Historic Boynton Beach High School and the former historic Lake Worth Casino Building: the problem with comparing the two structures

Many parallels do exist between the historic Boynton Beach High School and the former Lake Worth Casino building that was demolished. Each building represents a touchstone to the past of both communities and each has had to grapple with how best to renovate (or not renovate) and reuse these publicly owned buildings over time. Both publicly-owned buildings found themselves used as political footballs as the emotion to save and honor them became enmeshed with how to pay to save them.

Both have experienced the failure of various public/private partnerships that have cost both cities money to defend themselves from lawsuits. Lake Worth had to pay to defend itself from a lawsuit filed by Greater Bay and eventually paid out $1.6 million to settle the lawsuit. Boynton Beach is in a similar fight with the latest attempt to redevelop the site/building to a more commercial use and the prospects do not look good.

The Boynton Beach High School sits very near the city's municipal complex and carries a public zoning designation. Below is a video made up of photos I took of the building back in 2014. Notice the zoning and land use change sign. The city is not following through on the zoning of the property which is the basis for the current lawsuit.

Now, Rick Gonzalez, another common element the two buildings share, is back on the scene attempting to save the high school. All we can do is hope his efforts don't take the same road as the Lake Worth Casino complex which was 94% demolished (more on this below).

Here is a link to the Alexandra Seltzer article, curiously published on same day as the letter to editor by Mr. Gonzalez. Both the letter and the news article were published the day after the Boynton Beach City Commission agreed to hold off on the demolition of the building. . .for now.

Here is the Post letter to the editor:

Boynton wrong to raze historic high school

As immediate past president of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. and current vice chairman of the Florida Historical Commission, I was appalled to hear of the decision by the Boynton Beach City Commission to demolish the old Boynton Beach High School.

This building has been designated by the trust as one of Florida’s historic buildings and, as such, has been placed on the “Most Endangered List” by the organization. To demolish it would be a huge loss to our historic local and state heritage. 

How could commissioners come to this devastating decision? Perhaps they are unaware of the current trend in urban planning to renovate buildings of historic significance to use as anchors for community and private-sector hubs. The city of West Palm Beach is an example of this, where we restored the old Palm Beach County Courthouse to become the centerpiece of the Governmental Center.

The city of Lake Worth has also mastered this concept, where we rebuilt the historic Lake Worth Casino, which now has a community ballroom as well as restaurants and retail establishments. Why can’t Boynton Beach do the same with the old high school?

Why would the commission vote to demolish the school with no clear plan for public or private use for the site? There are developers out there that have proven track records at using historic buildings as anchors for civic and business centers. However, it takes the foresight of those in government to pursue these companies.

RICK GONZALEZ, WEST PALM BEACH
Editor’s note: Rick Gonzalez is president of REG Architects Inc.

Mr. Gonzalez is correct in saying that the City of Lake Worth "rebuilt" the Lake Worth Casino; but during his "pitch" to the City Commission at the time, it was all about saving the building. This is how the city saved the Casino building:

Our historic Casino building was not saved. It disappeared. This is what it looked like during the middle of 2011.

 Pictures taken at the peak of former historic Lake Worth Casino building during its demolition.

Now Lake Worth has a building with acknowledged construction and design flaws that impede its ability to be self-sustaining financially and to be a real community asset. If you have been to our Commission meetings, every now and then you hear discussion between the City, architect and contractor's attorneys. So we are not over this "rebuild" yet.

I wish the best of luck to those attempting to save this historic building in Boynton Beach, while it still is around to save. Doing so would be real historic preservation. What Lake Worth did cannot be called historic preservation. We tore down a National Register eligible building and built a new one in its place. One that is functionally flawed and an albatross for the City and its residents.