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n behalf of the Las Olas Association Board, allow me to say “Thank you.”
We appreciate having the opportunity to make Fort Lauderdale a better
place to live, work and play. For over fifty years the Las Olas Association

has been working diligently to make Fort Lauderdale a better community for
everyone. The Las Olas Association was formed by the business owners of Las Olas
in order to communicate, support and market our beloved East Las Olas Boulevard.
Thankfully, the volunteer Board of Directors has used the Association’s directive to
tackle larger projects that both residents and visitors alike can appreciate.

In the early seventies, the East Las Olas Merchant Association (the legal name for the
Association at that time), was the driving force behind the installation of the street
medians. Can you image Las Olas without the atmosphere that the medians create?
For more than a decade, the Association has been working with the appropriate
governmental agencies to insure that the changes and updates to the medians are
done consistently with the Las Olas setting. The changes can now be seen in medians
at the east end and west end medians of the Las Olas shopping district. This has
been so long coming that at one point the Association had to buy paint as well as
get plants donated to refresh the medians. The merchants came out early on a
Sunday morning and painted the median boxes and planted new foliage up and
down Las Olas.

One of the Association’s latest improvements to the medians is the addition of the
white LED lights. A few years ago we applied for and received a matching grant to
install the tree lights. The Association was able to budget for the lights over a period
of three years. We have added additional funds to our budget annually in order to
account for general maintenance and upkeep. The power used to light the strands is
funded by the Las Olas Company, a private corporation. The Association, through
careful budgeting and planning, was able to replace all of the light strands this year
with new, brighter LED lights.

Several years ago, after a series of unfortunate accidents on Las Olas Boulevard, the
Association did everything in its power to calm the traffic on the Boulevard. The final
result was parking on Las Olas Boulevard. This did not come without a cost. Every
time we produce an event, we must pay full price for every possible space, for every
possible minute that we will be taking the space out of use. So for the privilege of
making of the residents and visitors of Fort Lauderdale safer, we spend tens of
thousands of dollars in parking fees each year. 

The Las Olas Association Board is glad to be part of the solution. We will continue to
give our time, energy, and money for results that benefit more than just our individual
interests. We will continue to strive to make Fort Lauderdale a better place to live,
shop, work, and play. 

Thank you,
Luke Moorman
Jewelry Designer 

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Luke@CarrollsJewelers.com

President, The Las Olas Association

LAS OLAS BOULEVARD &ISLES

President’s Message

Las Olas Boulevard & Isles

Luke Moorman

President, The Las Olas Association

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