Next time you can’t locate your group at Fort Lauderdale beach, tell them to meet you at the lifeguard tower with the manatee.
Or the scuba diver. Or the zebrafish.
Eight of 20 towers along the city’s famous shoreline are now painted in colorful aquatic themes, making them stand out along the busy stretch of pedestrians, sand and sunbathers. The towers are also new, replacing bland white stands that the city says had been sinking and deteriorating.
The city dedicated four of the freshly painted structures — designed to withstand wind, humidity and graffiti — on Tuesday with police, fire and beach rescue officials in attendance, along with tourists who were curious about the colorful new landmarks.
“Public art at this scale changes how people experience a place,” City Commissioner Steve Glassman, who first proposed the muraled stand idea in 2020, said during the ceremony. “It adds color and energy, creates moments people remember, and gives our beach a character that feels intentional and unmistakably Fort Lauderdale.”
The city is not the first in South Florida to install artsy lifeguard stands. Miami Beach is home to candy-colored, Art Deco-style towers, and Hollywood beach’s are painted in blue with white and yellow accents.
The lifeguard tower at Terramar Street on Fort Lauderdale beach was beautified by artist Timothy Robert Smith. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
But Fort Lauderdale may be unique for its sea themes. The first set of four was finished in 2022, designed by Oakland Park-based artist Djerlens “DJ” Chery. His murals, printed on wrapped vinyl, include a sandcastle, a sailfish, a sea turtle and a stingray.
For this round, 76 artists responded to a call to creatively decorate four more stands. The city chose California artist Timothy Robert Smith, who has painted murals in public places such as skate parks and underpasses and was paid $50,000 for the Fort Lauderdale project. Completed in June, the project’s dedication ceremony waited for fair weather, according to the city.
“It’s such a trippy experience to see an idea in your head transform into something that thousands of eyes see,” he wrote on his Instagram account, after finishing the towers right before the Florida Panthers beachside victory parade. “Good times.”
Although the paint job catches the eye, the new stands, which cost about $87,000 each, have several features that will be helpful to lifeguards and beachgoers. The little buildings are 20 feet high, about 8 feet higher than before, allowing lifeguards to see farther. They also have slanted, polarized windows that provide clearer views of the beach and protect lifeguards from harmful rays of the sun.
Still, it’s the vibrant designs that attract attention.
“People come by every day to take pictures,” lifeguard Luis Dominguez said. “This is really art.”
Chris and Liz Hayward, New Jersey residents with a condominium near the beach, were sunning themselves on the sand on Tuesday, admiring the new Tower 11, decorated with a scuba diver and fish.
“We’ve seen lifeguards help lost kids, so this would be helpful in telling parents where kids are,” Chris Hayward said. “We pay taxes here, so this is the type of thing we like to see.”
Here’s where you can find the four newly painted towers:
• Tower 5 — South Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard and Southeast Fifth Street
• Tower 8 — North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard and Sebastian Street
• Tower 10 — North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard and Riomar Street
• Tower 11 — North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard and Terramar Street
The new Fort Lauderdale beach lifeguard towers are 20 feet high and have slanted, polarized windows that provide clearer views. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)