[UPDATE] Some Interesting Facts About Our Lovely Lake Worth Casino Building at "THE BEACH!"

[It wasn't a good night (last night, 5/19) for JoAnn Golden, Cara Jennings and Commissioner McVoy. They conceded that their Casino building is a complete mess. But they're blaming the builder now; there's just one problem with that: by doing that they admit they dropped the ball not having a City representative oversee what the architect and construction company was doing. Stay tuned on this one. All week I'll have videos, facts, and commentary on what happened last night. What Cara Jennings said last night is a bombshell, to put it mildly (she apparently has this "thing" for audited numbers, which wasn't very important during her time on the dais. The City didn't have an internal auditor on her watch. She also championed the "save the building" mantra which led to the 'smaller building' —not due to it being what the "people" wanted). Video shortly.]

Now proceed to read how truly a mess our precious Casino building at "THE BEACH!" really is:

Share this with your friends and neighbors!

• The original Request for Proposal (RFP) was a "remodel" of a 2nd floor ballroom covering one-half (50%) of the ground floor (shops and John G's restaurant [now in Manalapan])
• There was no commission approval to expand the RFP scope to include a 2nd floor covering 100% of the ground floor (shops and restaurant)
• Adding 33% to the project size within the $6 million budget was unrealistic and created major deficiencies: quality and functionality
• The whole project was premised on "saving the building." The building was 94% demolished
• Virtually all "Green Environmental" amenities were eliminated, including pilings to protect the building against storm surge (and sea level rise which is a concern for many), against an untested seawall
• The original rainwater collection system was eliminated; and designs changes were not done to allow for that function in the future. Remember the continual mention of a "cistern system"?
• Acoustic treatments, event office space, and additional storage were eliminated from the final plans
• The Ballroom built-in wiring for video and sound access/convenience were eliminated. (In fact, the ballroom, kitchen and bathrooms on the second floor are all on one circuit. People are advised not to bring blenders to events since using them has been known to blackout the entire second floor during an event)
• The exterior balconies have poor/reversed drainage causing water to flow towards the second floor rooms resulting in flooding during heavy rain events (like a hurricane, tropical storm or thunderstorm)
• Inferior doors and windows allow water intrusion along with rusting and corroding hardware
• Rainwater from the roof and balconies drains directly onto the sidewalk over any pedestrians that happen to be nearby (such as when waiting for a pickup or making a delivery [for which there is no designated space])
• Rainwater draining off the roof and balconies damages the awnings, produces mold (particularly on the decorative cast stone), and creates more building maintenance issues
• Removal of a water booster pump to get pressure to 2nd floor fire sprinklers was eliminated. The City then had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to increase the main water line loop around entire beach site. Then larger water meters were installed incurring additional monthly charges. Cost was passed onto site work budget. Water comes from the Palm Beach water system which is West Palm Beach water
• Air conditioning of exterior covered walkways, elevators, and stairs was eliminated. This would have protected the interior of the structure from corrosive salt water (and protected visitors from hot temperatures and inclement weather)
• The eliminated amenities, or "value engineering" if you like, reduced the cost but resulted in lower lease rates, event rates, and contributed greatly to un-leased second floor space

Who was responsible for this? See image below:

Note that the Lake Worth Casino building is not "failing". As we learned from the recent Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) process, the Casino business plan is a CONFIRMED FAILURE.