By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton’s disjointed efforts to make the downtown more vibrant, walkable and inviting are about to get a reset.
The City Council has hired Speck Dempsey, an urban design and planning firm, to help transform the downtown into a memorable destination. The five-year agreement is for $284,965.
The consulting firm is led by Jeff Speck, the author of Walkable City, who many consider to be the guru of walkable urbanism.
That’s what former Deputy Mayor Monica Mayotte repeatedly pressed her fellow council members to do before she left office, to no avail.
“I am overjoyed that Jeff Speck is now going to be engaged in this project for our downtown. He is the right person to do this,” she told council members at their April 7 meeting.
“It makes me very happy the effort I started is now coming to fruition.”
That sentiment was echoed by architect Juan Caycedo, a member of a group of professionals known as Workshop 344+, who have created their own ideas for how to revitalize East Palmetto Park Road.
“We should have hired him to start with to design this street,” he said. “I am sure when we see the ideas from Jeff Speck, we will be looking at what we really need to do in our city.”
Former Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke, who launched Workshop 344+, also was pleased.
“We are collectively very happy to welcome Jeff Speck on board as a consultant,” she said.
But Speck Dempsey won’t be working alone. The firm will be teamed up with Alta Planning + Design, hired by the city two years ago to re-envision East Palmetto Park Road.
While Speck Dempsey does work with other consultants elsewhere, the situation in Boca Raton is a bit awkward.
When Alta presented three redesign options in November, council members were so underwhelmed that they sidestepped a selection decision.
Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas indirectly noted that at the council meeting, saying, “We wanted to see something more significant. …
“I hope when you do come back it will really be what we are looking for — a sense of place, really iconic and a place that is a landmark for our city.”
She hoped the two consultants would “really work together” to do that.
“That is certainly our intent,” said Alta principal Alia Awwad.
The project, though, is about more than just East Palmetto Park Road.
Its scope has been expanded to include much of downtown, including the 30-acre government campus that is in the process of being redeveloped to include new government buildings, residential, retail, hotel and office.
Alta already is looking at additional downtown streets and parts of West Palmetto Park Road.
The two firms will do a downtown walkability assessment and traffic and mobility reviews of the government campus.
That will include reviewing traffic and mobility plans being drafted by Terra and Frisbie Group, the joint venture selected to do the campus project.
Saying the Terra/Frisbie proposal is “high quality,” Speck added, “We are excited to look at it, kick the tires a bit … to see if we can integrate it into the downtown.”
The firms will work with the city to hold a 21/2-day design charette, possibly to take place in June, that includes an open-to-the-public, half-day walkability tour along East Palmetto Park Road.
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