Rebuild underway after salt corroded inferior fasteners
Damaged wood and corroded fasteners are now exposed on the structure. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Jane Musgrave
Since Delray Beach built its first beachside pavilion more than a century ago, the popular gathering spot has been damaged, destroyed or washed out to sea by deadly hurricanes.
But, its latest iteration, built in 2013, came to a far less dramatic end. Its downfall was a simple human mistake.
The iconic pavilion at the end of East Atlantic Avenue is being rebuilt at a cost of $817,400 because the wrong fasteners were used to hold it together and it began falling apart, said Cynthia Buisson, the city’s assistant director of public works.
Instead of top-grade 316 stainless steel fasteners, a lower quality was used.
“The previous engineers thought it would be sufficient, but obviously that turned out not to be the case,” she said.
In the 12 years since the $249,000 pavilion was built, the salt air wreaked havoc on the substandard screws and bolts. While the lumber held up well and will be reused, corrosion that defied coats of rust inhibitors threatened the integrity of the building.
“We’d been keeping an eye on it,” Buisson said. Ultimately, it was clear it had to go.
“It’s heartbreaking to me,” she said. “I hate to see inefficiency. But some things don’t work out the way you want them to.”
Participants in a series of history tours sponsored by the Delray Beach Historical Society gather last winter at the beach pavilion. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
A top priority
Like its predecessors, the 2013 pavilion was built with community support.
In 2009, the Beach Property Owners Association held a series of public meetings to develop a beach master plan. Residents agreed their top priority was replacing a small rotting pavilion that had been built in 1984.
Looking at postcards of the pavilion’s glory years, they said they wanted the new pavilion to mirror the picket-fence Americana style of the one that had been built in 1929, complete with the green-striped roof.
Architect Bob Currie, whose mark is on many Delray Beach landmarks, agreed to design the pavilion for free. “This will be pretty nice. It’s got some character to it,” Currie told The Palm Beach Post in 2011. Currie, a member of the association’s board, died in 2019.
But, even with Currie’s gift, plans for the pavilion stalled. City officials said no construction money was available.
Hoping to jump-start the project, the BPOA began raising money. It held a $100-a-person benefit concert at Old School Square, featuring seven Delray Beach area bands. Local businesses kicked in as well.
Ultimately, $60,000 was raised. The city contributed the rest and finally construction began.
Historic community support
Such a grassroots effort was nothing new. The first pavilion, built between 1902 and 1912, was funded by donations from the Ladies Improvement Association, said Tom Warnke, archive coordinator at the Delray Beach Historical Society.
When it was destroyed by the 1928 hurricane, one of the deadliest on record, Delray Beach residents began pushing for a replacement.
But the Great Depression hit. City coffers were bare. So, residents and businesses, led by the local Kiwanis Club, raised the $720 needed to make the new pavilion a reality.
It lasted until 1947 when it was washed out to sea by a hurricane. A smaller one was built in 1950, Warnke said.
It was replaced in 1984 with one that was modeled after the Orange Grove House of Refuge. The first known building in Delray Beach, it was an overnight stop for the “Barefoot Mailman” on his delivery route up and down the coast.
Delray Beach residents enjoy the pavilion at an event in 1916. Photo provided by the Delray Beach Historical Society
Beach improvements
Buisson said she didn’t know why the correct fasteners weren’t used 12 years ago. Those who were involved in the project no longer work for the city and records aren’t available.
Still, she acknowledged, the building should have lasted at least 20 years, possibly longer. And, while Buisson can’t control Mother Nature, the one now under construction won’t suffer a similar fate, she said.
If all goes as planned, the new pavilion should open in March.
In the meantime, other improvements are underway along the beach. By the end of October, city officials said they expected to have installed new concrete benches at 17 beach access points along with new showers and drinking fountains.
Bob Victorin, a longtime president of the property owner association, said he is glad the city is replacing the pavilion that his group worked to make possible.
“I’m just glad they are rebuilding it to make it safe,” he said.
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