Development teams that bid on the Town Square proposal will have to include
the entire Boynton Beach High School in their plans, not just its facade.
File photo
By Jane Smith
Preservationists were relieved to see the historic Boynton Beach High School remain in the city’s Town Square proposal that will be advertised to developers on Oct. 10.
“The first part [of the proposal] is simply asking for team experience and financial capabilities,” Assistant City Manager Colin Groff said at the Sept. 20 City Commission meeting. “The second part has the meat of it, the best conceptual plan and best financial plan that meets the city’s needs.”
He also gave commissioners an ambitious time line: Team proposals are due by Nov. 12 and will be cut to three by a city selection committee by Dec. 5. The final three teams will be invited to submit conceptual development and financing plans by Jan. 12. The public will be able to view the plans but not comment on them, he said.
The contract will be signed for the first phase by March 30 and construction could start within a month.
Shutting out the public did not sit well with some city residents.
“My head wants to explode about Groff saying no comment,” Boynton Beach native Susan Oyer said. “You better bring a mop and bucket. You work for us, you represent our opinions.”
She pointed out that the commissioners forgot to ask for public comment on Sept. 20 when the Town Square proposal was discussed.
In July, Groff had suggested limiting mandates about what has to be included in the 16.5-acre Town Square to get the most responses. He suggested not requiring that the entire high school be included.
Why the shift on Sept. 20? Because city commissioners may have been misinformed about the high school and what using its façade meant, said Barbara Ready, chairwoman of the city’s Historic Resources Preservation Board. Some, she said, thought it meant using the four walls when it actually means just saving the front.
The entire high school now must be included in the Town Square, along with a scaled-down City Hall, the City Library, the Children’s Schoolhouse Museum and the Kids Kingdom playground.
“I’m very thankful,” said Oyer, also a member of the city’s Historic Resources Preservation Board.
The historic high school may be repurposed to contain uses from the Madsen Center, the Civic Center and the Arts Center, which will be demolished.
As part of the plan, the police headquarters and Fire Station No. 1 could be located in the Town Square or on another parcel the city owns, such as property on High Ridge Road. Or that parcel could be sold because it’s commercially valuable. The public safety facilities also could sit on other parcels in the city.
The 0.62-acre AmeriGas parcel, recently purchased by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, is too small for a fire station, Groff said. He said it needs at least 1.75 acres.
The fire station also needs to be located on a main road or be within 500 feet of one. That means the city-owned Rolling Green site is not suitable for a fire station. It’s big enough but sits more than 2,000 feet from Seacrest Boulevard, even if an access road can be built along the canal.
The city plans to ask voters in March to approve a bond referendum to cover the cost of building a new police headquarters and fire station.
“Convincing residents who mostly don’t want all this height and density that THEY should help pay for it will be difficult,” said Harry Woodworth, who also is president of the Inlet Communities Association. INCA represents 10 waterfront communities in Boynton Beach.
Under the Town Square proposal, a development team could own the land and lease the civic buildings and high school back to the city on a long-term lease. The rental rate would take into account the value of the land for mixed-use development.
“I hate the idea of not owning our civic buildings,” said Oyer, a fifth-generation Floridian. “Why can’t they just lease the land to the developers?”
On Oct. 4, the City Commission will review an updated CRA plan for the eastern half of the city, including building heights. The plan calls for four stories along Ocean Avenue with six stories behind it. The avenue bisects Town Square.
Residents have objected to the height along Ocean. They also are against the increased height at the Woolbright Road and Federal Highway intersection, proposed under the CRA plan.
An old lawsuit may complicate the city’s strategy. The judge still has not ruled on the city’s motion to dismiss, heard on July 11.
It involves a 2013 case filed by an earlier architect, who wanted to use the high school as an events center.
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