Well? What do you think?
The architect who helped design it says it resembles the hull of a boat, perched on its end — a fitting symbol for a city known as the yachting capital of the world.
It’s the bold new glass-dominated 15-story City Hall proposed for Fort Lauderdale. It’s like nothing else downtown — and that appears to be the point.
“Iconic” is what Mayor Dean Trantalis wanted in a new design, and three of four commissioners joined him in voting for it: Pamela Beasley-Pittman, Steve Glassman and Ben Sorensen.
“This form is really like you took a boat and you just put it vertically to the sky,” architect Jo Palma says in a video seen by city officials.
Nothing is final yet. The radical design could change in months of upcoming negotiations between the city and the development team, FTL City Hall Partners.
A single ‘no’ vote
Only Commissioner John Herbst voted no, citing the estimated cost of $344 million, by far the highest of four proposals, and that the project is a developer-driven public-private partnership.
He doesn’t like the design, either.
“It feels more like an architectural experiment than a serious civic building,” Herbst said. “It’s better suited to a tech campus.”
City of Fort Lauderdale
An architect’s early sketch of what the new Fort Lauderdale City Hall might look like.
What this elliptical design is not is boring, as many public buildings are.
It’s very different, for sure.
Do you love it, or hate it?
We want to know.
Share your opinions by writing to us at letters@sunsentinel.com.
It looks like a … what?
The design is drawing comparisons to the number zero, a toilet seat and various parts of the human anatomy.
City resident Jennifer Peters panned it on social media as “a sinking ship,” not the metaphor city leaders want to hear. “It looks like it belongs in Dubai,” another wrote.
Some residents are upset that the renderings were not widely available until Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. (The mayor and commissioners had binders and renderings in August.)
The city could have avoided a potential public relations blunder by circulating the images much sooner. It’s too late now.
The previous City Hall lasted for 55 years until it was ruined by water damage in April 2023. The designers say the next one will be safe, strong, resilient and built to last much longer.
Whatever is built will be downtown for a very long time, so people need to be comfortable with it. Does this design float your boat or is it “Fort Lauderdale’s Folly”?
We want to hear from you.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.