CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH CHANGING THE STREETSCAPE OF DOWNTOWN AREA

It is refreshing to see the City of Fort Walton Beach making an investment into the Historic Downtown District. This investment is just one of many being planned to improve the commercial attraction of this area and bring more people to this part town, which means more dollars to the City of Fort Walton Beach.

Despite the inconvenience, business owners in downtown Fort Walton Beach say the new streetscape will be worth it
By MONA MOORE Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4443 monam@nwfdailynews.com

FORTWALTONBEACH—Walking along Miracle Strip Parkway isn’t easy these days. Work on the downtown sidewalks has pedestrians weaving through flower beds, dodging traffic and using businesses’ back doors whenever possible. Front-door access was precarious recently for Navarre resident Sandra Colapreto. “For someone with a cane, this is really bad,” she said. Colapreto doubted patrons in wheelchairs could maneuver to get to Unwind, the yarn shop she visited. “They’d have to wheel them on the street,” she said. “We come in from Navarre once or twice a week,” Colapreto said. “If I could come in less, I would.” But shop owners say they can live with a little inconvenience for the heavy dose of progress that comes with it. At Maas Coffee Roasters, employee Ed Noone credited a drop in business to the work outside. “While the construction is going on, I would say business is off 20 to 25 percent but I think it will be worth it,” he said. “You have to suffer through this to get to the other end. It’s going to make the downtown area a lot nicer than what it was.” Other business owners also praised of the project. “This is, for a lot of people, the first impression of Fort Walton,” said Michelle Murphy, co-owner of Coach and Four Gifts. “As a main thoroughfare, we have to put our best foot forward.” “It’s absolutely wonderful because progress is fantastic,” added Debbie Fisher. Fisher’s downtown law office shares a garden with Maas Coffee Roasters and the Frances Pryor Memorial Camellia Garden. Like the new street improvements, the garden was built to encourage more foot traffic and improve downtown’s image. “This is the city park. We worked with the city to make it a garden, to make it more pedestrian-friendly,” said Fisher, pointing to the Pryor Garden as she walked along the connecting path. “We’re invested in downtown. (With this new project) it’s nice to see everybody else is.” Work along Miracle Strip includes replacing Bradford pear trees with sabal palms, laying decorative pavers and installing new lighting. Some downtown business owners also have opted to lay pavers in front of their stores to match the work being done on the right of way. “I think it all works together, unifying the area. It gives it a sense of destination,” said Bobby Nabors, owner of Liquid Surf and Sail. Many business owners said the greatest benefit will be the ability to see the shops from the street. “When people pass through, they’ll see there are viable businesses down here,” said Murphy. She was impressed with the progress of the project. The work that started last week with the removal of Bradford pears continued this week with the planting of the palms and routing for new light posts. “I’ve told (the construction workers) every day what an awesome job they’re doing,” Murphy said. “I think they have tried to make our discomfort as small as possible.” She said the changes were long overdue. “Those Bradford pear trees were only supposed to be here for five years because they knew they’d get too big,” Murphy said. The pear trees were planted in the early 1990s. City staffers have been working on the replacement plan since late 2002, when a downtown property owner complained that one of the trees had grown to block her tenant’s business sign. “They got so huge. You saw buildings but could not make out what they were,” Murphy said. The trees bloomed four times a year and littered streets with the foliage. “That’s an alleluia for me,” Murphy said. “I think it always made it seem like it was unkempt.” Murphy has heard complaints from patrons. Once she shared her problems with the trees, Murphy said the customers understood and agreed with business owners. “I think part of people’s perception or negativity is because they’re not informed,” she said. “I’m really excited to see it. We needed a facelift,” said Ellen Nixon, who owns Unwind. “And the inconvenience is only going to be a few days.” Just outside her front door, a 20-something man tripped over the curb as he tried to navigate through the construction area and watch the activity inside the small shop at the same time. “We’ve been here so long, most people know our back door. I like to think of our back-door customers as our best customers,” Murphy said. “There’s never been a point where people couldn’t use our front door.” “I think it’s worth a little inconvenience for a week or two,” said Niceville resident Leslie Frank. She came early to Unwind for the morning “sit-andstitch” session. Nixon said the store was packed for the event. Despite the construction, customers continued to pour across the piece of wood that replaced her front sidewalk. “Apparently, customers are hot for construction workers,” laughed Unwind employee Ginny Petersen. “That’s another plus,” Nixon said, joining the table of knitters in a laugh.