WELLINGTON, Fla. — A stretch of shoreline along Lake Wellington is generating a variety of ideas that hope to create a new town center for residents.
On Monday night, residents of Wellington will have the chance to sound off on what they think the village should do with that waterfront property.
The village wants to build a town center. One idea is to build a boardwalk with a green market and food trucks.
"This has always been designed to be the center of Wellington,” says Wellington councilman Michael Napoleone.
The total project cost is upwards of $8 million.
However, this project also involves possibly tearing down the Lake Wellington Professional Centre and putting more 150 businesses on the curb, including the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. The village owns that building.
"I think the chamber got very involved quickly. We realized they were going to take down the very building we're sitting in," said Roxanne Stein, president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.
There's also the water itself. The idea of promoting activities like paddleboarding compelled mayor Anne Gerwig to take to Facebook about dangerous bacteria.
"We had a pediatrician that sent an email in about just bacteria that can be in the water and open cut can get infected with these unusual bacteria,” she said. "It's kayaking and stand up paddle boarding but either way if you end up in the water there's a certain risk in stagnant water in Florida."
The mayor says she would like to see something that does give Wellington a town square but she's not willing to jump into too much development.
"I do like the idea of a large gathering spot for the public,” said Gerwig.
Others say just about all possibilities need to be on the table.
"We've always talked about a boardwalk along the lake like a promenade because I think it would be great to move green market from parking lot over to the lakefront area and move the food trucks to the lakefront area," said Napoleone.
Members of the public can voice their opinion on the project by attending the community meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center at 12150 Forest Hill Blvd. The mayor and the council will be in attendance.