Editing Melbourne, Florida (section)

===Postwar===

In the 1950s, Babcock Street was extended north to intersect with US 1. The Melbourne Shopping Center was constructed on Babcock, the area's first [[strip mall]]. Consumers were sufficiently attracted to this new mall, that the traditional downtown, off New Haven, suffered. Urban blight was successfully mitigated in the 1980s.<ref name=ft150202>{{cite news |first=Mickey |last=Arbogast |title=Veteran recalls days of 1950s Melbourne |url=http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2015/02/01/veteran-recalls-melbourne/22699349/|newspaper=Florida Today |location=Melbourne, Florida |pages=9A |date=February 2, 2015 |access-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref>

A board was created by the legislature to spend a 10% tax on electric bills. This was used by the Melbourne Civic Improvement Board to build the Melbourne Auditorium, the first library and fire station, and various parks. The board was dissolved when Melbourne was merged with Eau Gallie in 1969.<ref name=ft150202 /> That merger doubled the size of Melbourne.<ref name = bj2017>{{Cite journal |first=Frank J. |last=Thomas |year=2017 |title= One or ten? The 1967 Battle over unification/consolidation in South Brevard |journal=The Journal of the Brevard County Historical Commission |volume=XVI |issue=2 |pages=25–31}}</ref>

Streetlights were gradually added until, by the early 1960s, streets east of Babcock Street had lights. Lights were added to streets west of Babcock after the early 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |first=Barbara |last=Bayley |title=New Englander is now 'so Brevard' |url=http://www.floridatoday.com/story/life/wellness/ageless/2014/10/28/ageless-brevard/18058743/|newspaper=Florida Today |location=Melbourne, Florida |pages=13A |date=November 8, 2014 |access-date=February 1, 2016}}</ref>

In 1969, the city elected [[Julius Montgomery]], its first black councilman. Montgomery was also the first African American student of Brevard Engineering College, later Florida Institute of Technology which named their Pioneer Award after him.<ref>Florida Today Newspaper April 29, 1970</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=J.D. |last=Gallop |title=Tension, progress in race relations |url=http://www.floridatoday.com/restricted/?return=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Flocal%2F50th%2Fpremium%2F2016%2F03%2F20%2Ftension-progress-race-relations%2F82045912%2F|newspaper=Florida Today |location=Melbourne, Florida |pages=5D |date=March 21, 2016 |access-date=March 21, 2016}}</ref><!---softcopy, which I haven't checked, requires a subscription-->

On August 2, 1995, the city received a record {{convert|9.06|in}} of rainfall from [[Hurricane Erin (1995)|Hurricane Erin]].<ref name=ft170829>{{Cite news | first=Elliott | last=James | title=Region not built for Harvey-style rainfall | url=http://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/2017/08/28/highest-rainfall-locally-almost-foot-one-day-records-show/607257001/| newspaper=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida| pages= 8A | date=August 29, 2017 | access-date=August 30, 2017}}</ref>

During the week of August 22, 2008, a record {{convert|17.54|inch}} of rain fell caused by [[Tropical Storm Fay (2008)|Tropical Storm Fay]].<ref name=ft170829/>

A 2009 [[Halloween]] [[street party]] sponsored by a downtown restaurant attracted an estimated 8,000–10,000 people. This overwhelmed the downtown area. Street parties were curtailed until public safety issues were addressed.<ref>{{cite news |first=Susanne |last=Cervenra |title=Melbourne council suspends gated street events |url=http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100113/NEWS01/1130356/Melbourne-suspends-gated-street-parties|work=Florida Today |location=Melbourne, Florida |pages=1B |date=January 13, 2010}}</ref>

On February 18, 2017, president [[Donald J. Trump]] held his first post-inauguration rally at the [[Melbourne Orlando International Airport|Orlando-Melbourne International Airport]] drawing a crowd of approximately 9,000 people according to the Melbourne police department.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cheering Supporters Greet Trump at Rally in Florida|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-florida/3730221.html|work=VOA News|date=February 18, 2017}}</ref>