Briny Breezes Mayor Mike Hill and Alderman Barbara Molina, both appointed to their seats in January to fill vacancies, were returned to office after no opposition came forward for the March 11 election.
Hill has one year left on his term and Molina, who also serves as town clerk pro tem, has two.
The other Briny aldermen are Pete Fingerhut, Karen Wiggins and Council President Susan Thaler.
— Dan Moffett
By Dan Moffett
Unhappy with the engineering advice they got for a street paving project two years ago, Manalapan town commissioners don’t want to make the same mistake again when they tackle the Audubon Causeway bridge project.
So, commissioners want to bring in Bridge Design Associates, the town’s engineering consultant, and ask more questions before deciding a course for action.
“We just don’t have enough options available to us,” said Commissioner Peter Isaac, who still wonders whether the bridge should be repaired instead of replaced. “We haven’t examined fully the repair options.”
The engineering consultants have given the commission two options so far: repair the bridge at a cost of about $528,000 and get up to 15 years of service, or, replace it for $760,000 and get 50 years.
“I know in the scheme of things, it’s much better to put up a 50-year bridge than to kick the can down the road until 2030,” Isaac said. “But I do think we need to have the facts.”
Mayor David Cheifetz said he wants to question the engineers about the feasibility of constructing a temporary structure to keep traffic moving across the causeway. He also wants to know whether it’s possible to replace the bridge with a simpler span — “maybe a roadway over two culverts.” And he said he just wants more details on the entire project.
“We don’t even know the right questions to ask. I’m as far from an engineer as you can possibly get,” Cheifetz said in calling for a session with the consultants at the March 25 commission meeting. “My concern is we’re not getting the best advice and the most complete advice from our engineers.”
Isaac and Commissioner Howard Roder alluded to the problems Point Manalapan residents are having with their newly resurfaced streets as evidence that the commission needs to get tougher with engineering consultants before the town approves projects.
In 2012, commissioners hired Delray Beach-based Hardrives Inc. to resurface all the roads on the Point, the first new asphalt there in some 50 years. But residents are complaining that the streets are already cracking in the same places they cracked before. Roder believes the streets weren’t prepared the right way before the asphalt went on, and he says the engineering consultants should have warned the commission about the potential problems.
“We wasted $250,000 of the taxpayers’ money — just threw it away,” Roder said. “We blew that money because of not asking the right question of an engineer. We don’t want to make the same mistake again and blow more taxpayer money on doing the wrong thing with this bridge.”
Town Manager Linda Stumpf told commissioners that, based on a similar project in Ocean Ridge, it could be possible to cut construction time down to about 11 months for replacement, and perhaps only 10 months if the existing span is repaired. But she said consultants warned that repairing it could actually wind up taking longer because workers often uncover problems they don’t expect.
“Many times the repairs are more time consuming than the replacement because of what they find when they’re doing it,” Stumpf said, “and the way they have to do it — from underneath when you’re chipping all this (debris) down with it.”
Stumpf said whether the commission chooses replacement or repair, it will still have to spend about $120,000 to replace the water lines running across the span.
“We’re talking about something here that’s going to inconvenience a lot of people for a long time, you’re talking about something here that’s going to have an impact on the community for decades,” Cheifetz said. “And I’m just not sure we have all of our options.”
In other business: Commissioners gave unanimous final approval (with Mayor Pro Tem David Thornton absent) to two amendments to the town’s comprehensive development plan. According to Cheifetz, the changes were housekeeping matters that “correct some inconsistencies in our zoning code.”
Gary Parr, the vice chair-man of the asset management firm Lazard Ltd. who bought the historic Casa Alva property in 2012, had complained to the town about the change of his property to residential status. But Parr did not contest the commission’s vote.
By Dan Moffett
The South Palm Beach Town Council sent a clear response to a developer’s request to fast-track a condominium project on the site of the beleaguered Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn.
Not so fast, council members told the Paragon Acquisition Group.
Mayor Donald Clayman exposed the town’s reluctance to move quickly when he made a motion early during the Feb. 25 council meeting to give Paragon everything it wanted — a charter change amendement on the August ballot that would allow construction of an eight-story building where the old Hawaiian hotel now stands.
Clayman’s motion died for lack of a second, as he knew it would, to a round of applause from a large turnout of townspeople.
“A vote in July or August is much too soon,” said Councilman Robert Gottlieb. “I don’t have enough information.”
The current height limits in the charter “were overwhelmingly approved” with a 78 percent majority in 2011, said Councilwoman Stella Jordan, who opposes having another referendum to change the rules for Paragon.
“The feedback I’m getting is this is too quick,” said Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello. “We don’t have all the details, and you’re going to see residents are gun-shy.”
Council members told Paragon to come back for a work session with residents in March and bring more details and try to win the support of the project’s neighbors.
Since buying the property for $8.25 million in November 2012, Paragon CEO Gary Cohen has promised to “restore the neighborly feel” of the troubled property.
During a Feb. 18 workshop on the proposed project with the Town Council, townspeople got the chance to see what Cohen meant by “neighborly.” His plan replaces the aging hotel and restaurant with a 36-unit, eight-story condominium building with a “wedding cake” design that narrows as it rises.
The property’s nonconforming commercial use would change to residential like that of all its neighbors.
“The last group that owned this property caused you a great deal of angst,” said Mitch Kirschner, an attorney representing Paragon. “I can tell you that we won’t do that. We know that the town is exclusively zoned for residential. We are very aware of that. We are not commercial developers. We are residential developers.”
The property’s previous owner, the Paloka family and their Kosova Realty, paid $3.3 million for the motel and restaurant in 2002, then touched off a political firestorm in 2006 with a proposal to build a 14-story, $250 million condo-hotel building. That idea went nowhere, and the town also rejected the Palokas’ scaled-down 10-story version three years later.
The Paloka proposals were “tantamount to landing a spaceship on that property,” Kirschner said. “Plans to turn it into a commercial property show a lack of sensitivity, a lack of understanding of what this town is all about.”
Kirschner said Paragon will not ask for zoning variances and will comply with all open-space requirements. What the developer does need, however, is for South Palm Beach to change its charter and its land development regulations.
In 2010, town voters were so annoyed by the Palokas’ proposals that they passed a requirement that zoning changes go to a referendum, not through the Town Council. Paragon can’t build its condominiums higher than 60 feet now unless it gets voters’ approval to change the zoning and allow another three stories.
Kirschner says the developer just wants to go as high as its neighbor, Concordia East.
“We would ask that the charter be amended and the LDRs be amended simply to go back to where it was prior to Paloka,” he said. “We’ve got the Paloka albatross on our necks, and we want to get it off.”
