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An award for Main Street Fort Pierce

By A Treasure Coast essay by Paul Janensch

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wqcs/local-wqcs-971041.mp3

Fort Pierce, FL – Take a tour of downtown Fort Pierce and see why Main Street Fort Pierce won a Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Main Street Fort Pierce, a public-private partnership, has supported various projects. Start at the pedestrian-friendly waterfront. Visit the Manatee Center. Then go west on A.E. Backus Avenue, named for the Fort Pierce painter, and stop at the historic Platts-Backus House, which has exhibit space downstairs and the Main Street Fort Pierce offices upstairs. Turn south on Second Street and go over the short bridge called "Tickle Tummy Hill" because of its sudden rise. Turn west on Avenue A and go over the tracks. On your left is Old City Hall, at which events are staged. Go back to Second Street, turn south and soon on your right is the Sunrise Theatre, built in 1923 and reopened in 2005. Then head east to Melody Lane along the waterfront and go north to the Spanish-style St. Lucie County Library. Incidentally, there is no Main Street in downtown Fort Pierce. "Main Street" is a metaphor for the heart of any town. Looks like Fort Pierce's heart is pretty strong. For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.
Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.