Local Group Working to Light Up Old Downtown Palm Harbor

If you visit Old Downtown Palm Harbor during the evening, you may have noticed it's pretty dark. That's because there are only a few street lights in the area. 

"Between 11th and 12th streets it's really dark. I've been there at night and it's really scary," says Debbie Thomas, Executive Director of Old Palm Harbor Main Street (OPHMS) which is a local non-profit that's hoping to light up Old Downtown Palm Harbor by installing old-style streetlights.

"We want to keep the historical look and feel," said Thomas, who estimates the cost to purchase and install about 35 streetlights will be around $300,000. 

The lights will be installed in the Old Downtown Palm Harbor Historic District (see accompanying map). Electrical connections for the streetlights have already been installed. Thomas says OPHMS is hoping to purchase used street lights to save money. 

There are already a few street lights in the area, but they are mounted on wooden poles and were installed at the expense of downtown property owners.

"It's up to us to raise the money," said Thomas. We're not incorporated in Palm Harbor, so we're completely funded by ourselves." 

Thomas is referring to the fact that Palm Harbor does not have its own pool of money to use for things like street lights. Palm Harbor is not incorporated like the nearby cities of Dunedin and Safety Harbor. These cities receive tax revenue that is dedicated solely for use in Dunedin and Safety Harbor. 

When residents in Palm Harbor want improvements like street lights, they must ask the county to provide them. If the county does not provide them, then the funding must come from another source. So, OPHMS is raising money for the street lights by hosting events like the monthly First Friday, where they ask for donations and sell tickets for prize giveaways.

Can you help Old Palm Harbor Main Street with this project? Give them a call at (727) 787-4700.

Related-

• Read about the First Friday celebration on Nov. 2