Paragon specializes in distressed properties and, according to Cohen, has bought more than $100 million worth of them since 2012. Last year, the developer won the approval of Highland Beach’s Town Commission for a 22-unit, seven-story condominium project.
The ‘Over the Hill Gang’ — Roy Miller, Gene Robey and Don Hebert
— at The St. Andrews Club.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Ron Hayes
Golfers and guests arriving at the bag room in The St. Andrews Club are greeted by a homemade sign warning that they are about to be served by:
The Over The Hill Gang
Roy 1925. Gene 1932. Don 1927.
Don’s wife, Jane, made the sign, and she’s an honest woman; but the sign’s not true.
Spend just a few minutes with Roy Miller, Gene Robey and Don Hebert and you see at once that they are clearly on top of things, but still not over the hill.
They are, however, painfully over par.
All three men live in Briny Breezes, all three are in their 80s, and all three have worked in that bag room for an average of 20 seasons.
From November to May, they maintain the members’ golf bags, check out their carts, record their fees, and make sure they’re armed with ice water on sweltering days.
Hebert, 86, came first. The owner of a family supermarket in Somersworth, N.H., he retired to Briny Breezes in 1985.
“And by 1991, I was bored.”
Warren Bailey, a neighbor who worked at the club, got him a job.
Gene Robey, 81, a retiree from U.S. Steel in Gary, Ind., arrived at the club three years later. Roy Miller, 88, a former supervisor at a Massachusetts rubber company, came in 1995.
You say old folks have memory problems? Don’t tell Hebert. He’ll point to a chart listing the names of about 250 members and associates and say, “Give me a name.”
Call out a name at random, and without looking, Hebert will tell you that player’s four-digit account number. He also maintains all the club’s tournament schedules — who’s playing and when.
When Hebert’s off, Robey takes over, greeting the players, checking out bags.
Hebert and Robey work three days a week.
Miller, the oldest, works seven days a week. Every evening he gathers the balls from the practice range, then washes and rebags them — about 300 every day.
This is not a hobby. The men are paid for their work. They won’t say how much, but note that they’re served lunch. And it’s not the salary that keeps them working well into their ninth decades.
“It’s the people,” they say in unison. “They’re the best in the world.”
The golfers seem to feel the same.
“They take really good care of me,” says Isabel Rich. “They always have my bag on a pushcart and my water ready. They’re dependable, helpful, always here on time, and they have great stories to tell.”
In her nine years at St. Andrews, Rich confides, she’s made three holes-in-one. But improving her game is one service the Over The Hill Gang can’t provide.
None of them plays.
"Years ago, I went out on the practice range,” Hebert recalls, shaking his head. “Too much work.”
So he goes swimming every day at 4:30 a.m. and rides his bike every night instead.
Robey got talked into trying a round once, too.
"When I got done, I was worn out,” he recalls. “I said, ‘This is worse than work!’ ”
He dances with the Briny Breezes Square Dance Club instead.
“People ask us for golfing advice,” Miller says, “and we tell ’em, ‘You’re asking the wrong people. See the pro.’ ”
That’s Jim Simon, St. Andrews’ golf pro for 14 years.
“This coming Wednesday, we have 54 golfers here for a tournament,” Simon says, “and the No. 1 thing is, these men are all extremely dependable. They’re all very polite and cordial with the membership, so it worked out well for me. They’re a really good fit.”
And at 88, Roy Miller has no plans to retire.
“That’s in the pro’s hands,” he says. “We’ll be here until we’re thrown out.”
And should Gene Robey lose his job, he’s already got a backup.
“I work at the tennis club a couple half-days, too,” he says, and grins. “I don’t play tennis, either.”
By Cheryl Blackerby
Two beach renourishment projects are completed, with two more to go.
The Savannah dredge finished work on nine-tenths mile of beach in south Boca Raton on Dec. 9, and the Ocean Ridge project wrapped up Feb. 9. The dredge left Ocean Ridge for Delray Beach the next day.
“Over 500,000 cubic yards of sand was placed along 1.1 miles of shoreline, resulting in a wider recreational beach and increased storm protection,” said Tracy Logue, coastal geologist for Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management, about the Ocean Ridge project.
The beach, starting at the Ocean Club and ending at Edith Street, is about 300 feet wider than it was pre-dredging. Logue said she encountered happy beachgoers during an inspection of the beach Feb. 20.
After Delray Beach, the dredge will move to the north Boca Raton beach.
Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, monitored silt plumes at Ocean Ridge and Delray Beach with the help of a quadcopter drone, a 14-inch four-rotor miniature helicopter, which offers a bird’s-eye view of the ocean. The drone, paid for by donors, started work in mid-January flying about 100 feet high for an overview of near-shore ocean conditions.
“Our drone allows us to quickly see where the problems are. Before the drone, we had to hike up and down the beach,” Tichenor said.
On a live feed Feb. 16, the drone showed a large plume of silt at Delray Beach, he said.
“I was surprised to see a plume that big. At Ocean Ridge, we saw fewer problems than we normally do. And we checked the south Boca Raton beach several times and never saw any turbidity there. Delray Beach is a different story. We’ve seen some very large turbidity plumes,” he said.
The silt plume was a mile long, he said. “Ultimately, the silt will find its way to the coral reefs. We have coral reefs in that area and shipwrecks, where goliath groupers congregate.”
The beach renourishment projects in Ocean Ridge, Delray Beach and north Boca Raton are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beach projects. The Army Corps deadline for those projects is April 30 and the work is expected to be finished well before the deadline if seas remain calm.
The south Boca Raton beach renourishment is not an Army Corps project, but the city used the same contractor to save money.
Gulf Stream School had a brief return to its roots on Feb. 19 as young polo players presented an exhibition game on the school’s lacrosse field. The school was built in 1938 on part of the original Gulfstream Polo Club.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Mary Thurwachter
When students at the Gulf Stream School study the school’s history, they can’t help but look at polo. After all, Gulf Stream School — the only school on the barrier island between the Palm Beach and the Hillsboro Inlet — was built on polo fields in 1938. The school’s first classroom was in a polo barn.
So this year on Feb. 19, as part of the school’s 75th anniversary celebration, polo ponies and players appeared on the campus to show students the basics of the game.
Four players and one referee, all aboard polo ponies, galloped across the school’s lacrosse field putting on a show the students won’t soon forget. Neither will Head of School Joseph Zaluski, who — at the coaxing of a parent — gingerly mounted a polo pony after the demonstration.
