News

By Robert Haughn

South Palm Beach, which just months ago was planning to spend $7 million or more to replace its aging Town Hall, is now moving forward with a makeover officials say will do the job for around $1 million. 

The Town Council voted unanimously at its Aug. 11 meeting to have Town Manager Jamie Titcomb start working with the selected contractors to begin the process of renovating the building. 

“At the end of these series of projects, we hope to have a shiny, new-old building with new repurposing and new services and new uses and new lifespan,” Titcomb said.

The most expensive item on the project list is replacing the building’s roof for $118,750. The town also plans on updating the bathrooms to ADA standards for $80,000, replacing the flooring for $62,000, painting the inside and outside of the building, and replacing fire exit doors, stairs and railings. 

It might also remove the garage door in front of the building and replace it with hurricane-proof glass to turn it into a multipurpose space. The town also expects to remove the existing maintenance building wing due to its being separated from the main building and sinking into the ground. 

The shift from replacing Town Hall to renovating it came after the town’s seismic March elections, which saw the mayor and two council members ousted by a three-candidate slate opposed to the plans, who are now known in town as Mayor Rafael Pineiro, Vice Mayor Francesca Attardi and Council member Adrian Burcet.

The previous Town Council majority had authorized the building of a new Town Hall building in June 2024, but Pineiro and the others campaigned on keeping the original building.

“We actually got elected because we felt like the majority of people in South Palm Beach felt that the building was sufficient for our needs,” Pineiro said. “So, as soon as we got elected, we canceled it.”

The project was well into development when it was suspended. Titcomb said that there was around $500,000 spent to execute the plans. The town even had bids coming in for the project two days before it was suspended.

Titcomb said that the main benefit of moving forward with this renovation instead of the new building is the cost. 

“They’re not spending the $7 million to $9 million that they were going to spend on the new building,” Titcomb said. “We’re going to spend around a million.”

Titcomb said there were other cost-saving factors in this option. This included the Town Council’s suspending the original project as opposed to outright canceling it. That allowed the town to use data and information it had already compiled from environmental testing, utilities and other aspects instead of starting from scratch.

While the project has a $777,200 ceiling, certain costs are not estimated yet, including parking lot renovations and landscaping. 

However, Titcomb said that there is not too much concern on outstanding costs and that they were partially accounted for, with 25% of the price ceiling being allocated as a contingency.

One potential issue with renovating the building instead of moving forward with the new one is future flood risk. The original plans included elevating the Town Hall building by one story to meet current Federal Emergency Management Agency standards. 

“Every one of the condos in the town, they all have base floors with first-floor units that are in the same boat as we are,” Titcomb said. “If a big hurricane comes through and these buildings get compromised, we’ll all be dealing with the same kind of restorations and response efforts we would be dealing with anyway.”

With the current project, the renovations cannot exceed half the building’s value, or FEMA rules would require the costly task of bringing the entire building into full compliance with FEMA’s current flood safety codes — including elevating the building. 

Titcomb is comfortable with the switch to renovating Town Hall. 

“You can debate whether the new building might have taken us out 30 years or 40 years, or the renovated building might take us out 10 to 15 years,” Titcomb said. “But it gives the time to figure out what its long-term needs are, and it’s going to take the deteriorated condition of the Town Hall off the table because it’ll be fixed.”