Imagine a thriving shopping and business district in downtown Palmetto with a mix of modern and historically significant buildings, wide sidewalks and plentiful parking. Attractive park-like features would efficiently collect and purify storm water runoff that would otherwise flow into and pollute the Manatee River.
Under this scenario, the corridor along 10th Avenue West — Palmetto’s original Main Street — would regain its position as the heartbeat of the city, a pedestrian-friendly destination for shopping, dining and entertaining as well as a popular gathering place for special events. But it is more than a scenario or a pipe dream. Palmetto officials have been working for the past decade to update, adapt and transform what Samuel Sparks Lamb started when he moved to the area in 1868.
