WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A proposal to redevelop West Palm Beach’s downtown waterfront area would remove a city-owned event center called the Lake Pavilion, according to mock-ups the city published two weeks ago.
Although a spokesperson for the city told WPTV there was no decision or plan regarding the event center, nonprofits and residents told us they were concerned the proposal would remove one of the few venues considered affordable in Palm Beach County’s largest city's downtown area.
Records WPTV obtained show the Lake Pavilion’s removal was a part of a plan to transform the downtown waterfront area to a large park with a pier restaurant, children’s playground, sand volleyball courts, a waterfront promenade and a sloped lawn with an integrated amphitheater.
It would have also wiped away Flagler Drive, one of downtown’s traffic corridors, from around Banyan Boulevard to Fern Street. The city announced it had paused last Monday to gain additional community feedback, after outrage from community members and local businesses.
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It’s the second time Mayor Keith James opted to pause plans to redevelop the downtown waterfront area to gain additional feedback within a three-year period. In 2023, the city was considering a proposal to add a private marina with 84 slips to the same space, but withdrew the plan after the Downtown Neighborhood Association, an advocacy group for downtown entities like businesses, organized support against the proposal.
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The project’s failure, ultimately, led to the city hiring a consultant to gain feedback on redeveloping the downtown area. The process, marketed as “Your Waterfront, Your Way”, resulted in a report where several suggestions and recommendations were made to bring more people to the downtown area.
The consultant found 45% of people felt improvements were needed in the area. Suggestions, the report said, included expanding waterfront-related activities, enhancing shade and setting options, addressing safety concerns from the pedestrian crossings on Flager Drive and issues with the area’s homeless population.
Mayor Keith James discussed this process in a speech the city posted to YouTube after outrage over the proposal.
“Last year, we engaged extensively with our community through Your Waterfront, Your Way,” he said in prepared, recorded remarks with no opportunity for follow-up questions. “Throughout that process, we heard a clear and consistent message. Residents want a more engaging, more open and better-connected waterfront. One that reflects who we are as a city and enhances our quality of life.”
This most recent proposal follows some of the recommendations within the consultant’s report, but it also ignores some suggestions as well. For example, the consultant’s report recommended that Flagler Drive should be redesigned to minimize the car-related footprint and this proposal eliminates Flagler Drive. However, the proposal contains mostly green space, while the consultant report found central green spaces remain largely unused on a daily basis, while shaded areas along the edges attract the most people.
The consultant report also recommended that the city balance daily activities with programmed events, large and small. But this most recent proposal removed the area's only event center, called the Lake Pavilion. According to the city’s website, the venue can host up to around 250 people and can be rented by residents for about $300 an hour, along with other fees. The venue, consultants said, hosted 47% of all events at the waterfront area in 2023.
Laura Wissa, who operates a nonprofit called Prom Beach that supports underprivileged high school students with outfits for prom, said the Lake Pavilion is one of the only areas in the county where her nonprofit can afford to host events. She said it’s a beautiful space that doesn’t have a food minimum charge, which stops her organization from using other venues like hotels.
“It is essential,” Wissa said. “I mean, it's really the only venue space. That we can afford to host a large-scale event…Some of the hotels have a $35,000 food minimum, which eliminates us completely. And on top of that, there's the room rental fee.”
The Lake Pavilion, the consultant report said, also allowed the city to store things during events. They said this created a challenge for other events as well.
“Mid to large size events in this direct area are challenged with this lack of storage, having to store materials off-site and/or bring in their own storage containers for the duration of their events,” the report reads. “For events or activations elsewhere along the waterfront, new storage solutions will need to be explored, potentially in the form of kiosks or shipping containers.”
Kat Joy, a city spokesperson, said the current plans, now paused, are purely conceptual, not decisions.
“There is no plan, proposal, or direction regarding the Lake Pavilion at this time,” she wrote in an email. “It would be premature to draw conclusions about specific facilities based on early-stage visuals.
