Fort Lauderdale News from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 117

Fort Lauderdale News Sun-Sentinel Friday, May 3, 1985 Copyright 1985 Newt and Sun-Sentinel Company All Rights Reserved PERCENT OF COUNTY POPULATION: 1 EAST BROWARD WEST BROWARD 84.2 65.6 :1 SOURCE: BUREAU OF CENSUS. BROWARD OFFICE OF PLANNING. r. i i 3 rvy, L. r-H A- -V V- i i w- I II'- 'w.

i SUK Ulntratioa by TIM MILLER Broward's once empty western spaces are quickly filling up. West's rapid growth a recent phenomenon By Jim Erickson Staff Writer It had been a bone-dry winter, and when the drought persisted into the spring of 1947, road-builder Finley Smith decided to ask for help from above. Smith needed water to wet and compress the coral rock that would form the base of Broward Boulevard, which he planned to extend west from State Road 7. "He said he was going to church Sunday to pray for rain," recalled Chauncey R. Clark who, along with his father started work on the first homes in Plantation the same season Smith attempted to pave Broward Boulevard to the Fort Lauderdale Golf and Country Club.

"I don't know what church he went to, but it rained every day for the next 90 days," Clark said. "You've got to be careful what you pray for." Prospective buyers of those first 150 Plantation Homes, Inc. structures fled to higher ground after the floods of 1948 and 1949, many of them convinced that the swampland west of State Road 7 was best left for fish and reptiles. Back then Broward residents thought of the intersection of State Road 7 and Broward Boulevard as the edge of civilization, but by 1983 that same intersection had become the geographic center of Broward County's population. In 1970 only about 16 percent of the county's residents lived west of Florida's Turnpike.

By 1980 that number jumped to 34.4 percent, and the county's population is expected to continue its westward shift so Please see PAGES, 10 J. "iiMiwrirrr i Hi rr -v. i SUII phots by KEITH HADLEY 25th anniversary From left, Emily Nash, Linnie Kidd, Pastor Thomas Cummings and Nina Ferguson will help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Plantation United Presbyterian Church, 901 NW 70th Ave. A special service, featuring the Rev. Charles Hurst, executive of the Presbytery of Tropical Florida, will be at 11 a.m.

Sunday. Lunch and a program of music by the church's brass band and bell choir will follow. The public is invited. l.r? Organizing As the newest assistant state director for the American Association of Retired Persons, Frank LeFavi coordinates rt. ffv I 1 MMWlliii Parkland seeks land for park Parkland-will negotiate with the Sawgrass Expressway Authority to obtain 30 acres for a proposed eastside park.

The City Commission endorsed the acquisition attempt Wednesday, after staff members said the purchase would help fulfill the city's need for recreational land. The park would be partially surrounded by a lake. Page 3 Learning Mark McAninch of Davie doesn't like to lose a baseball game. But when he does the St. Thomas Aquinas junior is able to learn from his mistakes.

Pag 17 workshops for six chapters. Pag13. 1.