“This was certainly not planned,” Zaluski said afterward. “Honestly, I was concerned that if that pony decided to go for a romp, I would be in serious trouble.”
Fortunately for Zaluski, the pony stood regally still as everyone posed for pictures in front of the school.
Before the demonstration, students gathered in the chapel to hear alumnus Russell Corey, who played polo all over the world and whose father, Alan, is in the Polo Hall of Fame. Corey, of Delray Beach, serves on the board of the Polo Museum in Wellington.
A former teammate of Corey’s and a Gulf Stream School alum, Gene Fortugno, was also in attendance. “His polo résumé and family history are similar to Corey’s,” said Casey Wilson, the school’s director of development.
Corey talked about the history and rules of the game, the mallet and the polo ball, and polo ponies, which he said were really horses that ran up to 35 mph.
“In 1923, Gulf Stream was the birthplace of polo in Florida,” Corey said. “It was a great training ground for young players.”
The Gulfstream Polo Club, first called Phipps Fields (for Mike Phipps, who owned and ran the place), set the scene for what became known as the winter polo capital of the world. The roster of players included Winston and Raymond Guest and William Post II, Stewart and Phillip Iglehart and Adolph Busch Orthwein.
Corey said that no polo games were played during World War II, but the horses were called to duty as the Coast Guard used them to patrol the beach, on the lookout for German submarines.
Polo was last played in Gulf Stream in 1965 when the Phipps family sold the land for development. Gulfstream Polo moved 16 miles west on Lake Worth Road.
“Many of the teachers have said they and the students thought the presentation and demonstration were great,” Wilson said. Some of them even brought polo balls back to the classroom as souvenirs.
By Rich Pollack
In Delray Beach, five historically significant properties have been selected for the National Registry of Historic Places, but missing from the list has been the prestigious designation of any of the city’s five locally designated historic districts.
That changed last month, though, when the Florida National Register Review Board gave its approval to the city’s request to include Delray Beach’s Marina Historic District on the registry.
“This is important for us because the Marina District is the first historic district in Delray Beach to be nationally recognized. We’re hopeful that it will bring additional exposure and attention to our preservation efforts,” said Amy Alvarez, the city’s historic preservation planner. “This is the first step in our efforts to have all five of our locally designated historic districts recognized nationally.”
Just south of Atlantic Avenue and west of the Intracoastal Waterway, the city’s Marina Historic District includes a mix of historic homes as well as homes and townhouses built in recent years.
The homes in the district, bordered on the west by Southeast Seventh Avenue and on the south by Southeast Third Street, reflect a variety of historically significant architectural styles. They range from colonial revival to Mediterranean and include cottages, dating back to the 1930s, built by cartoonist Fontaine Fox.
The Marina Historic District is also known for its distinctive subtropical landscape and shady streets all within walking distance of the municipal marina.
To qualify for the National Registry of Historic Places, a district must include homes that are least 50 years old and it also must have historical significance.
First added to the city’s local list of historic districts in 1988, the Marina Historic District was resurveyed in 2008 by an outside historical resources group, which determined it would be eligible for the National Registry and recommended the city apply.
Having the district on the registry, Alvarez says, adds prestige to the community and could have a positive impact on property values.
In addition, income-producing properties in the district would be eligible for tax credits for historic restoration projects.
Owen Gassaway III stands in front of model airplanes
that once graced the Lantana airport. They are being packed and ready to move.
2013 photo by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
The Lantana airport operator is a man on a mission.
“I’ve got a timeline, a deadline to meet, have to be out of here by March 31,” said Owen Gassaway III.
After more than 60 years at the controls of Palm Beach County’s aviation history, Florida Airmotive is packing up and moving out. The company did not bid to operate the airport, officially known as the Palm Beach County Park Airport. The new operator, Galaxy Aviation, takes over April 1.
Inside a back room in the terminal, a stack of flattened cardboard boxes awaited another shipment of packing peanuts. They were used to pack the plane models, carefully removed from the terminal’s ceiling and vacuumed because “we weren’t the best housekeepers,” Gassaway said. Then his wife, Kim, cleaned each one and packed each model, pouring the peanuts around it. All told, she expected to pack nearly 70 boxes containing about 100 models of various sizes, from 6 inches to more than 3 feet.
The boxes will be stored in a hangar until they are moved — possibly to a new home the Gassaways are building in Tennessee. “The new home has a walk-in basement,” he said. “I did not want to drive by every day and see what it (Lantana airport) would become.”
Or, perhaps, to Yesteryear Village on the South Florida Fairgrounds. When he contacted the historic village last summer, he didn’t know it was going through management changes. His sister, Becky, who lives in Lantana, kept in contact with officials there.
After the fair ended in early February, Yesteryear’s new manager, Paige Poole, visited the Lantana airport. “We’d like to take some benches and other memorabilia,” she said. She wasn’t more specific because she needed to talk with her supervisors to find out what the village could use.
The terminal, built in the style of an Old Florida farmhouse with a breezeway through the middle, was a veritable museum of the county’s aviation history. On the breezeway floor stood a 6-foot-tall radio tower used to communicate with pilots. “Now pilots can hold that communication device in their hands,” Gassaway said. He planned to donate that tower to the Boynton Aerospace Science Academy at Boynton Beach High School.
Inside the terminal sat a 1943 propeller and 1931-design engine built in late ’30s or early ’40s; both will go to the Boynton Beach program. Gassaway’s two sisters might want some of the original silverware used to serve meals aboard the DC-3s.
Florida Airmotive dates back to 1941 when Owen Gassaway Jr. started the company. He oversaw major changes at the Lantana airport in the late ’80s and early ’90s. He was instrumental in helping thousands of youngsters learn to fly. In 2007 when he died, his son took over operations at the Lantana airport.
“Florida Airmotive did it all — flight school, charter service with 35 planes, repairs, fueling,” the son said. “But that changed in the ’80s when my dad created a ‘marina’ for planes.”
Galaxy Aviation, based in Palm Beach County, is new to the Lantana airport community, Executive Vice President Jonathan Miller said. “We recognize there is a legacy here with the current owner and his dad; we want to respect that,” he said. “We don’t want to change the atmosphere, we are looking to be part of the community.”
When Galaxy takes over, it first will inspect hangars to determine which ones need repairs. It also will make the airport more secure by putting up fencing to ensure only vehicles with airport business can enter, and it will build a new self-service fuel farm. Galaxy plans to have a grand opening celebration sometime in April.
The county will redo the airport entrance, Miller said. The entrance contains a 6-foot-tall concrete and granite monument dedicating the airport to Gassaway’s dad. “I told Owen he could take the monument. If not, we will find a place for a part of it in the new terminal,” he said.
