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When you want to know what is in the news about Lakeland, we will keep you informed with what others are saying. Our best reference is a satisfied visitor and we are proud to say that people who have had a positive experience visiting Lakeland are in abundance. Check this section on a regular basis for current news and information about events and business activities that have been taking place in the greater Lakeland area. We will also keep you informed about what is on the horizon so you can plan your next trip and include our beautiful city.
LAKELAND; VISIT THE CITY OF ARTS
In a state where downtowns are reviving everywhere, Lakeland likes what it sees -- likes what it hears and how it feels, too.
Hardly any city of 90,000 matches Lakeland for its public sculpture, its year-round art exhibitions, stage plays, concerts and their natural settings.
An unusual aesthetic sensibility affects this easy-to-reach I-4 town between Orlando and Tampa that one writer lately called "a small mecca of cool."
That's because Lakeland reflects rare-for-Florida consistent civic leadership. The people who manage Lakeland-based companies that include Publix, Watkins Motor Lines and Discount Auto Parts keep their city the place they want to live.
"You don't just have a business in Lakeland," says Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jacqueline Johnson. "You're involved."
Lakeland's love affair with the arts and beauty plays out across the city. Residents cherish their restored tree-filled neighborhoods that date from the early 20th century. Visitors walk and cycle these canopied streets that reach directly downtown and characterize Lakeland's leisure appeal.
At Florida Southern College, Lakeland claims the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. The city hosts one of America's significant annual outdoor sculpture competitions. It's home to the outstanding Florida example of the 1920s "City Beautiful" movement at Lake Mirror Promenade and to seasons of Broadway shows as well as cutting edge black-box theater production and Florida's Imperial Symphony Orchestra.
Lake Morton across the shore drive from the Chamber of Commerce is a bird sanctuary begun with a gift pair of swans from Queen Elizabeth II. Swans have become Lakeland's city logo.
The Polk Museum of Art, on the east side of Lake Morton, is a leading state museum, where recent exhibits have included Picasso ceramics and where annual events include symposiums, multi-media presentations and intimate stage productions.
An exuberant public sculpture by Albert Paley, which celebrates Lakeland's volunteer spirit, rises from the shore of Lake Mirror where, typical of this city's way of getting things done, a state road was re-routed so that the lake's entire perimeter promenade could re-open to the public as part of downtown renewal.
This January, J. Seward Johnson, Jr., a master of lifelike bronze sculpture, will ship 20 of his pieces to Lakeland for an exclusive three-month public showing. The multi-skilled Johnson -- also a landscape painter, publisher and president of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution near Fort Pierce -- rates wide recognition. His pieces appear at the landmark Grounds for Sculpture, a museum and outdoor park in central New Jersey, and in 2004 were featured at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Since late December, families newly enjoy Barnett Park, a lakefront playground that invites youngsters to climb, swing and scamper but in a distinctly artful setting. Giant bumblebees form a carousel. A fiberglass black widow guards a pyramidal-like web for climbing with rubber surfaces to cushion falls. Inchworms form swings, dragonflies with six-foot- translucent wings themselves swing in the wind. A Florida panther invites climbing, a pergola-shaded labyrinth invites exploring and a Mexican frieze around a fountain pool invites detecting animals worked into its tiles.
Next door to Barnett Park on Lake Mirror is Hollis Garden, which tells the story of Florida exploration through each of 16 garden rooms. The rooms also record the history of Florida cultivation, from the grotto that suggests the springs from which Native Americans and Florida pioneers drew their water through the appearance of orchards and crop farming to aesthetic formal gardens and today's popular butterfly gardens.
The arts in Lakeland show themselves everywhere. Visitors who arrive by train step into the most beautiful rail station in Florida, a two-story stone structure above Lake Mirror. Main Street slopes up from the lake to historic Munn Park, the city's "town square" since 1884 and the hub of some 40 significant downtown historical buildings. Three blocks of Lemon Street feature prize-winning sculptures selected at the nationally rated outdoor sculpture competition that Lakeland hosts each year.
A trackless trolley connects all of downtown. The retail district includes more than 30 antiques stores; the hands-on Explorations V children's museum; the 75-year-old Polk Theatre (one of three "atmospheric theaters" remaining in Florida), home of the Florida Dance Theatre; the Arts on the Park contemporary gallery and container gardens that spill their floral beauty out of oversized pots everywhere along downtown streets.
Two landmarks of the Florida Boom today house the Hotel Lakeland Terrace, one of Florida's outstanding downtown lodging renewals, and the Regency Tower (formerly the New Florida Hotel), today nine floors of apartments.
Symphonic, operatic and stage performances mainly take place at the Lakeland Center; smaller-scaled productions at the Civic Center on Lake Mirror. Florida Southern College hosts nationally significant art events at its Melvin Gallery, a Fall Festival of Fine Arts and several public lecture series.
