News

By Jane Smith

The temporary location of the Boynton Beach City Library will stay east of the interstate, city staff decided in late May.
“We thought it would be better to have the temporary library location east of I-95 because that’s where most of the patrons live,” said Colin Groff, assistant city manager in charge of the 16-acre Town Square project, which will include a new library.
Rather than on High Ridge Road, the new temporary location for both adult and children will be at 115 N. Federal Highway in a former bank building that most recently housed the Congregational United Church of Christ. In mid-April, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed to pay $3 million for the church and its parking lot.
“The city owns a nearby parking lot, so there will be plenty of parking,” Groff said. As part of the deal, the congregation may still hold Sunday services through December, he said. The library will have only 20,000 square feet, roughly one-third of its current size. The library staff is trying to work out a circulation policy so that all materials can be borrowed, Groff said.
Under the revised schedule, which may change, the library will be closed from July 13 to Aug. 12. The library will reopen Aug. 13 in its temporary location.
Town Square is a public-private partnership that will create a downtown for Boynton Beach. It will have a combination library and city hall building, the renovated historic high school, which will offer recreation programs on the first floor and an auditorium/reception space on the second floor, the historic Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, a new fire station, two parking garages, open spaces and a public amphitheater.
The private development will include a hotel and apartment buildings.
The city also pushed back other dates in the project. The renovated old high school now is scheduled to open Feb. 28, not in January.
The city’s customer service unit — where residents go to buy beach passes, pay utility bills, pay parking tickets and request public records — will move to 209 N. Seacrest Blvd. It will open Oct. 1.
City Hall will move to 3301 Quantum Blvd. and open Sept. 24.
The Police Department headquarters staff will move to 2045 High Ridge Road effective Sept. 24.
The move of Fire Station 1 staff and vehicles was delayed by one month to mid-September.
All dates are subject to further changes, Groff said.