First Street improvements highlight a growing area

With half of the street torn up and blocked off, you’d understand if Florida Studio Theatre Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins was frustrated by the construction in front of the campus' Hegner Theatre Wing.

As the city works to improve the walkability of a segment of First Street, Hopkins says her only problem is that the construction didn’t begin earlier.

“We are excited and thrilled about the construction because us and the other businesses on First Street have really pushed for this,” Hopkins said.

On Aug. 24, the city began work on a five-month, $2.2 million construction project that will extend from U.S. 41 to Pineapple Avenue. The scope of the project includes widening sidewalks, adding ornamental streetlights, placing utility lines underground, installing brick-paver parking spaces and adding landscaping and trees.

“First Street is a gateway into the downtown core from U.S. 41, and this project will be a major improvement for the area,” City Manager Tom Barwin said in a release regarding the construction.

Hopkins lamented the conditions of First Street before work began on the project. Florida Studio Theatre is a major pedestrian generator in the heart of the city, and she said the streets and sidewalk not only detracted from the area, but made her concerned for the safety of the theater’s patrons.

“All these people are trying to traverse downtown and you have broken sidewalks and bad lighting and not clear crossings,” Hopkins said. “It was just so needed.”

Although Hopkins is focused on improving the experience of those who visit the theater, she believes the project will have a broader impact on area between U.S. 41 and Cocoanut. She acknowledges some separation between the downtown core and this western segment, and she foresees that disappearing in the coming years.

"Right now, there’s that imaginary line at Cocoanut. That’s going to go away." — Rebecca Hopkins

“You’re not going to know the difference,” Hopkins said. “Right now, there’s that imaginary line, kind of, at Cocoanut. That’s going to go away; people are just going to see one big area.”

That change isn’t just going to become because of the streetscape improvements. Four hotels are either under construction or in the works within a block of First and U.S. 41 or First and Cocoanut.

Sally Trout is the owner of Sally A. Trout Interior Design, located at 83 Cocoanut Ave. She, too, thinks the streetscape improvements are a good idea, though she has questions about how people might cross U.S. 41 to get to the area once the pedestrian improvements are in place.

She has even more questions about the effects the ensuing growth might have on the area. At Cocoanut and Palm Avenue, Floridays Development Co. plans to build a hotel. As part of that project, the company will make some improvements to a segment of Cocoanut between Palm and First, which will include the instillation of a roundabout at Cocoanut and Palm.

“I understand they’re going to be taking away part of Cocoanut Avenue,” Trout said. “That’s more of a concern with me.”

Although the planned improvements will include a loss of some parking, city staff has worked with stakeholders to add more spaces into the design. There are signs that more changes may come to the area: In 2014, the city applied for a grant to expand upon the Cocoanut improvements, including a potential roundabout at the five-way intersection that includes First Street.

Trout may have done a few things differently than the city, but overall, she thinks the ongoing evolution of the area will benefit businesses.

“What can you do, you know?” Trout said. “It’s change. I think it’s gonna be good for everybody.”