Sebring revitalization: Rediscovering the treasures of an old town in Highlands County

SEBRING, Fla. - The city of Sebring in Highlands County may be famous for its 12-hour race coming up, but another race is on to rediscover the treasures of this old town. 

The city has a unique circle in its center where many historic buildings surround it. 

"We're super fortunate that we have so many historic buildings in downtown Sebring," said Kristie Vazquez with the city’s community development agency. "We have such great buildings to work with, they just need a little bit of an update." 

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Developer Robert Blackman recently bought the city’s vacant pink hotel and another old building he plans to turn into a restaurant. 

He believes he’s on the ground floor in a town with relatively low-priced real estate, and high potential for a renaissance. 

"I fell in love with what was going on here, and all the opportunity," said Blackman.

The HGTV series "Hometown Takeover" is now working on buildings in downtown Sebring, so millions of TV viewers will get to see how it all turns out.

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