O'Hara's on Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - Jazz & Blues music gone; empty space remains

#JazzBluesFlorida #jazz #blues #Florida #Concerts #Festivals #Clubs

Las Olas Boulevard gets green space -- for a while
Fort Lauderdale convinces owner of Riverside Hotel to plant sod, landscaping on half-block site intended for a now-delayed expansion
By Brittany Wallman South Florida Sun-Sentinel


FORT LAUDERDALE - Call it Recession Park.

"A vacant half-block on premier Las Olas Boulevard has been planted with grass and lined with bushes and mulch, as a proposed expansion of the historic Riverside Hotel sits on hold.

The Las Olas Co., owner of the Riverside Hotel, asked the city for an extra three years to act on the hotel expansion, and a city vote on that is coming. The company already had shuttered thriving businesses on the block -- including Cafe Europa, Objects d'Art, and O'Hara's Jazz & Blues Cafe -- and in February tore them down.

The vacant properties just east of the Riverside Hotel, stretching to Eighth Avenue, created an unsightly gap on the city's posh shopping boulevard. But the lot was sodded and lightly landscaped this past weekend.

It won't be an official park because it's privately owned and intended for development. But it might be used for weddings and other events."

SEE FULL ARTICLE AT:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-042909-lasolas-vacancy,0,1901992.story