Gassaway is not certain whether all of that is progress, but he knows it’s a “done deal and I am not going back.”
Paul ‘Krazy Tyrone’ Krohn of Highland Beach
honed his entertainment skills as a tummler
at various resorts in the Catskills.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Every entertainer has a heyday — and for Highland Beach resident Paul Krohn, it was the 20-plus years he worked at borscht belt hotels. Krohn was a “tummler,” one of those in-house jesters whose job it was to keep guests at New York’s famous Catskill Mountains resorts amused.
His repertoire included jump-rope tricks, off-color jokes, playing harmonica with his right nostril, dazzling guests with trivia, leading groups on rounds of Simon Says and beating everyone at pingpong using household objects as a paddle.
At age 25, Krohn was hired at Grossinger’s. He was mentored by Lou Goldstein, the acknowledged master of the Simon Says game.
When Grossinger’s closed five years later, Krohn took his tummler skills to Kutsher’s Country Club, where he lived and worked for two decades. Guests would return year after year to see his schtick. He was known as Krazy Tyrone.
During those Krazy days, The New York Times described Krohn as “a startlingly flamboyant man who moves like Pee-wee Herman on amphetamines.” His natural athleticism (he’d been a tennis star in college and later won amateur tournaments) and near-photographic memory came in handy on the job.
“I have a great ability to remember names and faces,” says Krohn, now 58, “along with historical events and numbers. I’m not a true idiot savant when it comes to numbers, but I still remember all my friend’s telephone numbers from childhood.”
When the Catskills resorts died out and Krohn was left without a job, he rented a cabin in the woods and lived on the money he could earn from gigs in New York City — bar mitzvahs, private parties, corporate events.
“I would take the ShortLine bus two hours from the Catskills,” he says. “Fifty dollars round trip. I did that three or four years before moving down here.”
These days, he exercises regularly, helps out his elderly parents and volunteers at the Teen Center in Delray Beach teaching pingpong and jump-rope skills.
“I love the idea of helping kids learn, but more importantly to put a smile on their faces, make ’em laugh — make ’em feel good about themselves.”
— Paula Detwiller
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school?
A. I grew up in New Hartford, N.Y., a suburb of Utica. After high school I attended SUNY Geneseo, about 30 miles south of Rochester, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in special education. But as Mark Twain once said, “Never let your schooling interfere with your education.” I read that quote when I was 17, while relaxing in solitude in a cemetery. I went there quite often in the summer of 1975 to soothe my emotional distress over a girlfriend who had dumped me. Throughout my life, my greatest education has come from the woods, the lakes, the hilltops and the union of my heart and mind, thanks to the good Lord and my parents.
Q. What are some highlights of your life?
A. In 2005, my life story was printed in The New York Times — on the front page! That exposure brought many opportunities and wonderful experiences. Within days of the article coming out, a documentary film based on my life went into production. Not long after, I was featured in another film called Welcome to Kutsher’s. And recently I had a part in a film called When Comedy Went to School.
But there was another movie made in the early 1990s that brought great excitement for me. It was called Arizona Dreamer. I only had two small parts in this movie, but I had the great pleasure of meeting Johnny Depp and doing Simon Says with him.
I won a spot in the Guinness World Records for the most jumps in one minute: 332. I also set another world record on Regis Philbin’s talk show: I jumped rope for an hour nonstop — 8,320 jumps.
On another occasion, I skipped rope 222 times on one foot in just one minute.
Other highlights of my life included doing my Simon Says act on a CBS TV show hosted by Oprah’s friend Gayle King; playing basketball with Cal Ripken Jr.; exercising and playing pingpong with professional boxers Evander Holyfield, Michael Spinks, and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini; being invited to Joan Rivers’ dressing room for some advice on the world of comedy; and getting a letter of commendation from Arnold Schwarzenegger for spreading the importance of fitness via skipping rope.
Recently I made it to the finals of a professional pingpong tournament in New York City. It was held at a club called SPiN, which is part owned by the Susan Sarandon. I challenged Susan in Simon Says and also played pingpong with her.
For a paddle, I used a shoe and a stone — and luckily she had a good sense of humor when I beat her!
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Highland Beach?
A. I moved here to help out my parents, who were struggling with health issues.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Highland Beach?
A. Highland Beach has a wonderful shoreline and I am so grateful to live where I can open my sliding door and admire the sights and sounds of the ocean. I also love the flat streets of this town, because I go cycling quite a bit. The library is the best I ever went to!
Q. If you could change anything in your life, what would it be?
A. First, I would try to be a better and kinder person to my parents. Secondly, I would have tried to solidify this thing called love and go on to have a family of my own. Lastly I would have spent much more time interacting with the less fortunate. At least now I am trying to make a difference for the benefit of others.
Q. How did you come up with the name Krazy Tyrone?
A. When I went to the Catskills to work at the hotel resort, I played the harmonica with my nose. I skipped rope while playing the harmonica. I played pingpong with the resort guests using a spoon, a block of wood, a shoe, or even a stone for a paddle. And people noticed my craziness of memorizing the most stupid facts and figures and rattling them off at my trivia shows. My jumping rope in the steam room put the icing on the cake. So hence the guests called me crazy. I changed it to Krazy Tyrone.
Q. If someone made a movie of your life, who would you like to play you and why?
A. That’s already happened — a documentary called The Last of the Tummlers. But if a movie were to be made of my whole life, it would be nice to have Kris Kristofferson because he exemplifies emotions so naturally and has that voice that all people love to listen to.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration?
A. When I need motivation to proceed with my workouts, I listen to a tape I made with songs by Bob Seger (Old Time Rock and Roll) and strong and powerful uplifting instrumental music such as the soundtrack of Braveheart and The Last of the Mohicans. I also use Prince, Melissa Etheridge and “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. “A good understanding of how the human mind works is the core of communication, and this, blended with a dose of kindness, is the art of teaching.”
Q. Who/what makes you laugh?
A. Curly of the Three Stooges. He could dance funny and make sounds that were hysterical. He had nonverbal expressions that make me giggle every time I watch him.
By Mary Thurwachter
A plan to extend a natural gas line to Hypoluxo Island is a go, but not without some controversy. In October, the town of Lantana mailed letters to island residents asking for a yes or no vote on the issue. Proponents of the gas line needed 186 votes, or 60 percent affirmation. By the Feb. 15 deadline, 197 property owners said “yes” and 56 voted “no.”
But a look at the town’s spreadsheet with tabulated results revealed that 22 residents who first voted “no” changed their votes to “yes.”