Bed-and-breakfasts plus the Lakeland Terrace with its exceptional Terrace Grill and another more than a dozen non-chain restaurants match the city's arts attractions with hospitality.
Self-expressive downtown Lakeland
LAKELAND, FL- People at leisure as much as people at work impel change and renewal in this central Florida city of 90,000.
Three buildings went up on average every 24 hours during Lakeland's heyday Twenties. Even before that, downtown grew to the rush of rails that brought the rise of towers.
Change today is also quick but measured instead by renewal of the built legacy and by gains in what makes the city pleasurable.
Along the I-4 corridor between Orlando and Tampa, Lakeland has become distinctly self-expressive, a place where quality of life moderates growth for growth's sake. A planted median has taken over two lanes of a major downtown thoroughfare, reducing traffic lanes to four. Protective mesh covers swans that paddle downtown lakes when nesting; each year, veterinarians give them physicals.
Parks, sculpture gardens, waterside paths, trackless trolleys - carefully styled store windows and tubs of flowers on broad sidewalks - add to the beauty and convenience for residents, shoppers and visitors alike.
There are no chain stores. Everything downtown is one of a kind.
Residents now occupy one refurbished landmark tower and visitors occupy another that's on the national register. Both overlook lakes.
Art-filled cafes draw downtowners at lunch. Worldly dinner guests can choose between the Terrace Grille at the Lakeland Terrace Hotel and the avant garde Antiquarian Restaurant, where owner-chef Gary Schmidt (who studied music with modernist composer John Cage) also shows art.
Festivals are frequent and even without the hoopla of staged events, musicians perform weekends and often outdoors.
Different from other cities that saw their downtowns decline in the decades after WWII, Lakeland leaders reacted quickly. By 1980, a preservation ordinance created the downtown historic district. Property owners soon after began taxing themselves to improve the look.
Historic Munn Park - the city's town square since 1884 -- was rebuilt with new radial walkways that invite the 8,500 who work downtown and Lakeland visitors into re-opened shops, galleries and antique stores. Here are Explorations V, a hands-on children's museum, the contemporary gallery, Arts on the Park, and the restored Polk Theatre, its interior designed like a Mediterranean village. A farmers market may next come to the park.
A three-block greenway has transformed 50 feet along the south side of Lemon Street into an outdoors sculpture garden. Year to year, the look completely changes as winning submissions from an annual and nationally recognized Lakeland sculpture competition replace the previous year's work.
Downtown has become central to the city's view of itself. Re-routing of roads newly gives planners more to work with. It helps that for 40 recent years Lakeland had only two city managers.
Through east-west traffic, which lately made crossing Highway 98 to downtown Lake Mirror dangerous, now feeds into a northern bypass. This allows the downtown integration of a six-block area in a historically under-served neighborhood between Lake Mirror and Bartow Road.
Renewal of the Lake Mirror waterfront itself shows dramatic improvement.
An almost 70-year-old promenade that dates from the City Beautiful Movement of the last century has seen its sculptural pylons and balustrades, its lights, walls and stairs renewed. Private donors installed the Hollis Garden, which depicts the botanical history of Florida in 16 outdoors rooms, and Barnett Children's Park, a playground of sculptures that introduces children to Florida fauna. Also new on the lake is the city-built Peggy Brown Community Center.
The park's 3,300-foot circumference has become a popular downtown jogging path, but everyone else is here too: strollers, tots in prams, lovers of outdoors beauty, lovers.
Sculptor Albert Paley's exuberant work that looks like an exploded fruit salad dedicated to Lakeland's volunteer spirit marks renewal of the east and north shores of the lake.
Relocation of Highway 98 allows a planned gateway park along the east shore to connect by walkway with a planned north shore pavilion of outdoor cafes and shops. The walkway will continue west up Main Street into downtown. This parallels the promenade along the south shore of the lake that extends west into downtown along Lemon Street.
Orange Street, a block below Lemon, centers the quickly developing residential Garden District. This district occupies the three-block waist between Lake Mirror and Lake Morton. The Polk Museum of Art occupies Lake Morton's eastern slope. Beautiful homes surround the south shore, which give way to a district of historic bungalows. A few blocks south is Lake Hollingsworth and the campus of Florida Southern College designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
West of downtown, beautification of Lemon Street will create a pleasurable half-mile pedestrian connection to the Lakeland Center, which is the city's premier stage for traveling shows and conventional hall.
Lakeland Parks & Recreation Director Bill Tinsley says it's not just playground equipment and trees that make a city livable.
"You have to plan attractive city gateways and connect people where they enjoy recreation with downtown shops.
"As we've stood back and watched the economic impacts of renewal we've also seen that we affect how people feel about their city. We're dedicated to the idea that by public investments in art we're making this a better community to live."
