Boca Raton’s Old Town Hall is among the contest candidates. Photo provided
By Mary Thurwachter
The most popular Florida building may be in South Palm Beach County.
Results of an online poll of the state’s top 100 architectural buildings in the “Florida Architecture: 100 Years, 100 Places” competition will be revealed in mid-April, says Deborah L. Nichols, chapter director for the Palm Beach Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and coordinator of the contest in this region.
The competition identifies 100 buildings (actually 109, narrowed down from 250 entries) and places across the state that represent the best in architectural achievement. They range from the Wentworth Museum in Pensacola to the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami.
The list includes four buildings in Coastal Star territory — Boca Raton Town Hall, Gulf Stream Golf Club in Gulf Stream, the Colony Hotel and Virginia Courteney’s house both in Delray Beach. It’s all is part of AIA Florida’s 100th anniversary celebration.
“We’re hoping to open a dialogue on the architecture in our community,” said Nichols, a West Palm Beach architect.
Anyone can vote at www.aiafltop100.org through April 6. People can vote for as many buildings as they choose and as often as they like.
AIA Florida will develop a mobile tour of the top 100 buildings for Florida residents and visitors to download. This will be an additional opportunity to garner interest for these historic structures.
The top 100 list also includes six buildings in Palm Beach — The Breakers, the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, Concha Marina, the Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach House/Mack Residence and St. Edward Catholic Church.
Other buildings in the county on the list include Grace Episcopal Church, Payne Chapel A.M.E. and Temple Beth El, all in West Palm Beach.
Nichols said voting, which began on March 5, had really taken off, especially locally. That may be due to a “get out the vote” effort by supporters of some of the buildings, such as the Old Town Hall in Boca Raton.
“We are very excited,” said Mary Csar, executive director at Boca Raton Historical Society.
“We are encouraging everyone to vote often and to vote multiple times — which is OK. We want Town Hall to have a good showing. We are sending email blasts to our members and we have contacted the Chamber [of Commerce] to send out the
info.” Ú
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