Florida Agenda

By BOB KECSKEMETY

The City of Oakland Park will be holding its 7th annual Oktoberfest on Friday and Saturday, September 30  (5 p.m. to 11 p.m.) and October 1  (1 p.m. to 11 p.m.) at Jaco Pastorius Park on North Dixie Highway and N.E.38 Street. Oakland Park’s Oktoberfest is not only the largest in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, but it has also become one of the most popular in Florida.

“Everything about our event is as authentic as possible, from the food and the beer to the bands performing traditional Oktoberfest party music,” said Siegi Constantine, Executive Director of Oakland Park Main Street. “We fly the Oktoberfest beer in from Munich so we have the real stuff. Our event has always been branded as an Authentic Bavarian Oktoberfest so everything about it is authentic as possible.”

Ambry Restaurant (located on Commercial Boulevard) will operate  the Bavarian-style “Biergarten” at Oktoberfest offering a selection of popular German favorites such as bratwurst, knockwurst, sauerkraut, Black Forrest Cherry Cake, German potato salad and apple strudel along with a selection  of German wines. “We try to stick  with authentic German food,” said Constantine, “but we have loosened it a little bit. We now have chicken fingers and roasted corn because not everybody likes German food – especially kids. But we do not allow hot dogs or hamburgers.”

Large tents will be set up to replicate the authentic atmosphere of a Bavarian village celebration including a stage and dance floor.

“We have increased our entertainment budget to book several of the best authentic Oktoberfest bands in Florida,” said Constantine.

Included  in the entertainment schedule will  be performances by Edelweiss Schuhplattlers, a children’s dance troupe, and the Original Auerhahn Schuhplattlers, an adult dance group. The musicians scheduled to fill the air with drinking songs, original oompah and polka dance music until closing each evening include the popular Oktoberfest bands Euro Express and the Swinging Bavarians.
“This is our seventh year and we started out with maybe 1,500 people,” said Constantine. “Last year, we drew up to 10,000 people.

Last year I insisted that we should hold it over two days and it was a great success.”

Through the years, the Oakland Park Oktoberfest has added additional events to make the huge party more fun for the whole family. “I thought, what could we do differently from everybody else?” said Constantine. “Dachshunds are Bavarian dogs so we have a Dachshund race every year called the ‘Dachshund Dash.’ The first year we had 30 some dogs and last year we had 57 of them.”

Registration for the Dachshund Dash is currently taking place at the Central Bark Doggie Daycare center on N. Dixie Highway.

Some of the other events planned are a Beer Keg Roll and a Beer Stein Race where participants loose points for every drop of beer they spill while racing. The popular Apple Strudel Eating Contest is also returning again this year. “There’s this little kid and he started with us about 5 years ago and I’m sure he’s going to win this year. He always ends up with the apple pastry all over his face.”

The first Oktoberfest was a celebration by the people of Munich to honor the marriage of the popular Prince Ludwig and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in October, 1810, and became an annual event to celebrate their anniversary. About 8,000 people attended that first Oktoberfest – last year almost 10,000,000 people attended making it the largest single festival in Europe.

Beer is a major component of Oktoberfest and only beers brewed in Munich (located in the Bavarian region of Germany) are served at Oktoberfest. Many of the breweries brew a special beer that  can only be obtained during Oktoberfest. This beer has a higher alcohol and sugar content making it 2% stronger. Oktoberfest has been held at the same location for 200 years and has only been cancelled 24 times in its history due to war, disease or other emergencies.

Every year, the traditional festival opening is done by a twelve gun salute and the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest beer at 12:00 noon by the Mayor of Munich with the cry “O’ zapft is!” (“It’s tapped!” in the Austro-Bavarian language). The mayor then gives the first beer to the Minister-President of the State of Bavaria. Over 7-million liters (that’s 1,849,204 gallons) of beer get served during the 16 to 18 day festival.

The first Oktoberfest lasted 12 days, starting the first weekend in October. However, the schedule was changed to September, allowing the festival to end on the first weekend in October to take full advantage of the longer and warmer days of September.

“The reason we do Oktoberfest,” concluded Constantine, “is that Main Street is about economic development and we partner with the City of Oakland Park in that we’re tasked with marketing the downtown area and promoting the downtown. One of the ways we do it is to bring people downtown. But Oktoberfest has been growing and growing and it has become the number one signature event for the city.”