Says executive director of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority Anne B. Furr, "Downtown was already the financial center of the city. Now it's becoming a residential center. People choose downtown for the networking, for the friendliness. Downtown Lakeland is strong and steady."
Below is a link to view the Arts & Culture Media Tour photos. The travel writers said wonderful things about the tour and as you can see from the photos really enjoyed Barnett Park. Take a look at their Media Tour Scrapbook from the Central Florida's Lakes Country Heart of the Arts and More media tour held October 2006.
www.georgiaturnergroup.com/CentralFlasArtArchitectureandMore.htm
11/07/2006
Taking wing in central Florida
By: RALPH COLLIER , Main Line Times
Central Florida is the ideal escape for vacationers, especially families, large or small. Those who have chosen this part of the state for their vacation come away with memories that sparkle with enthusiasm. Most travelers have traditionally stayed in hotels, but in Florida, there is now another choice: new single homes, spacious and fully equipped and furnished with towels, bed linens and heated, private pools. Some are pet friendly for families who bring their animals on vacation. Above all, there is privacy as well as total security. USA Vacation Homes feels vacationers won't settle for a hotel room when they can have a smartly decorated house for the same price.
The homes are close to 100 golf courses, Cypress Gardens, the Bok Sanctuary and Walt Disney World, where "merry" takes on a new meaning at holiday time. There are almost nine miles of twinkling lights, 70-foot-tall Christmas trees, life- sized gingerbread houses, 300,000 yards of ribbon and hundreds of poinsettias, and it is only 15 minutes from the USA Vacation Homes. Central Florida is home to the world's greatest collection of vintage planes. Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, halfway between Orlando and Tampa, offers a "Who's Who" of aviation, including such World War II gems as the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, B-26 Marauder, P-51 Mustang and many more. Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warrior had ever encountered before, American bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors.
Fantasy of Flight has two active runways where visitors can also see more rare vintage aircraft and ride a state-of-the-art glide simulator. Perhaps best of all, for those who want excitement, there are open cockpit flights for the family. (Helmets, goggles and scarves are provided.) Maneuvers include lazy-eights, steep and shallow 360-degree turns and some "whoopty-dos" while flying over the surrounding lakes. In one craft (the Stearman PT-17), aviation enthusiasts and pilots of all ages take the controls and fly the aircraft for almost half an hour.
Breakfast at the cheerful Tony's Airside Restaurant, overlooking landing strips of the Florida Air Museum, is an invigorating way to start the day. Floor to ceiling windows enable diners to see the glorious field and watch commuters arriving on their own private flights in this peaceful setting. On the tables and along the walls, there are different pictures of aircraft that eventually threw a greater strain on the evil Luftwaffe than the Nazis were able to bear. The framed pieces of art are a reminder that for the Allies' air superiority, which by the end of 1944 became air supremacy, full tribute clearly must be paid to the United States Air Force.
Just a few miles outside Lakeland, the Florida Air Museum at Sun 'n' Fun allows the visitor's imagination to soar, with over 35 aircraft and thousands of historic artifacts. Many of the planes are unique specimen, including home built and factory built aircraft, ultra lights and helicopters. The museum also displays historic documents from aviation pioneer Howard Hughes' collection. Apropos gems that fly, Lakeland itself is aflutter with Kaleidoscope: Butterflies in Flight, an exhibition of almost 100 Lepidoptera with wingspans of as much as seven feet. In reality, they are pieces of imaginative sculpture, a public art project not unlike Chicago's Cows on Parade and the Bears in Berlin (the German capital's logo). All will be sold to the highest bidder in April of next year to benefit Common Ground, a project to construct a playscape that will promote interaction among kids of varying abilities by removing physical barriers. Children in wheelchairs or with learning or visual impairments, autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy will be able to play side by side in Lakeland. The playground will be in the shape of a butterfly to symbolize the individuality of each child.
For more information on central Florida, please call Central Florida Conventions and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-828-7655 or visit www.sensational.org.
Ralph Collier is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers, the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association, and the International Motor Press Association. His syndicated programs are heard on 32 radio stations. Locally, he can be heard Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. on WRTI 90.1 FM.
