A STOREFRONT-SATURATED STRIP WITH A sketchy past is poised to put the Lake Park Arts District on the map as a hip hub of culture.
Ten years after the town targeted the area as an economic liability and created a Community Redevelopment Agency to reverse the red, the threeblock stretch of Park Avenueappears to be prospering.
“When I came to Lake Park, what excited me as a professional was the potential that this community has to become a trend-setting town for others to emulate,” said John D’Agostino, who came onboard as town manager one year ago.
Mr. D’Agostino also serves as the Community Redevelopment Agency’s executive director and is spearheading its campaign to revitalize the heart of an 8,500-resident town.
“We want to refurbish it,” he said. “We want to give it a new look. We want a different landscape design. That’s going to create demand for retail and commercial development.”