OAKLAND PARK, FL – Both Wilton Manors and Oakland Park ranked in the top-ten nationwide in the concentration of same-sex households in the United States.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Wilton Manors ranked second in the nation with, 140 same-sex households per 1,000, and Oakland Park ranked tenth in the nation with 8.8 same-sex households for every 1,000. Provincetown, Massachusetts, came in first place, in front of Wilton Manors.

Redevelopment Means; One City’s Loss is Anothers Gain

By BOB KECSKEMETY

A major redevelopment that was designed for the area south of Five Points on Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors has been moved to Oakland Park’s redevelopment Main Street area.

According to the architect, Edward Tokarcik, two individual clients wanted a new building in Wilton Manors. One is an owner of a gymnasium who wanted to move to a new location and the other, an owner of a movie theater. The original plan was to redevelop the area on the east side of Dixie Highway from N.E. 24 Court to N.E. 12 Avenue and east to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.

Also in the planning were a drive-through gourmet restaurant and a parking garage.

The project started out as two individual clients looking for a building in Wilton Manors and it then turned into a three-block urban renewal project and was looking to expand beyond that. At this point, I don’t think any of the projects are going forward.

They were all very interconnected to each other. Tokarcik, a resident of Wilton Manors, was disappointed that the project could not go forward.

“We worked out the design concepts and worked with a design firm and we spoke with two developers and their prices were close,” said Tokarcik. But the project fell through. “Either the lots were too expensive – they were bought at the height of the market – and you can’t get parking, you can’t pass the parking requirements. And I actually designed a 500-car garage and when that did not go forward, nothing could go forward. There were other small stores across the street, none of which were making it because of the lack of parking.”

The gymnasium owner, which was originally planned south of N.E. 24 Street on Dixie Highway, wanted his gym to be set apart from any others. He wanted an upscale four-floor gym complex in a building people would want to go to. The ground floor would have the main entrance and a café, the second floor would have the weight lifting equipment and exercise machines, the third floor would have open workout areas as well as a swimming pool and the top level would be a sundeck. There would have been 25,000 square feet of usable space.

A movie complex would have a 500-car parking garage in the back. On top of the parking garage, there would be space for a club or restaurant. Tokarcik estimated that if the parking garage would have been kept full, parking fees would have carried the whole project financially.

The drive-through gourmet restaurant was still in the early planning stages when the project was scrubbed.

However, new life was brought to Tokarcik’s dream was when he met with Gary Lanham of Real Estate Recovery, an Oakland Park real estate firm which has helped lead the way in redeveloping Oakland Park’s “Main Street,” which spans further north on North Dixie Highway from Oakland Park Boulevard to N.E. 38 Street.

Tokarcik’s projects could be the anchors of the redevelopment of the west side of Dixie Highway in Oakland Park.

“Oakland Park is a different city than Wilton Manors. Oakland Park is a huge city – downtown is 150 acres.

It’s a huge amount of space and, working from the cultural point of view, you can create different main streets in different parts of Oakland Park and I think that by claiming this section as the gay center, you can create a lot of different things happening,” said Tokarcik.

Tokarcik explained that when he graduated and got his degree from Harvard University, he worked in Harvard’s academic department as projects coordinator. There he coordinated projects between architecture, urban design, city planning and landscape architecture. That’s where he realized how things are so interrelated and that, by efficiently coordinating everything together, a city could be picked up cheaper and faster than by any other means.

“In Oakland Park, you have to look at sites very differently,” said Tokarcik. “You have to see what works and one of the worst problems is you have a main street section which is not only divided by a highway but also railroad tracks. But what you have to benefit from is a huge amount of space. If it’s properly designed and properly managed by getting the proper mix of things here, we can have a real destination spot to bring people to the downtown area. That’s the real beauty of it.”

Tokarcik explained that a lot of demolition of existing buildings on the west side of Dixie Highway is unnecessary. “I kind of like these commercial/industrial-type block buildings,” he said, “because you can actually provide them with artistic-type endeavors inexpensively and they’re big. A lot of them have loading docks and parking. It really makes sense to work with the existing fabric when you can and just develop the character from that.”

Tokarcik said he thinks Oakland Park has the ability to grow beyond what Wilton Manors has already done for the gay community – just expand upon it in a different way. He says he doesn’t want to repeat what has already been done in Wilton Manors. “I’ve met many people that want more than what’s here now. They don’t know exactly ‘that’ is, but people have voiced to me that something’s missing. That’s why an arts and cultural center of town, just places that really work and keeping it inexpensive – and not over building. I always thought Oakland Park would be the next big place.”