The drive for natural gas was a well-coordinated effort spearheaded by island residents Rod Tennyson and Robert Barfknecht, who put together a team of proponents who went door-to-door. They argued that natural gas would be a good enhancement to the island, saving residents energy and money.
But the voting system didn’t sit well with some residents.
“The process is very troubling,” said Richard Schlosberg, an island resident who was not in favor of the gas line. “I thought it was a secret ballot,” he said. “I thought once a person voted, that was it. The voter didn’t get to vote again and change his vote.”
Town attorney Max Lohman said that once votes come in they are public record and anyone can look at them. And voters can change their votes before the deadline, if they choose, Lohman said, in the case of “a referendum-like vote” such as this.
Another Hypoluxo Island resident, Virginia Ferrer, told the Town Council at its Feb. 10 meeting that she thought the vote was secret. She said she opposed the gas line and didn’t think she should have to pay for something she wouldn’t use. (Property owners would owe about $260 a year for 10 years to pay for the line.)
“I don’t want the mess after the inconvenience of the bridge construction,” she said.
Ferrer complained that promoters of the natural gas line visited her home four times to persuade her to change her vote.
Council member Malcolm Balfour, who lives on the island, too, but voted to support the project, said Ferrer was “not alone.” He said others had complained about repeated visits by proponents.
Balfour’s wife, Ilona, said she didn’t need a natural gas line.
“We’re not going to change appliances at this point and we already have solar,” she said after the Feb. 10 council meeting.
Mayor Dave Stewart, who also lives on Hypoluxo Island, said islanders had been talking about a natural gas line extension for three years and had a right to rally votes.
“You have the same right,” he told Ferrer. He said the town had assurances from Florida Public Utility that roads would not be torn up to install the line.
The town agreed to create a special assessment to provide financing of running the lines to the property boundaries. Property owners will pay additional costs to complete the gas line connection to their properties.
The estimated construction cost of the project is $534,396. The new line would connect to one already extended to the Carlisle, a luxury senior living facility at the corner of East Ocean Avenue and A1A.
Once the line is in place, Florida Public Utility will assume ownership, operation and maintenance.
In other action, the council set hours for its parks — official hours had not been set previously. The Nature Preserve, on the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway, will be open from sunrise to sunset. Sportsman’s Park, on the west side of the bridge, will be open 24 hours because of fishing, and Bicentennial Park, also on the west side of the bridge, will be open from sunrise to sunset except for the fishing pier, parking and the restrooms.
There will no election in Lantana on March 11. Council members Phil Aridas (Group 4) and Tom Deringer (Group 3) reclaimed their seats with no opposition.
South Palm Beach Town Council members Robert Gottlieb and Stella Gaddy Jordan kept their seats for two more years after no one came forward to oppose them in the March 11 election.
Gottlieb, 74, was appointed to the Town Council in November 2011 after also serving 3½ years on it from 2005 to 2008. Jordan, 74, has served two terms since winning election in 2010.
— Dan Moffett
Laura and Ella Jervis (left), descendants of Walter ('Pop') Lyman, captain of one
of the first commercial boats to navigate the Boynton Inlet, take part in
a dedication ceremony of a new historic marker at the South Lake Worth Inlet.
The marker was sponsored by the late Robert H. Neff of Delray Beach.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Three candidates are competing for two open seats after Ed Brookes and Zoanne Hennigan decided against running for re-relection on March 11.
James Bonfiglio
Personal: 60; bachelor’s degrees in political science and history, 1975, University of Rochester; graduated Loyola University School of Law, 1979; 25-year resident of Ocean Ridge; single.
Professional: Real estate attorney, specializing in foreclosure defense; also practices in the field of Federal Truth in Lending litigation; guest lecturer at Nova Southeastern University Law School; inducted into the Palm Beach County Legal Aid Pro Bono Hall of Fame in 2008.
Political experience: First run for elective office; appointed to town’s Planning and Zoning Commission in 2000; served as board’s vice chairman for seven years, and elected board’s chairman in 2008.
Position on issues: Would consider increasing police presence on public beaches to help limit the potential liability of risky behavior to the town and residents; improve beach signage; is reluctant to support an ordinance to prohibit alcohol use on the beach because it would infringe on the rights of residents; prepare a plan for dealing with potential retirements of key town staff members; evaluate possible options for fire rescue service contracts.
Quote: “I’ve been on the Planning and Zoning Commission since 2000, and I think I know enough of the town and the issues that I can help contribute a little more as a town commissioner.”
Richard Lucibella
Personal: 60; bachelor’s degree, Fairfield University; master’s in business, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; master’s in health care administration, Johns Hopkins University. Moved to Ocean Ridge 1996; single.
Professional: CEO at Accountable Care Options, LLC; director at Primus Health Network; publisher S.W.A.T. Magazine; former president at Medical Management Associates Inc.
Political experience: No elective office. Member of the town Planning and Zoning Commission, 1997-2000. Member Board of Adjustments, 2000-present.
Position on issues: Past commissions have left the town in good fiscal condition, so Ocean Ridge has the opportunity to address long-term planning now. Should consider underground utilities, natural gas lines and reining in costs of emergency medical services. Calmly and thoughtfully “walk the fine line” between keeping public beaches public and managing access.
Quote: “There will be a lot more vehicular and pedestrian presence due to rapid growth of neighboring towns. What’s at stake is the culture of Ocean Ridge three to five years from now. Residents can either help in the formation of that culture or let someone else do it. There are only two choices.”
Roberta Wehr
Personal: 50; bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ball State University; associate’s degree in business; has lived in Ocean Ridge since 2000; single.
Professional: Former investment liaison for several financial services companies in Florida; public relations and fundraising for nonprofit group in Indiana.
Political experience: No elective office. Worked as an intern in Indiana Gov. Robert Orr’s office in early 1980s; activist against high-rise development along the South Florida coast.
Positions on issues: Supports two-story limits on buildings; town must do more to protect dunes and turtle nesting; would consider putting utility lines underground; wants town to keep its own Police Department; public must have access to beaches but residents’ property rights have to be protected, too.
Quote: “Ocean Ridge to me represents Old Florida. This to me is ideal. I love the integrity of this town and I want to see our town stay the way it is.”
Polls are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. March 11. For information, visit www.pbcelections.org.
Compiled by Dan Moffett
Dan Bates, Palm Beach County’s environment resource management director, had mixed news during a recent meeting with Manalapan’s task force on beach issues.
