The City is one of 25 small towns across America to be selected for T-Mobile’s Hometown Grants, a $25 million, five-year initiative to support the people and organizations who help small towns across America thrive and grow by providing funding to kickstart important new community development projects. 

““T-Mobile’s investment of nearly $50,000 will transform our Downtown Linear Park, advancing our efforts to revitalize the historic downtown district,” said City Manager James Slaton.

The City of Lake Wales plans to use the grant to enhance Downtown Linear Park by creating a welcoming public gathering space with trees and Florida friendly plants.

“We’re excited that T-Mobile has made this commitment to small and rural cities,” Assistant to the City Manager Michael Manning said. “It’s a great addition to our Lake Wales Connected Plan and greatly impacts our efforts creating a city in a garden,” he mentioned.

The City plans to use the grant to install a five-foot safety fence along both sides of the existing railroad tracks and add three cathedral live oaks and three canary island date palms.

“The new trees are going to make the public space flourish,” said Horticulturist Lester Gulledge. “We’re also adding 30 new ligustrums and hundreds of Florida native grasses and perennials,” he added.

To select Hometown Grant recipients, T-Mobile works with Main Street America and Smart Growth America, two organizations that have decades of experience helping build stronger, more prosperous small towns and rural communities. Together, they assess applications from small towns based on level of detail and completeness, potential community impact, project viability and other factors.