News

By Jane Smith

    The fate of the old Boynton High School is on the front burner again. On March 17, an architectural consultant gave city commissioners three options for its Town Square: Renovate the high school, partially restore it and save its façade or demolish it.
Marcela Camblor-Cutsaimanis presented the revised plans for the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council.
    “It can be maintained as a lively center,” she said. “One that is tied into your main street of Ocean Avenue.”
    She suggested the city create a civic campus. The council’s plans also call for making private/public partnerships while maintaining the city’s tree canopy.
    Mayor Jerry Taylor thanked her for the presentation and said Town Square would be on an upcoming commission agenda.
    The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency paid the council $58,000 for a contract that included a May workshop, when about 50 Boynton Beach residents gathered to brainstorm ideas for the 17-acre Town Square.
    The four-block area, bounded by Boynton Beach Boulevard on the north and Seacrest Boulevard on the west, houses mainly municipal buildings: City Hall, library, old high school, police headquarters, a fire station, Kids Kingdom Playground, Schoolhouse Children’s Museum, Civic Center, Arts Center and shuffleboard courts.
    She told commissioners the next steps require a policy decision where they select an option or strategy, financial analysis of the redevelopment required, their goals or role they want to take, and then issuing a request for bids.
    In other action, city commissioners re-appointed former Mayor Woodrow Hay as a community member on the city’s CRA board.
The appointment was approved by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner David Markel dissenting.