"Heart of the Arts" Travel Writers Media Tour
December
| Tour & Welcome Dinner -- Polk Museum |
RATING |
COMMENTS |
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5 |
Amazing! What a reception! |
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5 |
Wow! That was quite a group that came out to welcome us. |
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5 |
Good to meet most of the people we'd see later. |
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5 |
I think these folks really went out of their way to welcome us! |
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5 |
Very well done. |
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5 |
One of the best introductory events ever. Got to meet lots of folks and heard some great entertainment as well. |
| Breakfast/Kaleidoscope Presentation |
RATING |
COMMENTS |
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4 |
Well done presentation. |
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4 |
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5 |
What a beautiful idea. |
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3 |
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4 |
After the equipment got up and running it turned out to be a pleasant and informative meeting. |
| Dinner - Terrace Grille |
RATING |
COMMENTS |
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5 |
Fabulous! |
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4 |
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4 |
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5 |
Best meal of the trip. Loved Jackie! |
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4 |
Good choice. |
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5 |
Top notch all the way. |
| Tour - Florida Southern College |
RATING |
COMMENTS |
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5 |
What a wonderful discovery of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and a GREAT guide! |
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5 |
Learned more about FLW I didn't know. |
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5 |
The guide was terrific - really enjoyed this stop. |
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5 |
Very informative - especially the guide. |
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4 |
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5 |
Great docent - learned a lot. |
Lakeland is Polk County's Jewel in the Crown - Polk County, Florida
By: Roy Barnes5/23/06
Hollis Garden features an accompanying classical music soundtrack.
Lakeland is one city where you can spend a full day or two wandering around, and will soon realize how much the residents love art and nature! This is truly Polk County's Jewel in the Crown!
Lakeland Familiarization Facts
The city has an average daily temperature of 73 degrees, and is 141 feet above sea level. Lakeland was first settled in the 1870s, by Abraham Munn. It didn't become incorporated until 1885. - designated by Money Magazine in the late 1990s as a "Best Place To Live In America" selectee.
This city of 90,000 has roughly 175 churches. Over 7.5 million residents live within a 100 mile radius of the city, more than any other city in the southeast currently!
Lakeland is a college town, for the University of Southern Florida and Florida Southern College campuses are located here. Florida Southern has the largest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. It's the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers and has had the longest association with a major league baseball team than any other spring training city. Visitors will come away from Lakeland with a great feeling because its art and culture scene really creates a positive ambience, yet they will also feel as if they've been in a down-to-earth Southern city, too.
My Must-See Sites
Frank Lloyd Wright Walking Tour
Oh, What a Great Vibe! This architectural tour along the western part of the the Florida Southern campus was one of my most memorable walks. Wright's philosophy speaks loudly here - twelve structures named "Child of the Sun" collection. I'd only seen Wright's edifices on television. I finally got to experience his work up close and personal.
As I walked around this part of the campus, a distinctly different kind of vibe came over me because Wright designed buildings in such a way that they complemented the natural surroundings rather than intruded upon it. Florida Southern College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Its former President, Dr. Ludd Spivey, was a big fan of Wright's designs. He commissioned Wright in the late 1930s to design a number of buildings for the school. The twelve structures were completed over a 17-year time frame, from 1941 to 1958.
One of Wright's best designs is the 1.5 miles of low esplanades, which run along the western part of the campus. My favorite Wright structure is the Anne Pfeiffer Chapel, completed in 1941 by student labor. The building's tower is known as "the bicycle rack in the sky" and "the bow-tie".
The "Child of the Sun" Visitor Center will give even more information about this great architectural mind and some background on his other inspired works. The center features permanent displays of Wright's relationship with the college via photos, furniture, and drawings.
Explorations V Children's Museum
Kids can act like adults! Explorations V has been an interactive adventure for children of all ages since 1991. Three stories high, it covers the spectrum of science, health, consumer issues and world culture. The world exhibits offer children the opportunity to get their Impressions Gallery Passports stamped each time they participate in one of the specific activities, like visiting an Aztec market or making a Nigerian Akuaba doll. They can shop like their parents do for groceries in the explore store, the most popular exhibit. They can also act like a star as they dress for theatre and dancing parts in the theater exhibit.
The museum sponsors field trips and workshops for such activities as candle making, rope making, to name just a couple. Throw a special birthday party for your son or daughter. Explorations V offers such party themes as chemistry and princess tea parties, which are a change of pace from the Chuck E. Cheese fare!
Patriotic Trees, Promenades, and Childhood Fun Just South of Lake Mirror
Lake Mirror is one of the city's largest lakes, but to the south of it, you will find it loaded with lots of family-themed activities, including Barnett Family Park, where children can play in the midst of fountains and splash water on each other. The playground area includes a ground made of recycled tires.
Lake Mirror's Promenade is almost 80 years old and fashioned after the classical Roman style of architecture, plus it is listed in the National Register of Historical Places. It leads to my favorite area in this complex, Hollis Garden. Have you ever wished you could listen to a musical soundtrack while wandering through a beautiful garden? Well, your Mozart dreams will come true. Venture to this 1.2 acre garden south of Lake Mirror. It's loaded with the best of Mother Nature's fare, featuring more than 10,000 flowers and ornamental shrubs which tell the story of the primeval roots of Florida's agrarian period up to today. One of the sections of Hollis Garden (the sections are actually called "rooms") is the Trees of Americana Room, where the Helen Keller Water Oak and the M.L.K. Jr. Sycamore proudly stand.
