Road-weary business owners hear the county's latest plans to revitalize historic downtown Palm Harbor.
By JANE MADDEN WELCH
Published August 6, 2004
PALM HARBOR - Kenneth James grew up in Palm Harbor and remembers when his first-grade bus stop was at 12th Street and Florida Avenue.
Fifty years later, Florida Avenue is still important to James, who owns a business just a block away from the road. So this week, James stopped by the Palm Harbor Senior Activity Center along with other downtown property owners to learn about Pinellas County's plans to rebuild, improve drainage on and add amenities to Florida Avenue.
At a public meeting Tuesday, county officials said initial work on Florida Avenue is projected to start next April. Phase one involves upgrading the road from Alt. U.S. 19 to 11th Street and improving the intersection of Florida and College Hill Drive.
"That will take approximately four months," said Gordon Beardslee, general planning administrator for Pinellas County. The second and third phases of the county's project will take an additional seven or eight months, he said.
The project's total cost is estimated at $2.6-million. In addition to upgrading the roadway, curbing and drainage, plans call for installing benches and trash receptacles, paving alleys, making electrical enhancements and putting a shelter on the Pinellas Trail.
"All three phases are part of the bigger effort to create a revitalized downtown that provides a focal point for the Palm Harbor community," Beardslee said.
James' business, Ken's Tree Transplanter, is a block from Florida Avenue. James was part of an early design group that met to discuss plans for historic downtown Palm Harbor. He acknowledges that living through more road construction will be an inconvenience for motorists and businesses, but it will pay off in the end.
"We'll experience a little bit of pain to get the pleasure later," he said. "It's all for the better good of the whole area."
Brenda Brown owns Iris and Ivy flower shop, which has been on Florida Avenue since 1983. She looks forward to seeing the county's work.
"I feel the street is ugly the way it is now," she said.
Brown is a member of Old Palm Harbor Main Street, a nonprofit group that has been working with the county since 1998 to develop a master plan that develops the downtown area while preserving its historical aspects.
"I've been anticipating this for at least 10 years," Brown said.
The construction is expected to be complete by March 2006.
"There will probably be days that I will be hating life (during construction), but overall I feel it's an investment for the future of my business and Palm Harbor," Brown said.
Other downtown business owners know exactly how she'll feel, having lived through an improvement project on Georgia Avenue and putting up with the reconstruction of Omaha Street.
"We feel for the businesses during construction," business owner Pam Miller said. "We lived with it ourselves for a year and a half."
Miller and her husband, Clayton, own Days Collision, an auto body repair shop on Georgia Avenue.
"In the long run, I think it will work out," Clayton Miller said.
Oak Trail Books owner Lesley Klein, who is vice president of Old Palm Harbor Main Street, said she would like to see the county's plans include improving Omaha Circle and 12th Street between Nebraska Avenue and Georgia Avenue.
She also is urging county officials to install as much landscaping on the entire project as possible and is looking for grants to help cover landscaping costs.
And she would like to see a traffic signal installed at Florida Avenue and Alt. U.S. 19. A signal would help connect downtown to Palm Harbor's waterfront and the Pinellas Trail, she said.
"It's a safety issue," Klein said Thursday. "People have a hard time crossing that street, whether they're pedestrians, bicyclists or in a car."
Kathy Cormier, a Palm Harbor resident for 17 years, said she had several reasons to attend Tuesday's meeting.
She is treasurer of Boy Scout Troop 26, which meets at a building on 11th Street, she leases business space on Ohio Avenue and her son attends Palm Harbor University High School. All three locations will be affected by the work.
"Safety is always an issue," Cormier said. "I wanted to see how it affects parking and getting the kids in and out."
Staff writer Richard Danielson contributed to this report.
