Recent initiatives to plan for a revitalization of Pompano Beach's historic downtown are not the first efforts to "save" the area:

In an effort to combat steady disintergration and make Old Pompano a vital organism, the Pompano Beach Planning Department under the leadership of [Planning Director Fred] Kleingartner drew up plans in 1979 encouraging both preservation and renovation. To preserve landmarks, create more open space, and maintain the city's infrastructure with its architectural and cultural heritage intact, planners proposed a facelift which called for a pedestrian mall, open air market, paved alleys, and hedges and trees to buffer the railroad tracks from the commercial district and give grace and beauty to the urban center.

Excerpted from Pompano Beach - The Tale of a City.