The good news was that the contours of Manalapan’s coastline help its beaches collect and retain sand. The bad news is that because the town’s beachfront is nearly all privately owned, there won’t be any federal or state money for repairs. However, Town Manager Linda Stumpf said the beach at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa may be an exception because it has public use and collects tourism taxes.
The town’s task force is looking into getting federal or state money to help clear away some of the underwater debris behind the resort.
— Dan Moffett
Three uncontested races have left the Manalapan Town Commission with two new faces.
Clark Appleby, a member of the town’s zoning commission, claims the at-large seat vacated by John Murphy, and Ronald Barsanti, an alternate on the architectural commission, takes the point seat formerly occupied by Howard Roder. Murphy and Roder decided not to seek re-election.
Vice Mayor Louis De Stefano returns to his ocean district seat after going unopposed.
The commissioners will be sworn in on March 25.
— Dan Moffett
By Emily J. Minor
HYPOLUXO ISLAND — Nancy Canter, a lifelong student of art and literature who moved to Hypoluxo Island in 1986 and then helped raise money and interest for the Lantana Public Library, died Feb. 17. She was 83.
“She was quite a woman,” said her husband, Louis.
Born Nov. 15, 1930, in Brookline, Mass., Mrs. Canter loved playing sports, earning five athletic letters from Brookline High School before graduating in 1948. She attended Boston University, where she studied fine art. Later she earned a master’s degree in art history from the University of Michigan, with a concentration in Spanish medieval art. And she did this at a time when most women didn’t even get a four-year degree.
In 1955, she married Louis Canter. Mr. Canter said the two had met, briefly, in college — as she was the cousin of one of his good college friends and had dated one of his fraternity brothers. After his time in the service, he returned home and the two became a couple, he said. Once they married, they quickly had children — three girls and one boy by 1962.
For many years, the family lived in Framingham, Mass., where Mrs. Canter juggled the household and children, always making time for volunteer work, her husband said.
She was particularly involved with the Temple Beth Am community and served on the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods. Through the years, she became well known for running Temple Beth Am’s annual art show, one of the Temple’s main fundraising events. Admirers said she took great pride in pursuing Boston-area artists and giving them a local venue to display their art.
Louis Canter was a real estate and business developer, who moved with his wife to Florida in 1986. He said they wanted something on the water, and stumbled upon a lot on Hypoluxo Island. “We’ll build something,” he told her.
Mr. Canter said she immediately became caught up in local causes.
Mrs. Canter was on the inaugural board for the Lantana Public Library, assuring it would always have a permanent home.
Lantana Mayor David Stewart said she served on the library board until her death. “She was one of those types of people who never wanted any credit for anything, but she was always doing for others,” he said.
She also never abandoned her Jewish sisterhood. Mrs. Canter was a longtime volunteer with the Palm Beach Chapter of Brandeis University’s National Women’s Committee, serving in various leadership roles. She loved mahjong and bridge, and was known for running the book club on Hypoluxo Island.
“She was just a wonderful person to be around,” Mr. Canter said.
Besides her husband, survivors include the couple’s children, daughters Rebecca Ryan and Marcia Canter, both of Westboro, Mass.; Edie Canter, of Chicago, Ill.; and a son, Andrew Canter of Cape Town, South Africa. Four grandchildren also survive her.
Memorial services were held Feb. 19 at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Boynton Beach.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lantana Library Foundation, 205 W. Ocean Ave., Lantana, Fla. 33462, or Brandeis University Library, c/o Dr. C. Warshaw, 3589 S. Ocean Blvd., No. 612, Palm Beach, Fla. 33480.
By Ron Hayes
HYPOLUXO ISLAND — In 2005, Anne Heyman helped establish “Moral Voices,” a lecture series at Tufts University. The first speaker was a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, where 1.2 million children had been orphaned.
As she listened, Ms. Heyman was reminded of how the new state of Israel had built “youth villages” in the late 1940s to care for and educate the orphans of the Holocaust.
And she decided to do the same for Rwanda.
“People told her she was crazy,” her son, Jason Merrin, said. “And she was, a little. But she never believed in impossibilities.”
Ms. Heyman died of cardiac arrest Jan. 31 after falling from her horse during a masters riding competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington. She was 52 and had kept a home on Hypoluxo Island for the past decade.
Among her survivors are 500 students at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, where the first class graduated this year. Agahozo is a Kinyarwanda word meaning “a place where tears are dried,” and shalom is Hebrew for “peace.”
The school stands on 144 acres among the lakes and hills of eastern Rwanda, built with $12 million raised by Ms. Heyman, a frequent visitor whom the students revered as “Big Momma.”
The village was the crowning achievement in a short life devoted to others.
Anne Elaine Heyman was born in South Africa on June 16, 1961, and came to the U.S. at 15. She was active in Young Judea, a Zionist youth movement, and spent a year studying in Israel, where she met Seth Merrin, whom she married in 1986. Merrin is the founder of Liquidnet, an electronic trading marketplace that donates a percentage of its profits to support the village.
A graduate of Columbia University Law School, she worked in private practice for two years, then became an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, prosecuting white-collar crime. She quit to raise her children and devote time to philanthropy in 1994.
She was also chairwoman of the board of Dorot, which serves the elderly in Manhattan, and active with the Abraham Joshua Heschel school and the Jewish Community Centers of America.
“She taught us that if you set your mind to something, there’s nothing you can’t do,” her son, Jason, said. “You hear that a lot, but she lived it.”
Ms. Heyman also built one of the largest solar energy plants in sub-Saharan Africa, which also contributes power to Rwanda.
“My dad always made fun of her,” Jason Merrin said. “He’d say, ‘How much is enough? Haven’t you done enough?’
“I don’t think she believed in enough.”
In addition to her husband and son, she is survived by another son, Jonathan; a daughter, Jenna; and her parents, Sydney and Hermia Heyman.
A funeral was held Feb. 3 at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you perform three selfless acts in her memory, and then ask each person you’ve helped to help three more.
One highlight of the Casino remodeling has been the use of the ballroom
for events like the Daddy-Daughter/Mother-Son Date Night on Feb. 7.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Christine Davis
The Lake Worth Casino project was completed, with great fanfare, just a year ago. However, revenue is not what was expected, unanticipated expenses cropped up, and more tweaks are needed to put the complex in the black.
The Lake Worth beach “has the best sunrise in the county,” said the city’s leisure services director, Juan Ruiz. In addition, the facility is beautiful, and new activities at the beach such as the bonfires, arts festival and a sand-sculpting event have been popular, he added.
But looking back, did the financial projections make sense?
The city had hoped for better. Projections have been replaced with a year’s worth of hard data.
