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Page 2 They said it couldn't be done but they forgot to tell Charlie (Gulfstream News)THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE ! by Lawrence J. Nunn The magic story of Lake Park and North Palm Beach, and how the area grew from a few homes in a nearly bankrupt town into two large prosper- ous communities of approximately 10, 000 people in less than five years, is the story of the century in Florida de- velopment. LET'S TURN BACK THE HEADLINES April 22, 1955, newspaper stories were reporting the small town of Lake Park had one half of their property tax delinquent. May 1, 1960, the local press report- ed that the same area was now the fast- est growing in the United States and that the Village of North Palm Beach had won awards for its beautifuldevel- opment. WHAT MADE THIS DRASTIC CHANGE? Several individuals and firms, of course, had a big hand in this develop- ment. But, during all of that time one man, Charles A. Cunningham, was the leader and promoter of this fabulous story. May 1955 --Newspapers report that a Charles A. Cunningham had negotiated to buy the Palm Beach Development Company's land for a reported $6,000, 000. Cunningham then walked into the town tax assessor's office and paid off the $32,894.62 in delinquent taxes. May 1955 --Cunningham announces the first plans for Bankers Life Insur- ance planned $20 million development that not only includes Lake Park, but 2,200 acres North of the town. May 26, 1955 --"Water, water every- where, nor any drop to drink." Water and a sewerage system were among the first problems faced by Cunningham.... Lake Park had a good water plant, but, it was small and was encumbered by a $24,000 bonded indebtedness that had a clause forbidding the sale of Lake Park water to any other home outside the community. Cunningham and his associates then put out a plan to form a new community to the north of Lake Park and call it North Palm Beach. The company then would install its own water and sewer- age treatment plants for the new com- munity. May 31, 1955 -Cunningham today pro- posed to the Lake Park Commission a plan whereby the town could be devel- oped and homes sold under FHA terms. Cunningham proposed that the town give his firm a franchise to supply all of the public utilities needed (water and sew- erage disposal). At this point Cunning- ham and his developers first felt mas- sive opposition from a nearby editor of the Riviera News. Harry Meier, former Ohio attorney and new editor and publisher of the newspaper, charged that the "huge land owners who control 98 per cent of all the territory in Lake Park North of Park Avenue and considerable unim- proved property elsewhere apparently will not be content until they own the town 100 per cent including the water works, which they are now trying to ac- quire. "Carefully planned psychological warfare against the townspeople and their elected officials is being unleash- ed in an effort to stampede the town in- to surrendering what rights they still have in their independent water sys- tem." IT CAN'T BE DONE "One of the avenues of attack is their development plan to start a new town north of the present limits of Lake Park called.... possibly....North Palm Beach. This is, in reality a clever threat. BUT, THEY FORGOT TO TELL CHARLIE "This 'is to advise the Chicago pro- moters that the United States Post Of- fice Department frowns on any more "Palm Beach" communities in this area. If they do start another town, it would be better to select a different', name promptly........ "These would be utility magnates want to charge for every drop of water that) goes into all homes twice, once going] in and a second time coming out. Their! plan is to gobble up the utility rights so: that after all of the property is sold and; the profits reaped in this rapidly -devel- oping area, they will continue to amass! wealth and large salaries through their I water and sewerage franchise." Before Editor Meier was to return to his law practice in Ohio he was to see: all of his predictions go up in smoke. North Palm Beach became a prize win- ning community, Lake Park had compl- ete water and sewer facilities through franchise and everyone seemed happy. June 21, 1955 --Lake Parkvotersap- prove a water and sewer franchise with Bankers Life of Chicago by a vote of 212 to 34 thus paving the way for a full scale development of the town. June 29, 1955 --Cunningham lets con- tracts for the construction of a $1,700, 000 water and sewerage disposal sys- tem to accomodate 6,600 homes. July 10,1955 --The Miami Herald carries pictures and stories ofthe sale of 970 acres of land to the Ross Broth- ers for a price of $2,870,000. Cunning- ham signed for Bankers Life and Her- bert Ross and John Schwenk for North. Palm Beach, Inc. CUNNINGHAM FIRST MAYOR Sept. 1956 --The first governing body for the new Village of North Palm Bea- ch was set up. Naturally Charles Cun- ningham, the man who made it all pos- sible, became the Village's first Mayor. Oct. 19, 1956 --The communities new- est newspaper, The Gulf Stream News, carried its largest edition to date in- cluding a 64 -page supplement aboutthe "Parade of Homes" in North Palm Beach. Builders invested more than $20,000,000 in the new homes that were put on display similiar to a County Fair. Some $3,500,000 in land alone was used for the display of model homes. Nov. 1956 --Cunningham, despite his activity in building two new cities still' found time to speak before civic groups and to suggest valuable ideas to other area communities. FREE PORT It was at one of these meetings when Cunningham was the first to suggest a: free port for Riviera Beach. At a Kiwan- is Club meeting, Cunningham noted that the North Palm Beach County area had "a potential far greater than any area along the 70 -mile stretch of the 'Gold Coast"'. He noted that the Port of Palm Beach was midway between the free port of New York and New Orleans and was the nearest to deep water of any port along the Atlantic Coast. Jan. 1, 1959 begantotell the story of the success of Cunningham and his new communities. Records disclosed that area building in North Palm Beach - Lake Park area topped $15,000,000, quite a jump from a zero figure re- ported only four years before. Yes, they said it couldn't be done.... But, they forgot to tell Charlie and to- day some 10,000 people are enjoying beautiful homes in this tropical para- dise, mainly because one man, Charles Cunningham, refused to accept the de- cree that "It couldn't be done."