Ingleside's Stretch of Ocean Avenue Gets More String Lights

Ingleside’s stretch of Ocean Avenue just got brighter after more string lights were strewn on several blocks.

The nonprofit organization charged with using property owner funds to improve and maintain the commercial corridor installed the lights this week.

Gabe Cory, the deputy director for the Ocean Avenue Association, announced Monday at a public meeting that additional bistro lights would be hung up from Keystone Way toward Victoria Street starting on Dec. 12. 

“It’s going to take two or three days but by the end of the week and by the time we have our holiday event, we’ll have bistro lighting all the way starting at the El Rey all the way down to Plymouth [Avenue],” Cory said.

The majority of the string lights were hung in October using funds from Avenue Greenlight as a way to bring safety and foot traffic to the neighborhood.

They were not able to cover the entire corridor, instead focusing on the portion between Faxon Avenue and Plymouth avenues.

Merchants on blocks without string lights expressed disappointment. Cory pledged to find a way to add more lights even if that meant raising additional funding.

After receiving feedback from merchants, the association looked into other solutions to get the project completed like using additional funds from their 

The association used funds from the $100,000 from the Civic Joy Fund grant it received earlier this year to beautify one block, mainly an intersection.

Cory said those plans fell through due to budget and other restrictions.

“The funds are instead going into the lighting expansion, sidewalk gardens and tree plantings on Ocean and a few other projects we are exploring,” Cory said.

It was unclear whether the blocks east of Plymouth Avenue will also get lights at press time.

The additional lighting received praise from merchants who were left out on the first round like Monza Pizzeria owner Marcelo Filho.

“It looks brighter,” Filho said. “It’s just amazing.”