Residents in the Park East and Country Club Estates neighborhoods of Plantation raised money for months to get work started on the landscaped pillars and walls that will distinguish their street entrances. Some large donations helped put the two areas over the top and residents expect to see the work begin any day.
``We're really looking forward to it,'' said Bob Levy, president of the Country Club Estates Homeowners Association.
It has been a long time in the works. Residents in the eastern section of the city felt left behind as they watched the entrances rise in Plantation Park a few years ago.
``We saw the nice job that was done west of the Turnpike and wondered why the [City] Council had not thought of us,'' Levy said.
The original project was the brainchild of Judy Ackerman, a member of the Plantation Junior Woman's Club, who persuaded the club to take it on. Ackerman spearheaded the campaign, and the city split the cost with the residents of Plantation Park and the Junior Woman's Club. Council members told Park East and Country Club Estates residents that if they raised about $15,000, the city would chip in the rest and have the walls installed.
The two associations worked closely together and vowed they would continue raising funds until both sides of Broward Boulevard -- Park East is to the north and Country Club Estates is to the south -- could afford the entrances.
In the south, residents got a boost when Hollywood came to Plantation and the mob movie Donnie Brasco was partly filmed in and around U.S. 441 last year. The Gus Holzer Production Co. donated some money to the neighborhood in return for the inconvenience of the filming.
An even bigger boost came from the Fort Lauderdale Country Club, which makes up a large chunk of the neighborhood.
``Whatever we raised, they would match,'' Levy said. ``So we would only have to raise $7,500.''
Residents in the neighborhood responded and the money came in, slowly but surely. The same was happening in Park East. City philanthropist Lois Deicke stepped in at the request of City Council President Ron Jacobs, giving $5,000 to the cause. Mayor Frank Veltri lined up a few other donors, and Park East met its goal.
The city will landscape the entrances as well, Jacobs said.
Levy is glad his neighborhood bonded together to beautify the community.
``We want to maintain our lifestyle,'' he said. ``We want to enjoy the quality of life in East Plantation that they have in the rest of Plantation.''