By Steve Plunkett
Work to build an observation tower at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center with a multi-level ramp making the top deck accessible to people with disabilities will begin soon.
The City Council on Feb. 28 approved a $2.4 million bid for the project plus about $300,000 for contingencies. That was down from a $2.6 million bid in February 2022 that did not include contingencies, said Briann Harms, executive director of the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which funds the nature center.
“I’m happy to hear that we’re moving forward. The public who ask about it all the time will be able to actually use it at some point in the future,” District Commissioner Bob Rollins said.
After engineers in early 2015 declared the tower and the adjoining boardwalk unsafe, the city removed them. The boardwalk was rebuilt in phases and fully reopened in July 2019.
Six 40-foot-tall wooden posts for the tower were embedded in concrete in spring 2019, but work halted when officials decided the replacement would have to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The not-for-profit Gumbo Limbo Coastal Stewards, then known as the Friends of Gumbo Limbo, proposed building an “inclined elevator.” Stephen Kosowsky and Sharilyn Jones pledged $250,000 for the project in return for naming the tower after their son, Jacob, who had died in a recent car accident. The Stewards collected more than $250,000 to match the donation in a “Save the Tower” fundraising campaign.
City officials later scrapped the elevator plan in favor of a $1.4 million multi-level ramp to the observation deck. But they and district officials were stunned in early 2022 when they received only one bid — for $2.6 million.
The district set aside that amount in its current budget. The project was rebid in November with three companies responding and the winning award going to Walker Design & Construction Co., resulting in $200,000 in savings.
The city owns and staffs Gumbo Limbo, which is part of Red Reef Park. The Beach and Park District pays for all its operations and maintenance as well as all capital improvements.
In other action, the district on Feb. 6 deferred holding a public hearing on whether to cap the amount it pays to the city’s downtown Community Redevelopment Agency. Harms said she wants to find out if the city will let the CRA dissolve, or sunset, as scheduled in 2025.
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