Oakland community to see revitalization to the area

HAINES CITY, Fla. — Haines City leaders are looking to revitalize the Oakland community as the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is asking for public input on bringing back this once-bustling business district.

The Community Redevelopment Agency is starting the process with the former walk-in bar along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

No job is too small for Kenneth Gosha.

“I like making the neighborhood look good,” he said.

Gosha works in the community, helping keep his neighbors’ lawns in top shape. He grew up in the Oakland community and says it’s his way of giving back.

It’s a place that he says has seen its fair share of change.

“Some of the spaces around here, where there were empty lots, they’re building houses there, they’re putting sidewalks, they’re doing a lot of great things around here,” he says.

But he also remembers what it was a place where business was alive and booming.

Today, he says, it’s much different, and one of the reasons Gosha says he will have his voice heard at the upcoming Haines City Community Redevelopment Agency meeting.

The topic is to discuss plans for the former walk-in bar located in the heart of the Oakland community.

“The lower level of this old walk-in bar, we want to put retail back here, and the upper level we want to do apartments or condos,” says Haines City Mayor and board member of the Community Redevelopment Agency Morris West.

He says this building means a lot to the community. Back in the day, the building was a walk-in bar and housed a barber shop that many residents frequented.

“We want to start with this building, but the city commission and the CRA board members want to revitalize this whole district, bring it back to what it once was,” West comments.

West says the goal is to bring back the business district, but local leaders need community input to make it happen.

Gosha believes it’s the first step to breathing life back into a growing community.

“It’ll just help make the community beautiful and better,” he says.

It is a place he wants to continue to call his home and welcome new faces too.

Haines City CRA will be discussing plans for the building at their meeting in City Hall on Thursday, Feb 5, at 5:30 p.m.

Residents are encouraged to attend and share their thoughts on the property.