The project ended up costing $13 million (projected at $11 million). The county granted $5 million. The city decided last fall not to make its $500,000 loan payment to its Water Utility Fund, from which it borrowed $6 million.
“People enjoy the site and the amenities; but the amenities cost, and we are getting an idea of the true cost. Before, those costs were estimates, and we will come back and adjust quarterly, so that the property will be successful, ” Ruiz said.
“We are looking at how to fill the voids,” he said.
Concerning income and expenses: While parking spots are full (when the sun shines) and the casino space is booked a couple of years out (for weekend weddings), the 5,000-square-foot second-floor space next to the ballroom has yet to find a tenant, party facilitators and maintenance personnel (not addressed in the original budget) need to be hired, and the pool is expensive to operate.
The city is looking for solutions, Ruiz said. “We’re seeking a tenant to occupy the empty space, and the original beach fund didn’t address the pool. To keep it open year-round, 29 hours a week, will cost around $300,000. We’re looking at ways to generate more revenue at the pool.”
Tenants, for the most part, are satisfied.
Frank Lograsso, owner of Mamma Mia’s On The Beach pizzeria, said, “Things are working out great. It’s just as I expected.”
Kilwin’s owner Raffy Abraham said he’s happy and his customers are happy.
Mulligan’s Beach House Bar & Grill, however, has experienced some belt-tightening, but it’s not all bad.
Owner George Hart has five other waterfront restaurants, and, last year, he said, he was “sold” on this property. He invested $1.5 million; he’s paying $21,000 a month on a 20-year lease; his property taxes last year were $45,000.
“We liked the property, but the Realtor told us that the north parking lot would be available to us; we would be involved in a valet service; and that we would have ample light for our night business. None of that happened.
“I spent $10,000 on a golf cart to get people up the hill from the parking lot. We don’t have sufficient lighting, and it’s scary to bring your children out there at night. We were never provided valet service, which we were willing to pay for. We were never allowed usage of the parking lot to the north, so, now, you have to move your car in the middle of dinner or you are locked in.
“We should get together to solve the problems. We are watching our sales go down.”
The city will start considering the casino’s financial situation when discussing its 2014-15 budget.
“Like any new business, there are growing pains and we will adjust every day,” Ruiz said. “We recognize that we have some challenges, and we will address them going forward.”
Concerning lighting, the site must be turtle-friendly, he noted; also, the property was not designed for valet, due to grant requirements.
“We will revisit lots of different things in the future. Now it’s time to stop the bleeding.”
Tania Gerst, with her parents Rod and Emily Regan, in the back room
of Brogues, where they recently added windows.
Libby Volges/The Coastal Star
By Christine Davis
Here’s throwing some light on what’s happened outback at Brogues Downunder Bar & Restaurant in downtown Lake Worth.
“We’ve just completed some renovations in our back room,” said Emily Regan, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Rod, and daughter, Tania Gerst. “We’ve lightened it up with a full wall of sliding windows.
“In the afternoon, with sunlight streaming in, the room just glows,” she said.
The Regans bought the pub, originally called Brogues on the Avenue, 2½ years ago. They kept it Irish but added some Downunder flavor.
Previously in the construction business, the Regans came to Lake Worth 24 years ago. Emily, originally from New Zealand, has Scottish ancestors. Rod, also from New Zealand, has Australian and Irish roots.
As a result of their backgrounds, diners enjoy traditional Irish classics — such as Guinness, shepherd’s pie and corned beef and cabbage — but they also find a selection of Australian and New Zealand wines, as well as lamb specials and sausage rolls (which are sausage bites wrapped in puff pastry and baked — “a very Downunder thing,” explained Emily).
Every six months, the Regans change the menu.
“We also have an Irish breakfast,” Emily added. “That’s bacon and eggs the Irish way with some mushrooms and tomatoes.”
And from time to time, Emily cooks up Pavlova, a meringue dessert that originated Downunder.
Brogues rocks, too.
From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Friday, Jody Pollard performs, and 5 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, George Orr performs his Rod Stewart tribute on the stage of the “function room” (that’s the name of the back room.). Tuesday through Saturday there’s also live music performed by a selection of bands from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Regulars include the Mighty Quinn, Far From Grace, Used to Bees, Chain Reaxion, Knockdown and Upside Down.
Brogues is open from 10:30 a.m. until 2 a.m. seven days a week, and customers will always find one of the Regans on site.
“Running a restaurant is very hard work,” Emily said. “It’s the hardest thing we have ever done in our lives. However, we’ve been here 2½ years and we’re still going.”
Keys to success include “cleanliness, good food and service, great location, and you have to be here.”
She invites new diners to come in, eat, and enjoy. “Our food is excellent and the entertainment is very good, too,” she said. “Our talented chef, Joseph Angelucci, winner of a 2010 People’s Choice Award, gets rave reviews, and our restaurant won a TripAdvisor ‘Certificate of Excellence’ award in 2013.”
Customers Connor Wordelman and her son Brooks (left) and Kristi Lesnik and son Gabriel
take some time to get to know each other during the Feb. 11 grand opening
of the Fresh Market at the corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway in Delray Beach.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Waitress Brigette Roberson and Chef Lynn Dorsey stand at the Secret Garden Café
in Boynton Beach, where Dorsey has been cooking vegetarian and vegan fare.
Photo provided
INSET PHOTOS BELOW: John Bradway; Jean Drummond; Frank Maguire
By Christine Davis
Five stars? Five diamonds? How are hotels, restaurants and spas classified? Let’s count the ways. In January, Forbes and AAA announced their 2014 winners. Forbes Travel Guide uses stars (professional inspectors evaluate based on 500-plus criteria). AAA uses diamonds (32,000 hotels rated based on professional evaluators and member feedback). If you need more information, you can check out tripadvisor.com or yelp.com; and let’s not forget Michelin.
Five-star hotels: Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach
Four-star spas: Spa Palazzo at the Boca Raton Resort & Club
Five-diamond hotels: Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach
Four-diamond hotels: Boca Raton Resort & Club, Delray Beach Marriott, Sabal Palm House, The Omphoy Ocean Resort & Spa
Four-diamond restaurants: Arturo’s Ristorante, Kathy’s Gazebo Café, Paradiso Ristorante, Angle in Manalapan.
John D. Bradway (shown at left) has recently been appointed director of marketing at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, Manalapan. In his new role, Bradway is responsible for launching the Eau Palm Beach brand and directing all marketing efforts of the 309-room luxury resort.
The boutique Swell has recently been renovated and enlarged. Located at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, it offers a high-style shopping environment combining vintage Palm Beach elegance with modern-day fashion sensibilities. The resort is at 2800 S. Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach.
