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Highlands Today

Sebring Circle Eyed For Sprucing Up

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: September 18, 2008

SEBRING - The Circle was transformed into a quaint, eye-pleasing and functional park in 1985 and now more color and improvements are proposed in downtown Sebring's focal point.

That first Circle streetscape project was the first of its kind by the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency, which was established in 1981.

With limited local funds, the project included recovering more than 60 cast iron street lights at the city dump for installation in Circle Park and on the sidewalks around the Circle. The poles in Circle Park date back to 1914. The single-globe lights on the sidewalks date back to the 1920s.

Contingent on a Department of Community Affairs grant, the proposed project would not totally remove and replace all the sidewalks, CRA Executive Director Pete Pollard said Wednesday. Portions of the sidewalks would be removed and brick pavers installed to add color and texture to sidewalks from the flagpole to Wall Street.

"We are going to expand the concrete area around the base of the flagpole," Pollard added. The concrete area will be a little bit larger and surrounded by landscaping.

New trees would be planted with grates installed around the trunks. The brick planters would be removed.

Additional green space will be created.

"In areas along the roadway where the road is striped we have proposed putting in curbed areas with low green plantings to, again, add more color and texture to the appearance of the Circle area," Pollard said.

New concrete crosswalks, leading to and from the Circle, would be stamped with a pattern to copy the appearance of the pavers along the sidewalks.

The CRA is applying for a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant to help pay for the project.

The CRA has pledged local matching funds of up to $350,000.

With other municipalities applying for the limited amount of grant money, the matching funds improve the CRA's chances to be awarded the grant.

Pollard said he is trying to coordinate with the Florida Department of Transportation's plans for State Road 17 (Lakeview Drive and Ridgewood Drive) through downtown.

The city received a copy of the plans recently that include milling the road surface down about 1 1/2 to 2 inches and then resurfacing the roadway.

The project will start at the Lakeview Drive/Kenilworth Boulevard intersection then north to Ridgewood Drive to the intersection of Ridgewood Drive and Helena Street, which is at the curve in the road near the Blue Crab Restaurant.

"We are discussing with FDOT the possibility of expanding the project when they come around the Circle so when can get our curb heights back to the standard curb height," Pollard said. "There have been so many paving overlays over the years that the curbs around the Circle are actually very, very low."

Higher curbs would improve safety, lessening the chance of a car rolling up onto the sidewalk, he said. From an aesthetic standpoint, it would look a lot better.

The road resurfacing project is scheduled for 2010, Pollard said.

If the Florida Department of Community Affairs awards the streetscaping grant to the Sebring CRA, the project could go out to bid in March or April and construction could start in June, he said.

Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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