With only two projects approved for Boca’s new public North Park, the district that owns the site just voted to discontinue negotiations with the Boys & Girls Club.
Even with the club’s Palm Beach County CEO Jaene Miranda there to answer questions, three of the five commissioners for the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District voted Monday to end the talks. Minutes before they adjourned, “we need to talk about another location for a fieldhouse,” on that site, suggested commissioner Steve Engel. “The seed is planted,” agreed chairman Robert Rollins.
It was evident the board was moving in that direction. At the last meeting, commissioners gave the club’s management two weeks to respond to the district’s agreement. Also at issue was the use of the term ‘concessionaire,’ the undetermined size of the building, and the time it could take to raise the money and design and construct the property, as much as 10 years. Miranda took issue with the term ‘concessionaire,’ and asked for more time to explore the issue with their own legal counsel.
But that wasn’t enough to persuade commissioners. Engel’s vote came “very reluctantly and painfully” as a Boys Club kid himself. He said his main concern was “bulletproofing” an agreement so no lawsuit could emerge later. “I’m not sure this is the right place,” commissioner Erin Wright said after having second thoughts.
Boca’s Boys & Girls Club is in the city’s Sand Pine Park, and this site was approved for a larger building. The only other project that survived the district’s ranking system after hearing out proposals was a skate park, awaiting city permits to start building.
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