Ceremony and Ribbon Cutting - Historic 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse

What a fantastically positive event I attended today. This was the grand re-opening of the historic Palm Beach County Courthouse. You might recall that this building was "encased" by a 1970s modern wrap around structure and served as the home of County government for many years. The building that exists today is the original 1916 building. Almost as soon as it opened, many realized that they needed more room, so in the 1920s they added almost an identical building on the east side of the structure as it sits today.



Luckily, they (Rick Gonzalez, architect and Hedrick Brothers Construction) were able to rescue trim and decorative pieces from the 1920s structure and use those in the structure that was saved. Being a member of the board of the Palm Beach Historical Society, I witnessed the gradual unwrapping of the building and some of the more significant stages of the restoration. I must have those pictures somewhere. If I can find them, I'll post them here.

Mayor Clemens was in attendance today and I saw Laurel and Herman Robinson from Lake Worth.

This will be an award winning project for everyone involved. Most importantly, it will be used to educate the County's residents about the rich history of Palm Beach County. One of the unique exhibits is a life-size barefoot mailman. Micheal Bornstein from the Town of Lantana served as the model!

It was good to see a project such as this completed on-time and under budget. It is a good example of what cooperation and more than a little patience, effort and financial resources can produce. Now we have to find a way to pull that off in our City of Lake Worth.

Remember, our Centennial as a city is coming up in 4 years. Let's be sure we have a lot to celebrate!