Commissioner Santamaria Celebrates Avenue A Revitalization Project Kick-Off

April 2, 2009

	Commissioner Jess Santamaria led guests in the pledge of allegiance during the ceremony « Previous | Next »

Commissioner Jess Santamaria and other county officials hosted a kick-off ceremony on April 1 to celebrate the start of a revitalization project along West Avenue A in Belle Glade. The four-block commercial corridor will soon undergo an $8.3 million makeover, which will include the rehabilitation of the town’s historic City Hall and 37 commercial properties on West Avenue A from South Main Street to 4th Street. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.

Sixty percent of funding for the project was provided by grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 108 Loan Program and the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative Grant Program. The remainder of funding came from private banks and business owners. Palm Beach County’s Economic Development Office will oversee the project and manage the HUD funds approved for the project.

The first property that will be revitalized will be Glades Gas & Electric Corporation, a family-owned business that first opened in 1929, which is where the ceremony took place. That project should be completed by this summer.

During the kick-off ceremony, Economic Development Office Director Kevin Johns said the vision of the Avenue A project is to restore and regenerate Belle Glade’s downtown area and to “put businesses on the map as an example of what Belle Glade is all about.”