Construction begins on new waterfront park
Boca Raton officials hope site will make area more family-friendly
BOCA RATON — Construction has begun on Wildlflower Park in Boca Raton after over a decade of discussions between the city, developers and residents.
The site, which sits on 2.3 acres at the northeast corner of Palmetto Park Road and Northeast Fifth Avenue, used to be home to the Wildflower nightclub in the 1980s.
After the club was knocked down, the area sat as a parking lot for years.
Plans to build a restaurant on the site were scrubbed in a November 2016 referendum in favor of building a park on the land and connecting it to the 3.7-acre Silver Palm Park on the south side of Palmetto Park Road. Silver Palm Park serves as a popular boat launch and the parking lot across the street often serves as overflow parking. But that’s all about to change.
Plans were finalized in 2019 and now Boca Raton residents can look forward to a park with amenities that city officials hope will make the area more family-friendly.
Among the features include:
Pedestrian walkways
Terraced steps and seating
Event lawn
Public art
Enhanced landscaping
More dock space
Connection to Silver Palm Park under the Palmetto Park Road bridge
The parks are currently connected via an unpaved walk
way under the bridge, but forthcoming improvements seek to make it more clearly marked and well lit.
But residents will still have to wait a while before it’s complete. Construction only just began this month and the first step is raising the seawall in an effort to combat the impact of climate change and sea-level rise.
“We made the decision to build those up higher in recognition of the fact that sea-level rise is impacting all of South Florida, not just Boca Raton, but we wanted to plan ahead and make our park features more resilient,” said City Councilman Andy Thomson.
The park has an estimated completion date of mid-2022, according to Thomson, but that’s subject to change.
When it is complete, the event lawn and pavilion could host concerts and theatrical performances, like Shakespeare in the Park, Thomson said. As a father of five, he said he’s looking forward to having more waterfront activities to enjoy, both by himself and with his kids.
The new waterfront park will serve as an entry way to the city for boaters traveling north along the Intracoastal waterway, Thomson said. And for park visitors, a place to fish, enjoy the arts and watch the boats go by.
“This is a park that’s being paid for by everybody,” Thomson said. “It should be available and accessible to everybody.”