Puppetry center in limbo as it seeks home
Wanted: A 3,000- to 5,000-squarefoot building in a safe area to rent. Must have ample storage space, mostly for puppets and other fun stuff. Looking to move in ASAP.
Since its lease expired last year at its Delray Beach location on Southeast Second Avenue, the Puppetry Arts Center has been searching for a new home. That’s nothing new. The center, which opened in 1993 and claims to be the only full puppetry center south of Atlanta, has lived a nomadic existence, setting up shop in eight different locations, including a flea market near the Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach and the old Palm Beach Mall.
For months, the center has reached out to officials in several cities — Lake Worth, Greenacres, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Belle Glade — in hopes of finding a new address.
“I know a community would love to have us, but no one seems to have a building,” said Jo Janeen Timmis, the center’s executive director. “We’re a destination facility. People come where we are.”
Timmis said Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency Executive Have a Lake Worth issue you’d like to see The Post tackle, or a story idea? Contact Kevin D. Thompson at 561-820-4573 or KThompson@pbpost.com.
Director Joan Oliva told her in August that the city doesn’t have a space for the center.
“We would try to help them with fundraising if they wanted to move their facility into the district, but they’re seeking a building,” Oliva said.
Royal Palm Beach didn’t have space, and Timmis said she never heard back from Wellington.
As for Greenacres, Timmis said she’s scheduled to meet with Acting City Manager Tom Lanahan on Wednesday. Timmis said she did speak with former City Manager Wadie Atallah a few weeks before he was fired and was told the city didn’t have a building.
Greenacres Councilwoman Lisa Rivera was the only council person to respond to Timmis’ request, referring her to Lanahan.
“I’m not up to speed on city property,” Rivera said. “But I hope we can accommodate her needs.”
Belle Glade, Timmis said, appears to be the most promising option so far. The city said it has space in the recently reopened Lawrence E. Will Museum.
“I’m not looking forward to a 40-mile drive each way, but the city appears quite interested,” Timmis said.
Since leaving Delray Beach, where the center was housed for close to four years, paying $400 in monthly rent, it’s now shelling out $900 each month to keep its puppets, stages and equipment in a 750-square-foot Lake Worth storage center.
The center has set aside $10,000 for moving and a build-out, but it will need to dip into those reserves by the end of the year, Timmis said.
“Our money is dwindling,” she said.
The center uses the art of puppetry to educate and inspire creativity, putting on 200 shows each year and attracting anywhere from 15,000 to 19,000 fans.
But all that could end soon if a home isn’t found.
“I know everybody thinks this is a cutesy thing, but it’s a business,” Timmis said. “It’s been really frustrating. Everybody loves us, everybody wants us to be where they are, but nobody wants to come up with a building.”