west-palm-beach-se_web.jpgWEST PALM BEACH — The City of West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency in April completed it vision for revitalizing the Northwest and Pleasant City areas and will share its ideas with residents and others at its Gospel Music & Arts Fest.

The event is the newest feature the West Palm Beach CRA aimed at engaging the community and bringing awareness to all the upcoming projects and developments.  

Blum Park, at Spruce Avenue and 21st Street, on June 21, from 3- 7 p.m. will be filled with the sounds of local choirs and praise teams, hometown gospel music recording artists Helen Miller, Lanorris McFadden, and more. 

The vision of the Gospel Music and Arts Fest arose from Rev. David Chandler, pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church and CEO of Help Palm Beach County, who saw the need for an event that would unite families and celebrate the community.  According to CRA Executive Director Jon Ward, the CRA needed to find a way to better communicate with the local community, and felt an event with a gospel focus would help with this initiative.

 “The CRA strategically invested in this event to collaborate with the local community. We understand how important the relationship is between the churches and residents and we felt this was the best asset we have in continuing to build our relationships here in the Northwest Community and Pleasant City,” Ward said.

Part of the plans for the Northwest and Pleasant City areas include planting medians and allocating grants to upgrade façades, said project manager Genia Baker. “The idea is that if we improve the way the area looks then it increases the opportunity for economic investments,” Baker said.

The CRA will have a booth at the gospel fest with information available about the grants, she said.

The fest is free and open to the public.