Frank Lloyd Wright's vision lives on at Florida Southern College.
Because butterflies are such an integral part of Polk County, a special section is reserved for these creatures with vegetation that attracts them, encircled by a magnolia hedge. Garden lovers will take note just how aesthetically designed each of its 16 Rooms have been designed and maintained - reflects and honors values of gardening.
Take special note of The Grotto Room's limestone walls and adorning of orchids. At the entrance of Hollis Garden, free walking maps are available for reference to the 16 Rooms. Barnett Family Park and Hollis Garden are both located at 702 E. Orange Street to the south of Lake Mirror. Telephone contact for Hollis Garden is 863-603-6281. Free Admission.
Polk Museum of Art
Art and more! For 40 years, the Polk Museum of Art has been a mecca for art lovers. Once housed in a former Publix Super Market, this venue not only shows art in all its forms, but it's a center for education. Community art classes abound here.
Visual arts students from Harrison Arts Center get their art training every day of the school year, adding to the vitality of the museum. The museum sponsors a large outdoor arts exhibit once a year that brings in people from all over the state. The four areas of collection for this 37,000 square foot museum include Asian, Pre-Columbian, American/European Decorative and Modern/Contemporary art, especially those crafted by Florida residents in the latter category. You'll find a nice sampling of wood and fiber art and a sculpture garden is also located on the premises. Traveling exhibits find their way to the museum on a regular basis, including "AFTERMATH: Images from Ground Zero, Photography by Joel Meyerowitz", which is scheduled to appear from April 22 - July 9, 2006, in one of the galleries.
Down-Home Southern Eatin' in Lakeland
When you are done with your touring of the Wright buildings, viewing great exhibits at the Polk Museum of Art, and being Bach'ed out at Hollis Garden, here are a few great places you can re-fuel your body, while also emanating that down-home Southern feel!
Harry's Seafood, Bar, and Grille
New Orleans comes to Lakeland. This is a wonderful New Orleans-style restaurant in the heart of Lakeland. Its fresh seafood is awesome, especially the calamari! I ate a very popular Bayou dish of red beans and rice with smoked sausage, served up on a large platter - filling and delicious! Other dishes of note are the Louisiana Gumbo, Pasta Jambalaya and Crawfish Tails. Harry's is decorated to give the feel of being in Bayou country. It's a local favorite for Lakelanders, and it is across the street from Munn Park, named after Lakeland's founder! Outdoor dining is available too.
I have a good friend who is from Bayou country in Louisiana, and when I went over the establishment's menu with her after returning back to frigid Wyoming, she told me this place serves true Bayou dishes all the way down the line! So this isn't one of those gimmicky touristy eating traps that try to pull the wool over tourist's eyes.
Harry's take-out menu doesn't just laundry list their items, but it goes into decent descriptions of their selections. Harry's currently has eight locations around the panhandle of Florida and central Florida.
Garden Bistro: Picnic-like dining
This little eatery has a nice variety of sandwiches and salads. Its outdoor dining option is especially nice for lunchtime, and a people watcher around Lake Mirror. Garden Bistro is also open for breakfast, serving up omelets, waffles and pancakes at fair prices. For lunch, I feasted on the Bistro's Porta Garden sandwich, which contains, in part, alfalfa sprouts on bread. I really enjoyed it, and I still had room to taste another great selection, their loaded Bistro Club Sandwich, full of bacon, turkey and ham. They also serve a variety of homemade desserts and tea with strawberry flavor. The Garden Bistro is at 702 E. Orange St. (in the back of the Magnolia Building between Hollis Gardens and the Barnett Water Park). Telephone: 863-686-3332.
Here's more information on the Lakeland area
Special Note About Polk County Tap Water
Travelers who drink tap water, like myself, need to be warned that the tap water and ice for drinks in Polk County, while potable (that is, very safe to drink), can have a mild to strong sulfuric taste! The shower water may also be a bit sulfuric, depending on the degree of filtering used by hotels.
The tap water was hard for me to get used to, as I've lived on chlorinated tap water all my life. Of course, the simple alternative is to drink bottled water or soft drinks!
Getting to Polk County By Air
The closest major airports are the Orlando International Airport (MCO is the code) and the Tampa International Airport (TPA is the code). Tampa International Airport has free WIFI internet access.
Here's a general road map of the area.