By BOB KECSKEMETY

With The Community Marketing Panel, Inc.’s, LGBT Consumer Panel saying that the buying power of U.S. Gays and Lesbians is expected to exceed $835 billion in 2011, the City of Oakland Park

is asking, “What can we do for you?”

Leading that “Welcome to Oakland Park” are Gary Lanham and Jeff Yunis of Real Estate Recovery, located on N.E. 12 Avenue in Oakland Park. “Our vision for Real Estate Recovery is a broad one of single family homes, multi-family condominiums as well as the commercial market,” said Lanham

Lanham explains the natural progression from Wilton Drive north to Oakland Park: “I tell people to take a look at Wilton Drive from the Dairy Queen north towards Five Points where the new Wachovia Bank is going in. The City of Oakland Park begins at the canal next to the Publix at Five Points on Dixie Highway and considers Main Street Oakland Park to be North Dixie Highway from Oakland Park Boulevard to Jaco Pastorius Park at N.E. 38 Street. (Jaco Pastorius Park is where the annual PrideFest is held every spring.)

Oakland Park is currently pouring money into the area courtesy of the Community Redevelopment Act. The urban redevelopment runs from N.E. 12 Terrace west across Dixie Highway to N.E. 5 Avenue. The city is bringing additional services into the area, including underground fiber optic telecommunication lines, underground electrical lines and the addition of sidewalks and moregreen spaces as a way to stimulate a whole new type of environment.

Oakland Park already has the Peter Pan Diner and, though not a gay restaurant, has a huge gay following. G-Resort is planning on building their resort and there is currently a bid on a large apartment building on Oakland Park Boulevard just east of Dixie Highway with plans to turn that into a high-end gay guest house.

They say that the concept is to take advantage of the high gay population of Wilton Manors and combine it with the high gay population of Oakland Park, which is larger as Oakland Park is a much larger city. Plus there is a big push for the gay vacation dollar.

“We also have the advantage of the vacation travel dollar,” said Yunis. “That helps support all of this. That’s important and to me; that’s why Oakland Park and Wilton Manors are going to be long term.”

“People don’t come here to die,” said Yunis. “They come here for a second life.”

Yunis himself moved here 4 years ago. He’s previously a developer who has built, among other things, shopping centers and officebuildings. He says he first came here for the beach and warm weather but appreciates that wherever he goes in Broward County, he can be himself. “Whether I go to a restaurant on U.S. 1 or one in Wilton Manors, it’s all available to me. I don’t have to be a gay man – I’m just another man here.”

They are also trying to attract different types of businesses to Oakland Park. They feel that some of the businesses that would thrive in Oakland Park would be a cooking school, a kinetic art gallery, a community gardening center, a yoga studio, a health food store, small, yet upscale grocery store and, as they described, vintage anything.

Lanham and Yunis feel their job is to come up with ideas and contact companies and show them that Oakland Park is anattractive option. They would also like to be the ‘go-to” people for people who have business ideas. “There are so many different ways to approach business in this kind of economy,” said Lanham.

“In this economy, people are learning to be more resourceful and taking advantage of spending down instead of spending up. And self-sufficiency is becoming more important. So, I think if we can actively recruit and attract businesses that are going to allow people to somehow learn something, or be a part of something bigger than themselves, that’s going to be part of the success formula,” said Lanham.

Real Estate Recovery is also looking toward partnering with organizations with common goals. They currently have a relationship with the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church and the Poverello Center. “We want to be a good neighbor, not just a business,” said Lanham. “As a small company, our values are your values and we can support each other. When you’re looking for a house or advice on a business setting, we’re your team.”

“The investment dollars going into Oakland Park and Wilton Drive are all part of the growth that will be a major benefit to long-term residents – gay or straight. That’s what a community is, it’s a mix of all types of people being together,” concluded Lanham.

Photo: Jeff Yunis and Gary Lanham  of Real Estate Recovery

Oakland Park Celebrates Re-Birth

Oakland Park Mayor Allegra Webb Murphy and Real Estate
Recovery’s Gary Lanham.

BY BOB KECSKEMETY

First it was northeast Fort Lauderdale, then Wilton Manors and now it’s Oakland Park’s turn. The city of approximately 45,000 people over 6.9 square miles is celebrating a rebirth of sorts since Hurricane Wilma damaged much of the city in 2005.

Last week, the city celebrated the opening of Real Estate Recovery offices under the leadership of Gary Lanham. Part of the purpose of the office will be to make Oakland Park a more welcoming place to live, work and play. The offices, located on NE 12 Avenue just north of Oakland Park Boulevard, is in the heart of the current redevelopment area of Oakland Park known as the city’s Main Street Downtown Redevelopment Project.

