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Pompano Beach residents got a chance to see the final plans for a major redevelopment of East Atlantic and Pompano Beach boulevards during a meeting of the East Community Redevelopment Agency Board. The redevelopment initiative, funded by a $15 million bond, will include streetscape improvements, new pedestrian promenades, larger sidewalks and more green space, among other embellishments. The meeting featured presentations on roadway improvements along East Atlantic Boulevard, from Northeast and Southeast 23rd Avenue to A1A, an update of the façade and the parking lots of the Harbor Village shopping plaza, as well as a makeover of Pompano Beach Boulevard. "This is really exciting,'' said East CRA Chairman Jack Rogerson. "We are finally getting there." The rehabilitation of East Atlantic Boulevard will follow a larger project by the Florida Department of Transportation, which is slated to begin construction in July. The FDOT project will take about a year to complete, said landscape architect Bruce Reed of Keith & Schnars, one of several consultants hired by the CRA for the project. Reed said the roadway improvements will include new landscaping along sidewalks and medians featuring shrubs and ground cover with palm tree accents, as well as widened sidewalks and added pedestrian lighting. The Harbor Village improvements include the addition of metal roofs, small towers and new landscaping. There are also plans to reshape the parking lot – which is city-owned – to make it easier to navigate. “It’s a convoluted, difficult parking lot to get around,” consultant Randy Hollingsworth said. “The city has decided to redevelop the entire area, to keep it consistent with the streetscape update of Atlantic Boulevard.” Hollingsworth said the project will be a “complete overhaul” of both the shopping plaza buildings and the surrounding landscaping. The newest piece of the redevelopment project is an update of the last block of East Atlantic Boulevard before Pompano Beach Boulevard, where there are plans to improve the appearance of the sidewalk and increase sidewalk space on the south side of the street, Hollingsworth said. "We are moving very quickly with this project,'' he said. An island in the center of the roadway will serve as the gateway to the beach, Hollingsworth said. Its appearance will be consistent with plans for Pompano Beach Boulevard "so [that] when you go around the corner, you don't feel you're going into a new city or a new project." The grandest plans of all are for the beachfront, said Paul Kissinger, a landscape architect and urban designer working on that segment of the project. Along Pompano Beach Boulevard there will be a great lawn area with circular pavement surrounding it. The sidewalks along the beach are going to be spruced up with score patterns made of recycled glass in blues and greens. "We want to get that little bit of sparkle when the sun hits," Kissinger said. And there will be new, turtle-friendly lighting added at the sidewalk level, he said. "It's all coming together sooner than you think," said Kissinger, who said some of the plans have already been submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for approval. |
