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Commission slated to review Old School Square Master Plan Staff report
After a series of community meetings and workshops, the commission is set to adopt the vision as the master plan, which will likely be implemented in several phases with funding coming from the city, city agencies and individual donations.
A sculpture garden, splash pad and covered concert grounds are part of the proposal to turn the campus of Old School Square into a park where kids can play and locals can gather. The city has been working on ways to revamp the nearly 4-acre historic campus with help from residents for the past two years.
A rendering of what renovations to Old School Square could look like. Rendering courtesy of Currie, Sowards, Aguila Architects.
The grand total of the enhancements: about $11 million over four phases. “This is an expression of what the com-
munity said it wanted,” architect Bob Currie said while presenting the plans at a recent city meeting. Currie and the Delray Beach-based firm Currie, Sowards, Aguila Architects have been the consultants on the project. They have come up with a plan that increases lighting for both safety and decorative reasons, add areas for children to [CONT. PG 2] play, provide shady areas
Delray commission narrowly nixes resolution to serve as CRA board By: Marisa Herman Associate Editor
is a tough change.”
Delray Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency board will remain independent from the city commission.
But they were outnumbered by Mayor Cary Glickstein and Commissioners Jim Chard and Shirley Johnson, who preferred the current set-up of two independent boards.
In a narrow 3-2 vote, commissioners voted against taking over the board themselves. The contentious decision came after several hours of public comment by residents on both sides of the issue. Some residents said they wanted to see the people they put in office control how CRA money is spent. Others said keeping the board independent has been one of the reasons why the CRA is lauded a success story. “Let’t not take a chance and throw away something that has done so much for Delray Beach,” said former mayor Jay Alperin. Commissioners Shelly Petrolia and Mitch Katz cast the dissenting votes. They said it was time for a change and advocated for the commission take over. “In order to improve you have got to make changes,” Commissioner Katz said. “This is a tough decision. This
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“We need to start talking to each other again,” Com-
missioner Johnson said. “We need renewed communication not a commission take over.” But the decision to keep the board as is came with some conditions. The commission wants to see change in how the board makes some of its financial and redevelopment decisions.
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