Jeannie’s Ocean Boutique has expanded an additional 1,200 square feet, making room for new formal and special-occasion-wear sections. Proprietor Jeannie Drummond (shown at right), who owned six stores in Boca Raton before retiring after 35 years in fashion, returned to retail, opening her new boutique at 232 S. Ocean Blvd. in Plaza del Mar in Manalapan.
An event sponsor, Frank Maguire (shown below) of Quigley Maguire Collections, 301 Pineapple Grove Way, Delray Beach, adds his design expertise for the eighth time to this year’s American Red Cross Designers’ Show House, which runs through March 22. This year, he has decorated the second-floor bathroom and hallway at Villa Delle Palme, 124 Churchill Road, West Palm Beach.
He’s joined by more than 14 designers who worked on the home — which was also featured as a show house 20 years ago — to offer visitors plenty of design inspiration, as well as an opportunity to support the Red Cross.
“In the hallway, I liked the design the artist created the first time around,” Maguire said. “So I asked my faux artist, (Boynton Beach resident) Maria Ranieri, to freshen it up. But I did gut the bathroom, giving it new life by installing some new fixtures and painting it white.”
The home is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. In addition to tours of the home, guests may also shop an on-site boutique. General admission is $35 per person.
On Feb. 7, 2014, Office Depot’s new chief executive, Roland Smith, and his wife, Sandra Lynne, bought a house at 1356 Sabal Palm Drive, in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, Boca Raton, for $3.65 million.
The listing agent for the six- bedroom, six-bath, two-half-bath home with 7,420 square feet, was David Roberts of Royal Palm Properties. Hap Pomerantz of the Keyes Company represented the buyer. The property, registered to Antipodean Properties Land Trust, was previously listed for $4.2 million.
Smith, 59, was appointed CEO of Office Depot, effective Nov. 12, 2013. The CEO’s starting salary is $1.4 million. If he meets certain undisclosed performance targets by March 14, Smith is eligible for a $2 million award, according to an SEC filing.
Office Depot completed its $1.2 billion merger with Illinois-based OfficeMax on Nov. 5, 2013. On Dec. 10, 2013, Office Depot announced that it chose Boca Raton for its global headquarters.
The penthouse at Toscana condominiums in Highland Beach is officially off the market for a record-breaking $3.125 million. The two-floor, three-bedroom, 3½-bath penthouse, with interiors and furnishings by Susan LaChance, offers views of both the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Listing agent Senada Adzem made the sale, which is the highest at the Toscana Tower in more than five years, and one of only three Toscana properties that sold over the $3 million mark.
Since the Nutrition Cottage has closed its Delray Beach store, executive chef Lynn Dorsey has been selling more of her organic and vegan food at the Secret Garden Cafe’s deli/market. While she specializes in organic and vegan fare, she sometimes cooks up a fabulous New Orleans gumbo. Other specialties include her organic chicken salad wraps and BBQ tofu.
Dorsey is at the Secret Garden on Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and until 6 p.m. in the deli for take-out. She’s also the Secret Garden’s Saturday brunch chef from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The café is at 410 E. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach.
The Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency has announced a request for qualifications to secure an operator for the management and operation of the Arts Warehouse in the Pineapple Grove Arts District. The CRA plans to convert the vacant 15,000-square-foot warehouse, at 313 NE Third St. into a public-arts and business-incubator facility. Plans include creating studio space for local artists, galleries, classrooms for educational programming, and workspace for creative businesses by 2016. The CRA encourages both private and nonprofit organizations to apply. The deadline for proposals is 2 p.m. March 4. Information is available at www.delraycra.org.
Also, the CRA is hosting workshops to educate potential applicants about a number of grant opportunities for local businesses, developers and commercial property owners in the CRA district. Free 90-minute workshops are generally held on the second and fourth Monday of each month at the Delray Beach Public Library. Seating is limited and advance registration is required. For information, visit the “How to Apply” page under the Grants section of the CRA website. For more information about the CRA’s business incentives, email Elizabeth Burrows at burrows@mydelraybeach.com.
Construction of the new Fairfield Inn hotel on West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach is officially underway. The hotel is expected to be open for business in late 2014. The 95-room hotel will create more than 30 full-time jobs. Prime Investors & Developers are hiring local businesses and subcontractors throughout the construction.
In addition to making the land available to the developer through a long-term lease, the CRA is contributing a $1.5 million construction loan, and a $332,348 development infrastructure assistance grant to the project. For hotel contracting and employment opportunities, visit www.fairfieldinndelray.com.
Bethesda Health Inc., comprised of nonprofit hospitals Bethesda Hospital East and Bethesda Hospital West, recently hosted a celebration honoring its nurses and support staff after receiving the Pathway to Excellence® designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. This distinction makes Bethesda the 106th hospital organization in the nation, and the only hospital in Palm Beach County, to receive this award.
This designation confirms to the public that nurses working at Bethesda Health know their efforts are supported.
To mark its second anniversary, the Plaza Theatre will host a three-act celebration on March 12. Act I will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the Eau Palm Beach, 100. S. Ocean Blvd, where guests can enjoy cocktails and light bites. Act II will start at 7:15 pm at the Plaza Theatre with short performances of its upcoming production of Rags and Mia Matthews’ tribute to Karen Carpenter. Act III will offer a preview of Club Plaza, the theater’s new space for its cabaret shows, open mic comedy nights, a jazz series and an interactive piano bar.
Tickets for the event are $100, with proceeds supporting the Plaza Theatre’s Performing Arts Conservatory program for school-aged children and the theatre’s capital campaign. For more information on this event, call (818) 384-8101. The Plaza Theatre is at 262 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan.
The Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce announced that it is renovating its offices, has redesigned its logo and launched a new website. Go take a look at www.bocaratonchamber.com and keep an eye on the renovations, which will continue through the next several months.
The Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce is now an education partner with Lynn University. The partnership allows the chamber’s members a 20-percent discount toward graduate degrees and evening- or online bachelor-degree programs. A 10-percent discount will also be extended to the immediate families of chamber members.
Lewis, Longman & Walker celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The firm opened with Tallahassee and West Palm Beach offices, adding offices in Jacksonville in 1996 and Tampa Bay in 2004. The firm focuses on an environmental practice that includes ports, airports and infrastructure, and water resources. Other services provided to its public and private clients include legislative and government affairs, intellectual property and business, public pension, labor and employment.
Christine Davis is a freelance writer. Send business news to her at cdavis9797@comcast.net.
