park, but were also frustrated in locating its owner, stating the the vessel had been sold at least three times on Ebay before it sank, making identifying its owner almost impossible.

Contrary to what the Herald may lead its readers to believe all is not well in the waters off Bryant Park . While the Fish and Wildlife Commission appears to be on the case it may be some time before Lake Worth’s shoreline is secured from the threat these abandoned and derelict boats pose.

Shh!

Most readers of Tom’s Page like to know what’s going on in our community and many often attend meetings of the City Commission or the volunteer boards.  Having a meeting’s agenda posted at the City website (or in the CRA’s case their own website) is a vital link to the public.  By knowing the agenda you can not only decide if you want to attend but also know what the Commission or a board is working on.

A visit to Lakeworth.org will inform you that there is a Community Relations Board meeting tonight, however there is no agenda posted for it.  In fact only one agenda has ever been posted for the CRB, December 14, 2009.

Not posting the agenda prior to the meeting shows, at best, poor organization and, at worst, deprives the public of the knowledge of what the board is doing and their ability to make informed comments at the meeting.

Abandon(ed) Ship. . .

Tom’s Page has posted about the boats moored off of Byrant Park in the past and the situation does not seem to have improved.   One houseboat in particular appears to have developed a homing instinct for the park as it repeatedly drifts ashore.

As the seawall and playground reconstruction draws towards completion (more on that topic in a later post) these offshore eyesores continue to spoil the view.  Of course they constitute more than just an eyesore as they hold fuel and other contaminates that can be released if their hulls are punctured or, as in the case with at least three of them visible from the park, they sink.  Additionally abandoned boats can damage sensitive marine environments such as sea grass as they scrap along the bottom.

While Florida leads the nation in income from recreational boating (estimated at 18 billion dollars in 2007) it also has the largest number of abandoned and derelict boats.  In 2009 Florida State Statute 376.15  authorized the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and its officers and all law enforcement officers to remove any derelict vessel from public waters and the costs incurred to be paid by the owner of the vessel.  The Fish and Wildlife Commission also established a grant program to assist local governments in the removal of abandoned vessels.  Unfortunately funding for the program was not appropriated for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2010.

Florida State Statute 823.11 also covers abandoned and derelict vessels and violation can result in an a first degree misdemeanor.    However tracking down the owners of abandoned boats is difficult; the Hull Identification Number or HIN (the nautical equivalent of a car’s VIN number) is easily obliterated or simply may not exist on older or homemade  vessels.

The issue of the abandoned boats off  Byrant Park is not unique to Lake Worth and there are many stumbling blocks in the way of  solutions.  However they constitute blight and pollution to our waterfront, warranting the enforcement of existing statutes and exploring other possible avenues to affect their removal.

The Boys From Paducah. . .

According to Hands On Consulting the word provide doesn’t mean in writing.  Perhaps the word pay doesn’t necessarily mean with money.

A Worthy Cause. . .

In response to Lake Worth Mayor, Rene Varela’s call for aid to our neighbors in Haiti suffering in the aftermath of the massive earthquake, the Dreamweavers at McMow Art Glass will be awarding this beautiful window, valued at $600, to the lucky person whose name is drawn in the raffle to be held Saturday, February 6th at 1pm. A donation of $5 will be gratefully accepted for each raffle ticket. The window features stained and beveled glass in a classic design and measures 20 1/4 inches by 29 1/4 inches. See below for a list of neighborhood businesses where tickets are available.

McMow Art Glass
701 North Dixie Hwy, Lake Worth

Ragtops Motorcars
2119 South Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach

Webber Galleries
705 Lucerne Avenue, Lake Worth

Cyber Business Center
824 Lake Avenue, Lake Worth

The Illustrated Men. . .

Spotted these guys in the Cultural Plaza the other day.

I’ve Been Away. . .

Hi all,

I have been away for the past week or so taking care of a personal matter.  Thank you to all of you who wrote e-mails asking if I was OK.  I am and over the next few days will begin posting again.

Tom

Day’s End. . .

This evening’s rainbow.