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Only in Polk: Unveiling the secrets of the Frances Langford Promenade loggia at Lake Mirror in Lakeland

Christopher Guinn
christopher.guinn@theledger.com

LAKELAND — As rumor and whispers would have it, ghosts, secret tunnels, speakeasies or black markets hide behind the doors of the Frances Langford Promenade loggia.

The loggia, the covered gallery at the western edge of Lake Mirror, contains two doors, north and south, with a compelling antenna jutting from above the southern doorway. Black iron gates prevent entry into the loggia, the focal point of Lakeland's architectural masterwork.

Stacy Smith, the foreman of Lakeland's Hollis Garden and guide to twice monthly history tours of the Lake Mirror civic center, unlocked the gate and opened the northern door for The Ledger to record a peek.

The Ledger came to investigate this mystery as part of our Only in Polk series, where we answer questions asked by readers about their home county.

Veneis Little, a lifelong resident of Lakeland and Florida Southern College graduate, said she fell in love with the loggia at an event last year and has been curious about what's beyond the doors.

"I thought, this is such a quaint, cozy, perfect spot in Lakeland," Little said.

"I think it's one of my favorite parts of Lakeland," she added. "I always used to notice the gates, they were always rusted but they had that vintage look. I didn't even know the gates opened!"

When asked whether she had any conspiracy theories about the loggia and what's behind the doors, she said she had no idea the feature drew so much speculation.

"It's my hope the heart and spirit of Lakeland lives in there," Little said.

As The Ledger explored the lore surrounding the loggia, readers shared a few urban legends.

It could be where Blinky the alligator lived, or where city officials kept lions to dispose of criminals.

The doors may also hide tunnels for the wealthy and discrete to surreptitiously cross Lake Mirror in the dead of night to get to the Terrace Hotel unseen, perhaps for forbidden trysts or illicit deals.

The call of esoteric lore, secret societies and echoes from the afterlife provides a compelling topic to investigate, that is, if "they" don't stop you first.

As Smith unlocked the northern door, light revealed objects in the retreating gloom. The first relic of Lakeland's true underbelly appeared.

"I have a refrigerator in there," he said. "For my bulbs."

Inside the door stood a battered appliance. For, you know, bulbs, Smith said. Tulips and things.

But beyond, in the gloom, there was more.

The lost Munn family treasure or the secret formula for orange juice?

"We use it as a storage shed for Hollis Garden," Smith said. Among the items were several powered lawn tools, some signs, lanterns — just stuff — producing a feeling like unveiling Tutankhamun's tomb to find it filled with chisels, hammers and torches but no sarcophagus.

And there are no tunnels, at least none he's been able to find and he's looked, Smith assured. Tour-goers sometimes tell him they've been in them. He remains skeptical.

"There's no curses, there's no ghosts. I'm here till midnight twice a month and I've never seen a ghost," Smith said.

The loggia was originally intended for and used as a stage and designed to project the sound to an audience around the lake. The side rooms were dressing rooms. Smith points out a rod crossing the room which was possibly used to hang costumes.

But the natural amplification has produced some spooky moments, Smith said, and twice he has heard from across the lake, in the still of night, voices of people walking along the other side.

Other Ledger staff members suggested the real truth couldn't be found without some light demolition work. The reporters on scene declined to undertake the caper under the noses of Smith and Lakeland Communications Director Kevin Cook, who was there, presumably, to keep the real story under wraps.

Smith is a student of Lakeland's history, and his fascination with the city and the architectural highlights that surround him at work have led him to come up with some theories, theories he declined to share under Cook's stern gaze.

But you might hear a few on his twice-a-month lantern-light tour. Spaces can be reserved by calling the Lake Mirror office at 863-834-2280.

Cook can't be everywhere, Smith seemed to indicate without word or action — a knowing wink and a nod without any wink or nod at all.

Check this, though, Smith said, stomping on the rock-solid stonework that makes up the floor of the loggia.

"Solid as a rock," he said.

Then stomp a few feet over. A different sound.

Hollow? How deep does this mystery go?

The Frances Langford Promenade is a National Historic Place, bona fide and registered, and pulling up the stonework would be far from copacetic, Smith reiterated.

So maybe, just maybe.

One mystery remained: the southern door with its odd antenna.

The 90-year-old Frances Langford Promenade was not always beloved. For a time it had fallen into disrepair until Historic Lakeland Inc., a nonprofit advocate for Lakeland's architectural history, pushed the city to renew the structure in the 1980s.

During the dark times for the promenade, the southern room was given a purpose beyond being an unused dressing room: it became a lift station, used to pump sewage from a low point in the city's wastewater works to a higher point.

Underneath the pump, Smith said, was another room that is now, essentially, a sewage tank.

The antenna is used by the city's wastewater managers to kick the pump into drive.

Thus, The Ledger was not allowed entry. There's not much to look at, the reporters were told, it would require some more authorizations to get into the city's infrastructure, and thirdly, it stank.

"Yeah, it stinks, Cook," the reporters indicated wordlessly with furrowed brows and squinting eyes, "in more ways than one."

Christopher Guinn can be reached at Christopher.Guinn@theledger.com or 863-802-7592.

Great journalism starts with great questions, and we know you have some. What have you always wondered about Polk County? We want to know so we can turn them into stories that we know you'll love. See what it's all about at www.theledger.com/only-in-polk.

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