Gala Downtown Events to Celebrate Streetscape CompletionCLEARWATER. - The public is invited to three gala downtown events in the month of December to celebrate the completion of Cleveland Street's $10-million streetscaping project. The official opening of the Cleveland Street District, as the newly-completed project will be known, will be "unwrapped" as the city's holiday gift Friday, Dec. 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. Cleveland Street will be closed to traffic from Garden to East Avenues for this event near the historic U.S. Post Office building. Fireworks will highlight the ceremony to unveil downtown at 5:30 p.m., followed by adult refreshments, craft vendors, and musical entertainment. Clearwater officials plan to pull out all the stops on Saturday, Dec. 15, beginning with a Holiday Parade at 11 a.m. As many as 100 entries in the popular annual event will march down Cleveland Street from Crest Lake Park to Myrtle Avenue, the entrance to the new Cleveland Street District. Marching bands, floats, specialty entries and Santa make up this enjoyable spectacle for the whole family. When the parade concludes, the Cleveland Street District will debut with a grand opening street festival. Santa will also preside at this family-oriented event from approximately noon until 4 p.m. The district will be filled with craft vendors, food, soft drinks, adult refreshments and the sounds of multiple bands and musical entertainment groups. Activities will include interactive crafts; a climbing wall; a moonwalk; petting zoo; and pony, wagon and Rocketship Car rides. A scavenger hunt and other games for adults will provide chances to win valuable prizes. Also, celebrate the season by bringing in canned goods or a new, unwrapped toy to donate to charity. Donations will go to Religious Community Services, Toys for Tots and Mason Dixon's Christmas Wish Fund. Cleveland Street from Myrtle Avenue to the bluff will be closed to traffic from 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, for these events. Parking will be available in the Municipal Services Garage on East Avenue, County Parking Garage on Osceola Avenue, City Hall and Harborview Center lots and the Garden Avenue Garage. Admission to all events is free.
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