By Nirvi Shah
The future of the old Boynton Beach high school could be in city residents’ hands next March, when voters will decide whether to spend money on its restoration.
Boynton Mayor Jerry Taylor said the vote will finally settle the issue of saving or demolishing the 30,000-square-foot building, which opened in 1926. Taylor has repeatedly balked at the idea of preserving the structure.
But in the middle of a recession, preservationists fear asking voters to pay for renovations, which could seal the fate of the beleaguered building.
At a city meeting in September, commissioners were hard-pressed to keep the measure off the ballot, because they had already approved asking voters to decide whether Boynton should build a new police station. Only Commissioner Jose Rodriguez opposed the measure to put the high school project on the ballot, too.
The city doesn’t have money for either project. Some estimates say it would cost as much as $8 million to restore the old school.
Taylor said a small but vocal group has insisted for years that the entire city wants to save the building. “Now we’re giving them a chance,” he said.
But the timing is off, say those who support the school.
“You’re talking about one of the worst economic times that most living human beings are aware of,” Brian Edwards told the City Commission. Edwards is on the board of the Children’s Schoolhouse Museum. That facility is on the National Register of Historic Places and is next door to the high school on Ocean Avenue. “Why in the world would you set the old high school up for failure? Because that’s exactly what you’re going to do,” Edwards told the commission.
Commissioners still have to approve the ballot language. The wording has to be finalized by December. In the meantime, the commission will also discuss proposals to build a new police station and city hall. One of the four proposals includes suggestions for the school.
“We do not have that much left of our history,” said Barbara Ready, chairwoman of Save the Boynton Old School Space, who is organizing a petition drive to save the school.
She and others note the school was designed by William Manly King, architect of what is now the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach and other school district buildings built in the 1920s and ’30s. Some envision the old school becoming a rental facility for events, office space, a restaurant and community center.
“The high school is an existing asset,” Ready said. “Figure out what the community wants in that building. Breathe some life into that downtown.”
I think we need to drive home the actual cost to the city vs. what the Mayor keeps coming up with.
We need to let people know that half the money can come from grants, funders and credits.
In reality they'll be getting a cultural arts / civic center for 1/4 of the price of a new building.
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We need to let people know that half the money can come from grants, funders and credits.
In reality they'll be getting a cultural arts / civic center for 1/4 of the price of a new building.