Will the Grand Hotel be “Green?”

The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel's paint color is a hot topic around town. Yes, the paint's green now, but will the hotel be “green” in the future?

You hear a lot in the media about “green” projects and sustainability. But how does it relate to the Dixie Walesbilt? One aspect of sustainability is historic preservation and downtown revitalization, the mission of Lake Wales Main Street.

According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which created the Main Street Program, even a “green” building on average takes 40 years to recover the energy used to build it. If a building was demolished to make way for the new building, that figure rises to 65 years because of all the wasted energy and natural resources that had been used to construct the previous building.

The most sustainable growth is creative reuse of existing buildings. Even if not historically significant, reusing existing buildings can be an opportunity to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.

We congratulate the Historic Lake Wales Society and the City of Lake Wales for their success with the preservation of so many buildings in the Historic District and around Lake Wales. Our city is known as the Crown Jewel of the Ridge, and we look forward to the day when the Dixie Walesbilt is once again the crown jewel of Lake Wales.

In the early 1920's the citizens of Lake Wales, all 3,000 of them, decided the new city must have a hotel. The Chamber of Commerce raised money through a stock sales campaign. When the 11 story hotel opened January 14, 1927 it was named the Dixie Walesbilt. As the original brochure stated, it was “A Community Enterprise, Every Citizen a Stockholder.”

No matter what color the grand old hotel is painted, the project will be “green.” Restoring the hotel is the ultimate in recycling.

You can visit www.SpiritofLakeWales.com to see some of the hotel's history, including the original promotional brochure. The photo gallery has amazing photos of the view from the top of the hotel.

Free Business Workshops - Lake Wales Main Street is offering free business workshops the first Thursday of each month in the PSC, JD Alexander Center on Central Ave., downtown Lake Wales. The next Workshop is Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 5:30 PM. For more information call Jan Privett at 863-224-1970.

Welcome - I would like to welcome the newest member of the Main Street Board of Directors; Diane Armington, owner of the Village Kitchen Shop on Stuart Avenue.  You can visit her shop's Virtual Tour at www.LakeWalesMainStreet.com. We’d also like to welcome new Main Street members: Lake Wales Woman’s Club, Action Signs, CenterState Bank, Circle of Friends, Johnson Funeral Home, Entourage Salon and Green Horizon Land Trust.

The Virtual Tour now has 28 videos at www.LakeWalesMainStreet.com. New releases: Sorensen Schade, Lake Wales Care Center and Action Signs.