For lodging considerations around Polk County, check out www.bootsnall.com for great deals, or you can also access the Central Florida Visitors and Convention Bureau/Sports Marketing Office to help you with that and other travel issues. They are at: 600 N. Broadway, Ste. 300, Bartow, FL 863-534-2500
Surprising Lakeland
February Cover 2- 2007- by Elizabeth Bradley
If Mt. Dora were a woman, she’d be jealous of Lakeland…so, too, might downtown Orlando…and Sanford might look at her as a more complete version of itself. What’s that? …An older city with a thriving downtown arts district, good restaurants, nice parks, designated historical district and a non profit arts center that provides direction, leadership and fundraising for a burgeoning number of art venues.
I was not expecting to find the arts in Lakeland, the county seat of Polk County, more associated, at least in my mind, with orange groves and cattle ranches. So, I was pleasantly surprised when everywhere I turned on my weekend there, I encountered art: art in public spaces, art on the walls in a gallery, and art in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright on the campus of Florida Southern College, art in the window of the Explorations V Children‘s Museum storefront .
Butterflies
My first stop on this unexpected arts tour was to enjoy the butterflies on the lakes. Eighty-eight brightly painted metal butterfly sculptures dot the shorelines of Lake Mirror and Lake Morton and expand into downtown Lakeland. They are part of “Kaleidoscope, Butterflies in Flight”, a public arts project administered by Arts on the Park, the non profit local arts organization that oversees the arts in public spaces program in Lakeland as well as running the Creative Spaces Gallery , coordinating art classes and running the children’s museum.
National and local artists sent in over 400 sketches to compete for the privilege of decorating the giant aluminum butterflies with wingspans from five to seven feet. The winners came to Lakeland, got to work and the results of their handicraft are amazing. One butterfly is decked out in pink jewels that make this butterfly sparkle in the sun. Another butterfly is painted in each color from the rainbow and another is painted with white fluffy clouds against a bright blue background. Each butterfly has a name and a sponsor and will be auctioned off at the Butterfly Ball Dinner and Auction when the public exhibition ends in April. The proceeds will be used to fund Common Ground, a children’s play area designed in the shape of a butterfly to be constructed in Lakeland. It will provide a unique interactive play area for kids with and without special needs.
The butterflies will be on exhibit until April 27. For more information on this project contact www. kaleidoscope Lakeland.com.
Museum
Lakeland is lucky to be home to the Polk Museum of Art which is the county art museum. It is a large white building situated just on the edge of the Munn Park Historic District which delineates the downtown arts and antique area. It has plenty of space for a permanent collection of pre-Columbian artifacts as well as exhibition space for touring exhibitions.
Beginning February 2, the museum will host “Ansel Adams: A Celebration of Genius“, an exhibition of photographs by Ansel Adams, the father of nature photography. The exhibit will feature 150 photographs by Adams and contain some of his best known works as well as some undiscovered treasures. Adams is revered in lots of art photos circles mostly for his very famous images of the American West. He and a group of California photographers are credited with bringing legitimacy to straight photography.
He received many national and international award s, honorary degrees, three Guggenheim Fellowships, and had a wilderness area and mountain named after him. He is the only photographer to be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, which he received in 1980. The exhibition will run through April 1. For more information go to the museum’s website at www.polkmuseumofart.org .
The museum also coordinates the giant juried fine arts and crafts show known as Mayfaire-By-The-Lake. This year it will be on Mother’s Day weekend on May 12 and 13. It includes lots of activities for kids as well as a 5K race, a concert and fireworks around the lake.
Historical District
The designated downtown, stroll around, shop, dine, look at art area is in and around the officially designated Munn Park historic district. It contains the bulk of the very old commercial buildings in the city. Picture an old-fashioned town square built in 1884 or think of the one in the movie “Back to the Future” and you’ve got an idea of what the park looks like. This one is replete with a statue in the center of the promenade of a Confederate soldier. The historic district was listed on the National Register in 1997.
The park is surrounded by four streets containing shops, restaurants with outdoor dining, night clubs and galleries. Over forty buildings are considered historically significant and have been preserved. If you go, pick up a guide and walk your heart out around it and the adjacent antiques district.
Developers have started to build residential space downtown. People already live in Lake Mirror Tower which has 76 apartments. Aloft project will add eight apartments and six townhouses to the mix and the Community Redevelopment Agency has purchased 15 acres downtown behind the police station to build a 400-unit condo and townhouse project. Real Estate, anybody?
Dining
Although bistros with outdoor patios abound in the historic district, the hands down best fine dining establishment is The Antiquarian Restaurant. Recommended by everybody, it has all the right elements - a deceptively small size (the main dining room is broken up into two rooms), gentle décor, original art (the owners wife is a printmaker), and most importantly exceptional food, attentively served. Sensing a food pro at work, I asked to meet owner/chef Gary Schmidt and, indeed, he had studied at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York before completing his education with a master‘s degree in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana campus, a top school for music.
Some nights, he does sit down and actually play the piano and they told me that he‘s quite good. So, not only is he a fine chef, but an accomplished musician as well.
