Construction is progressing on the $31 million redevelopment of Phipps Ocean Park in Palm Beach, with the town still eyeing a September completion date for the long-running project.
The work at the beachfront park on the South End remains on schedule but design changes have made the completion date less certain, Town Engineer Patricia Strayer told the Town Council on April 14.
“There have been some requests for changes,” Strayer said. “I can’t give you a timeline right now. We hope September — we were shooting for Labor Day — but it depends on how many more changes we embrace.”
Strayer added that the budget for the project has remained balanced so far, with savings in some areas helping offset higher costs. She said any cost changes would result from requests by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, which is spearheading renovation plans and funding most of the project.
The council approved a $20,000 change order for construction-phase services tied to additional work requested by the foundation. Town staff said the adjustment applies to the town’s contract with engineering consultant Kimley-Horn and will be funded through a donation from the foundation.
Also during the meeting, Adam Rossmell, a project manager with Burkhardt Construction, the project’s contractor, provided an update on the overall redevelopment of the park, which began in May 2025 under an 18-month timeframe.
Rossmell said work on the tennis center and south parking area was completed and reopened in November, marking a major milestone as construction continued in other parts of the park.
Work has since shifted to the northern portion of the site, where crews are constructing new restroom buildings, picnic pavilions and the Coastal Restoration Center — a new nursery and propagation facility for native plants — while also advancing renovations to the lifeguard station and installing playground equipment, Rossmell said.
Rossmell noted that all four picnic pavilions have been built, with roofing work ongoing, and that two restroom buildings are progressing in similar stages of construction. He highlighted progress on the Coastal Restoration Center, where interior systems have been installed and inspections are underway.
Work on the lifeguard station renovation has progressed more slowly, he added, citing conditions in the original wood structure. Structural crews have been modifying openings for new windows and doors and repairing steps and underlying components.
The project also included the relocation of the historic Little Red Schoolhouse, which was moved in December to a new foundation within the park.
The schoolhouse, which is home to the Preservation Foundation’s living history program, will anchor the new “Great Lawn” and wildflower garden to the west.
In addition to the park improvements, work is ongoing along the west side of South Ocean Boulevard, where crews are regrading and replanting landscaping as part of the project, Rossmell said.
Council members praised the park’s progress during the presentation. They singled out the landscaping work and said it would significantly improve areas that were previously overgrown.
Council Pro-Tem Lew Crampton, a South End resident, pointed to the landscaping plans for the west side of South Ocean Boulevard along A1A, saying it was an area “people tend to forget.”
“There’s a lot of good work going on there, which I think people in the South End haven’t really noticed yet,” he said. “That’s going to be a big enhancement. There was a lot of tangly brush and junk stuff over there. You guys have cleaned it out and are doing some specific plantings that look very good. That area is going to be a major improvement over what we had before.”
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Phipps Ocean Park overhaul in Palm Beach advances for fall completion
Reporting by Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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