The City of Oakland Park recently invested $4.3 million to beautify NE 12 Avenue and NE 12 Terrace in its downtown district known as Main Street. The beautification project included new decorative lighting, attractive street furniture, lush landscaping, paved sidewalks and walkways and plazas with pergolas and fountains.

Oakland Park used a $6 million open space grant to develop a park in the downtown district that opened in 2008. The park was named for the late Jaco Pastorious, a hometown son and a world renowned bassist. This 7-acre park is the northern crown jewel of the downtown district and home to major events like the annual Oktoberfest celebration and this weekend’s PrideFest gay pride festival.

Oakland Park has adopted a downtown master plan and zoning regulations for landscape planting, signage and graphics – and parking and traffic patterns. These modifications are intended to encourage mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly development in the downtown district.

Earlier this year, G-Resorts announced that they had scrapped their plans of building their new resort on the corner of N.E. 15 Avenue and N.E. 26 Street in Wilton Manors and instead would be interested in building the resort on the southern end of N.E. 12 Avenue in Oakland Park.

“We are trying to promote gay businesses, this [Real Estate Recovery] is a gay-owned business,” said Lanham. “We’re going to have a lot of gay-owned businesses in the neighborhood. We’re going make sure people understand, it’s not just about Wilton Manors anymore.” Lanham’s home is located only a few blocks away, also in Oakland Park.

Oakland Park maintains a public-private partnership with Oakland Park Main Street, a private non-profit to assist with marketing the downtown district and helping business owners navigate through city code regulations and ordinances.

Oakland Park Main Street is responsible for creating a distinctive image and a development-friendly environment for downtown Oakland Park. The organization promotes downtown as a traditional commercial center with a vibrant mix of culture; mainly through organizing all major events on Main Street.

Oakland Park also wants to promote itself as being more business-friendly than other cities in the area. Several years ago, the City of Oakland Park created a Community Redevelop-ment Agency to act as a liaison between the city’s bureaucracy and the business community. If there are any problems with permitting, inspections, etcetera, a business is encouraged to contact the CRA who can work directly with the permitting department, building department, fire marshal and other agencies to get the paperwork moving through the system.

“It was just a matter of six weeks from the time I got my permits to now, the time I’m open,” said Lanham. “This is the amazing part. Everybody from the permit people to the permit police stood in line and they were very cooperative and they walked us through the entire process. There’s always the possibility of issues but we try to iron them out as soon as possible.”

“I’m very excited about what’s going on here in Oakland Park,” said Oakland Park Mayor Allegra Webb Murphy. “It’s time for our city to redevelop the downtown area. We’ve got new people, young people, moving into our area and these young people are full of energy and vibrancy. And they deserve a downtown area which is equally full of energy.”

Gay Theater Group Receives Grants from the Government

(Photo: Courtesy of Lea DeLaria – http://www.delariadammit.com/)

By DMITRY RASHNITSOV

Lesbian Comedian/Singer Lea DeLaria from Broadway’s On the Town and The Rocky Horror Show, TV’s Will and Grace and the movie Edge of Seventeen performs a special benefit for Rising Action Theatre at The Manor, 2345 Wilton Drive, Wilton manors on Friday July 30 and Saturday July 31. Both shows start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $39 for the main floor and balcony and $59 for VIP seating. DeLaria will entertain with song and comedy. DeLaria has distinguished herself in every form of entertainment she touches — Jazz musician, Broadway diva, actor, writer and stand-up comic.

The New York Times also called her Jazz Album “The Best Jazz Album of the Year.”

A review of a recent DeLaria show from CabaretScenes.com states, “Ms. DeLaria has a clarity, richness and warmth to her voice that draw

her audience in, and an innate ability to swing even the most seemingly un-swingable of songs. There are times when her voice seems to slip quietly into your body and then melt. It’s almost the same feeling as when you take that first sip of a stiff drink (or, as Ms. DeLaria might prefer, the first puff of a joint) and feel the relaxation course through you.”

Recently, Rising Action Theater received a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Broward for its Senior Readers Project. The project will begin again in September. Also, the City of Oakland Park has awarded Rising Action Theatre a $15,000 grant for its Audience Development Series.

The small theater that showcases about 10 shows per year was recently named Best Theater Company in a recent poll by the Broward New Times. Th is

is the second year in a row that the theater won the award.

For more information about the theater or to purchase tickers to the DeLaria show visit: http://www.risingactiontheatre.com.