The roast duck is the Antiquarian’s signature dish and I sampled it. It was great, the sauce was great, and the duck was tender, yet not fatty; but done just right, as was the cheesecake. In fact, everything I tasted was exceptional.
Music
After dinner, I strolled back to the area around Munn’s Park, it’s safe enough to do that here, and saw a lot of clubs with music for the younger crowd. Having walked off dinner, I located my car, jumped in and drove around a little. A large crowd was standing in line at the historic Polk Theatre and later I found out that comedians Rickey Smiley from BET Comicview and Steffon Vann from Soul Funny had appeared that evening as well as the winner of the previous night’s talent showcase winner.
Lakeland was just full of surprises!
For information on visiting Lakeland contact: The Lake land Chamber of Commerce at www.lakelandchamber.com
The Central Florida Visitors and Convention Bureau at www.sunsational.org
That warm feeling in Lakeland
January 14, 2007
By Ellen Creager / Detroit Free Press
LAKELAND, Fla. -- In winter, the grass grows in uneven tufts on the diamond at Joker Marchant Stadium. The blue-and-orange Tigers logo atop the dugout needs painting. On an unusually steamy January morning, my footsteps whisper there, empty and wistful.
Worry not. Lakeland will be ready for spring training, just six weeks away.
"You can go out there right now outside the stadium, and you'll see people all day long drive up who just want to look. They all have blue license plates," says Ron Myers, director of Florida Operations for the Detroit Tigers, sitting in his Tigertown office next door.
Spring training game tickets just went on sale Saturday.
But people have been calling for tickets since October.
Even in the baseball slumbers of January, the staff tries to leave a gate open for all the Michigan snowbirds and tourists passing through Lakeland.
They understand the need.
"People come just to watch the grass grow," says Myers, who grew up in Flint. "It's a romantic place. Here, the grass is a lot greener and the sky is a lot bluer."
Spring training runs Feb. 27-March 31. Joker Marchant is part of the Tigertown complex that also includes the franchise's Class A minor league team, newly renamed the Lakeland Flying Tigers.
But the Michigan-Lakeland connection began way back in 1934. That's when the Tigers started training in this once-sleepy central Florida town halfway between Tampa and Orlando.
Even in bad years, Tigers fans have always made pilgrimages to Lakeland, if only for a day. This year? Expect a huge turnout, starting with Fan Fest on Feb. 24 (see www.detroittigers.com for more spring training details.)
If you're one of the lucky ones going to Lakeland this spring, don't forget to scope out the rest of the place. Here's what's new for March:
Art: Giant butterflies have alighted all over downtown -- 88 seven-foot aluminum sculptures. The fluttering festivities are part of the "Kaleidoscope: Butterflies in Flight" exhibition through April.
There's also a big Ansel Adams photography exhibit Feb. 3-Apr. 1 at the Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland ( www.polkmuseumofart.org, 863-688-7743.)
Food: A new little barbecue place called Good Buddies BBQ has opened in Lakeland at 127 S. Kentucky Ave. You may also want to try Fresh Choice Plus, Pal's Pizza, or go for scallops and fried grit cakes at Harry's Seafood.
Shopping: Don't miss the antiques shops downtown; my favorite is Lloyds of Lakeland. Also check out the Lakeside Village shopping center featuring Belk's and Coldwater Creek. It's near the Polk Parkway on Harden Boulevard.
Hotels: The top hotel in Lakeland is the Terrace Inn downtown. But if you only have a night in Lakeland, stay at the Hampton Inn, Jameson Inn or one of other the nearby small but clean hotels at Exit 33 off I-4.
Sports: Besides baseball, see the Hooters Pro Cup series short track races March 10 at the USA International Speedway, 3401 Old Polk City Road. ( www.usaspeedway.com, 800-984-7223.)
Architecture: Go see the gloriously tiny red and gold stained-glass William Danforth Chapel at Florida Southern College, where all the low, strange zig-zag buildings were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Near downtown at 111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive ( www.flsouthern.edu, 863-680-4110.) (Urgent note to Wright preservationists: Get down here. The chapel is starting to smell like mildew.)
Ron Myers of the Tigers says that Lakeland feels comfortable to Michiganders because "it's got a Midwestern flavor," he says. "You get that warm feeling."
It's only January, but I already have that feeling about Lakeland.
Especially when I picture the American League championship flag flying over this town.
Lakeland is hot destination
Tigers fans should plan ahead, be flexible in order to find rooms
Susan R. Pollack / The Detroit News
Finding a last-minute place to stay in Lakeland, Fla., will be hit or miss for Tigers fans bound for spring training without reservations.
