Designation Report - Lake Worth Casino Building - Historical and Cultural Significance (with commentary)

RE-POST

What follows are portions of the designation report for the Casino Building at the Lake Worth beach property. It was authored by Sherry Anderson of ACI (Historic Preservation consultants) in 1998. At the time, it was presented to the Historic Resource Preservation Board and we chose not to recommend designation for a number of reasons - the condition of the building, the prospect of something better in the future, the unspectacular nature of the current architecture, etc. However, as the report clearly points out, the entire property is tied to the development of Lake Worth and in many ways represents the hopes and aspirations of its residents. It has provided Lake Worth with a social and recreational destination on a rare piece of property.

Before Darrin Engle left, I had asked for a copy of this report and he just couldn't find a copy for me. Luckily, it was in a box that Frank Palen loaned me. Frank was chairman of the Planning, Zoning and Historic Resource Preservation Board at the time - and chairman of the Beach Steering Committee. The later being the group that studied the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council plan for the beach and prepared for the referendum on the general obligation bond issue. That referendum failed at the ballot box in March of 2002.

Anyway, here is the designation report. Like I said, it is a good capsule of the City's history and the role the beach has played in its development. For ease of reading, I will separate out different sections of the report in various posts. (Remember, images can be made larger by clicking on them)












Commentary:

So why has something that served to the unite the community in a common cause and be the focus of our civic and recreational life turned into something that has been used to divide our residents? The end result being a derelict public facility that is not reflective of its historic importance and the creation of warring factions fighting over the remaining carcass.

Let me offer a few thoughts on the matter. First of all, the nature of the barrier island has changed in many ways over the past 100 years. Imagine being a pioneer in the early history of Lake Worth. The barrier island at that time was wilderness, something exotic and powerful. Natural conditions and forces combined to create an "awe factor" that helped define what it meant to live on the mainland given the proximity to the Ocean. If you lived here during this time, you would have been concerned about your economic survival as well. Not only would you like something at the beach, on the barrier island, to make your visit more comfortable (bathrooms, changing facilities, etc.), but you would also desire a way to take advantage of this exotic location so that it became part of the Lake Worth experience. There was a need to establish a sense of place there and somewhere to recreate that differentiated this beach location from the thousands of miles of beach found along the edges of the State of Florida.

The need to stand out and become an attraction for tourists is at the root of our city's beginnings. This is especially true in light of other municipalities in the area. Look at the advantages that West Palm Beach had during the same period of time. The barrier island just east of their City was the source of wealth, tourism and inhabitants. There you found Flagler's hotels, a larger (wider) expanse of island and labor needed to support that economy. Our forefathers and mothers needed something for Lake Worth to stand out in the crowd. Fortunately or not, our section of the barrier island was much narrower than that across from West Palm Beach and could not be developed in the same manner. So to establish a "destination" there was important for our pioneer families' economic livelihood - one could even say their economic survival.

And, as the text above indicates, they were successful. The civic pride created by the property and the casino building brought forth the boom times for Lake Worth - the premature growth of the 1920s, and then the most significant impact to development of the city in the 1940s through 1960s - what really can be considered Lake Worth's development peak. Thus, the city that we know today would not be what it was if it weren't for the beach property, the casino building and the other public land in the city.

So what is different now? Many things are not the same as they were. For one, the barrier island has developed to such an extent that it doesn't resemble the conditions that were present when our founding residents established the first casino building. It appears like other areas of the South Florida coastline and is more likely the home for snowbirds nesting in their high-rise condominiums than native birds nesting in the canopy of a coastal hammock.

There are also many other inhabitants of our South Florida region. We are part of a 5 million person urbanized area - all with various interests competing for the same dollars and the attention of tourists and residents alike. We are awash in a sea of multiple distractions. When you add the competition of the entertainment industry, the Internet, making a living, raising a family, other options for recreation, changing demographics - suddenly our beach and casino building gets overcome by the noise of the 21st Century. It becomes part of the background and not part of the foreground as it once was.

The generation that danced the moonlight hours away at the casino is withering away. Those families that built the homes we are living in have, for the most part, up and moved away. Their children dispersed as well. The mom and pop vacation motels and tourists homes that benefited from an attractive beach property are of another era and the structures left behind blight our current landscape. Thus, the notion that the beach is really important to the economic health of our city has lost its original constituency.

It is also interesting that the designation report refers to the city as providing for the recreation needs of the middle class. And, we all know that the middle class is shrinking in the country and more and more it is a choice between the haves and the have nots. How this has played out in Lake Worth is that it is a choice between the new and the old, the nice cars vs. the not-so-nice cars, and disposable incomes vs. the low or very low income groups. The group opposed to the redevelopment of the beach is concerned it will cater to the rich as there are fewer and fewer members of the middle class available. This is a macro-economic trend not unique to Lake Worth, but the city gets caught up in the struggle.

We are left with a diverse and fractured population, many of which do not speak the same language. Years of economic stagnation have left little reserves for the re-investment in public facilities like parks. So the beach becomes a shell of its former self. Full of potential but also wrought with perils. What about the environmental impacts? What about maintaining access to the beach? We need convenient parking! Why is there so much asphalt here? Where is the green space? Why is it so expensive to maintain? Who needs the "best dance floor in Florida" when nobody dances like they did and we have a rampant crime problem that needs attention? How can we stop the ravages of a developer taking away our public beach property and how can we redevelop it with minimal public money?

All those questions lead to a situation that we have now. It becomes a feeding frenzy for those that want an issue to overwhelm the political dialog of the community - to further their ends and not necessarily the ends of the City. Therefore, we spend so much time talking about what we are going to with the beach and what it's going to be that it takes attention away from the real problems on the mainland side of the City - crime, blight, proliferation of gang activity, reliable and economic provision of public utilities. It becomes the perfect diversion from our real problems - but it gives people ample time to point out the weaknesses of the latest beach redevelopment plan.

More and more, I hear people say that they would be willing for Palm Beach County or the Town of Palm Beach to take over our beach property. At least then we could address our real issues and move on as a community. What a sad commentary that once was the city's flagship property now is making its way to the discard pile as we are willing to forfeit our leadership role due to continual infighting.

I am still hopeful that the current plan on the table will go forward and the more progress that is shown and the sooner - all the better.