What's Happening in Lakeland, FL…

The Redevelopment Agency for the Lakeland Community is working with the school board of Polk County to build a path alongside West Lake Parker Drive.

The path will be for multi-use as both pedestrians and cyclists can use it. The path will have artwork from students detailing the city's history. Construction is planned to start in September. The path will go from Bella Vista Street to Bon Air Street North adjacent to the Lake Parker western shore. It will be a mile long, 10 feet wide, and take the place of the current sidewalk.

The manager of the Community Redevelopment Agency Alis Drumgo said the mission of the project is to build a colorful area along path that highlights the community's young talent and how they view local history from 1920 to 2000. Instead of plain asphalt, the city created a path to increase pedestrian usage and install a genuine and pleasant space for the public.

According to Polk County Schools Senior Visual Arts Coordinator Nancy Puri, students from 10 schools will paint one-foot squared tiles. Each tile will portray people and places from different decades.

There are plans to create a map of where the tiles are so students can see their work and, with modern printing services, images like these can be as large as a building.

Elementary schools in the county teach history on the state and are to concentrate on alligators and agriculture.