But don't despair if you feel a sudden urge to yell, "Play ball!" under the Florida palm trees this month and in March. Your best bet might be to skip Internet travel Web sites, where some popular spots appear to be booked solid, and call the lodgings direct.
Now.
"We have rooms after Feb. 18, but that may not last, so try to make a decision as quickly as possible," advises Daphne Calise, sales director at the Residence Inn Lakeland, where nightly rates of $139 (1-4 nights) or $129 (5-11 nights) include full hot breakfast daily and light dinner weekdays.
Rumors that Lakeland hotels are booked through March are exaggerated, Calise says.
"We may be closed out on the Internet for certain dates, but that doesn't mean there's no room at the inn," she says.
"After a certain point, we manage our inventory so we don't overbook."
Think midweek, mid-March
Lodging especially is tight on upcoming weekends, hoteliers say, when snowbirds, baseball fans and other travelers converge on the central Florida city for everything from spring training and school basketball and wrestling tournaments to a strawberry festival.
"Finding a room here is going to be difficult in the latter part of February and early March," says Jennifer White, sales director of the historic Terrace Hotel downtown.
"Some people started booking as early as November."
Harold Kort, a former Metro Detroit resident who has watched the Tigers train in Lakeland for more than 20 springs, plans to call his favorite spot, the Scottish Inn on Lake Weir, a few miles south of Joker Marchant Stadium.
"It's old, very old, but it's clean and the price is right (about $80)," says Kort, who retired to Delray, Fla., a few years ago.
"I go out every morning to walk around the lake and watch the ducks."
Though rooms are filling fast, innkeeper Henry Dev says some still are available, especially midweek during mid-March.
Other diversions
Beyond the ballpark, Lakeland offers plenty of attractions, from browsing antiques shops and art galleries in downtown's Historic and Antiques district to admiring a noted collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture around Florida Southern College.
Freshened up in recent years, downtown Lakeland features restored buildings, outdoor art and pedestrian-friendly streets, plus the flower-studded Lake Mirror Promenade.
Another Lakeland favorite is the Polk Museum of Art, showcasing pre-Columbian and contemporary works.
For Detroiters, one of the most popular spots in town is Holiday Inn (North) Lakeland Hotel & Conference Center, the Tigers' spring training headquarters for the next three years.
The restaurant, newly renamed the Tigers Dugout, is decorated with American League championship pennants and other Tigers memorabilia.
Spring training games broadcast on ESPN, such as two against the rival Yankees (March 5, March 30), will be aired on the restaurant's newly installed Direct TV.
Rooms, however, are extremely limited.
"There's always a chance you could call and be lucky enough to grab one -- there's constant ebb and flow," says Christina Kipp, sales director.
You can reach Susan R. Pollack at (313) 222-2665 or srpollack@detnews.com.
If you're going
Lodging
Many popular hotel chains in Lakeland are located a few miles from Joker Marchant Stadium, off exits 32 and 33 on I-4. Check lakelandchamber.com or call (863) 688-8551.
Holiday Inn (North) Lakeland Hotel & Conference Center: The $122 "Best Breaks" rate includes breakfast for two. Ask about the $79 "Detroit Fan" rate, though availability is limited. (863) 688-8080
Residence Inn: $129-$139, including breakfast and midweek dinners. (863) 680-2323
Scottish Inn: $69-$79 per night. (863) 687-2530
Terrace Hotel: $89-$209, including continental breakfast; ask about the "Tiger Rate." (863) 688-0800
Airfares
Sample roundtrip airfares, mid-February through March, from Detroit to Orlando or Tampa -- found Thursday at travelocity.com -- start at $103 and $113 (plus taxes), but are higher for specific dates. Click "flexible dates" in the search box.
Don't-miss diversions
Orlando theme parks: About an hour away, depending on traffic
Tampa dining: Some 40 miles west, Tampa boasts several not-to-be-missed restaurant experiences, such as Bern's Steak House and the Cuban-flavored Columbia Restaurant
,CNNMoney.com/February 2007 Aside from the panhandle and Vero Beach, few places in Florida scream out "buy now" like Lakeland. A house goes for a fifth less than the national median of $227,500, and Lakeland is just 30 minutes from Tampa, a juggernaut of 2.7 million people that's projected to add almost 210,000 more residents over the next five years.
Lakeland is the Greenfield - actually, orange and yellow, because of the surrounding citrus groves - that developers are divvying up to house many of those newcomers.
Meritage Homes, one of the fastest-growing U.S. builders, plans to build more than 1,300 homes in the area by 2008. "All the big national and regional builders have moved into town," says Larry Comegys, Meritage regional president. "Lakeland has become major." It also sits along I-4, where the density of development is beginning to mirror the Dulles corridor in Virginia.
CAUTION: Prices tend to top out more quickly in areas like Lakeland that are largely populated by semiskilled service workers.
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