“It was a long time coming but, finally, the new Community Center at Palm Lake Village is up, open and running,!” exclaimed Vice-Mayor Julie Scales at the official opening of the Center.  

On Tuesday, October 13^th, the Palm Lake Village Housing Corporation and the Pinellas County Housing Authority celebrated the grand opening of the new center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new facility.

The 4,500-square-foot complex includes a new clubhouse, pool and gardens.  The clubhouse itself has a main hall, game room with library, full kitchen, laundry facilities, and small office where residents will be able to access the Internet.  A gazebo and veterans memorial are the highlights of the gardens which surround the complex.

Cynthia Wilson, a resident of the affordable housing community for seniors, a Commissioner on the Pinellas County Housing Authority and Vice-President of the Palm Lake Village Housing Corporation, stated “I’m ecstatic about the opening of the opening of the new community center.  It’s absolutely gorgeous!”

Palm Lake had been without a community center for several.  The prior facility was demolished for safety reasons which left residents without a place to meet and recreate.  It also served as a polling place for federal, state and local elections and having to vote at another location caused a hardship for a number of residents.

“I’ve already been asked if the new center will serve as a polling place again” said Vice-Mayor Scales.  “I’ll be talking to the City Clerk and Supervisor of Elections about that.”

Red Hat Society at Palm Lake Village grand opening

October is International Walk to School Month and, on October 7th, I had the delightful mission of walking with students and their parents from Hammock Park to San Jose Elementary School on San Mateo Drive.

Also participating in the walk, and promoting health and safety, were Deputy Jan Wagner of the Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Fire Marshall Kelly Intzes of the City of Dunedin and the City’s Sustainability Coordinator, Valerie Lane.

“Just getting together with children and going for a walk to school as a special event is important and fun” said Vice-Mayor Scales.  “However,” she added, “the event has other very important goals.”  Among those goals are:

•  Encouraging physical activity by teaching children the skills to walk safely, how to identify safe routes to school, and the benefits of walking
•  Raising awareness of how walkable a community is and where improvements can be made
•  Raising concern for the environment
•   Reducing crime and taking back neighborhoods for people on foot
•  Reducing traffic congestion, pollution, and speeding near schools
•  Sharing valuable time with local community leaders, parents, and children