Construction soon could begin on a new, larger helicopter-landing pad at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
The new helicopter landing area will be 60 feet in diameter, or 10 feet larger than the concrete pad that was on Mar-a-Lago’s west lawn during Trump’s first term as president.
The helipad will be used by Marine One, the name for a helicopter when it carries the commander in chief. The first helipad was approved and built in 2017, then demolished in 2021 after Trump left the White House. The removal was a condition of the Town Council when the pad’s design was approved.
The town on Dec. 12 issued a permit for construction of the new temporary helicopter landing zone, records show. Mar-a-Lago paid about $7,746 in fees to acquire the permit that expires Dec. 12, 2026, according to the permit card.
The value of the construction is $264,593, town records show.
West Palm Beach-based Moroney Construction LLC will carry out the work, according to the permit. The contractor as of Dec. 15 had yet to file the notice of commencement that is required for construction to begin, according to Palm Beach County records.
Palm Beach’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Oct. 22 to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project, which allows for the reconstruction of the helicopter landing pad, along with a concrete walkway and recessed safety lighting.
The new pad will also be 8 inches deep, with an 18-foot long and 5-foot wide walkway connected to a nearby service road. The landing area is on Mar-a-Lago’s west lawn, in the same location where it was from 2017 to 2021.
The helipad needs to be larger to accommodate the larger helicopters now used by the U.S. Marine Corps to carry the president, Mar-a-Lago representatives said during the commission’s review.
The Marine Corps last year began using a new Sikorsky VH-92 Patriot for presidential transportation. That helicopter replaced two older models that had served as Marine One.
The VH-92A has a maximum weight of 27,700 pounds, more than 5,000 pounds heavier than the VH-60N and more than 6,000 pounds heavier than the VH-3D, the two previous helicopter models used by the Marine Corps, according to documents filed with the town that include details provided by Marine Helicopter Squadron 1.
The helipad is required by the U.S. Secret Service and the White House Military Office and will be paid for by Mar-a-Lago, Harvey Oyer, an attorney and the agent for the project, told the commission.
Rick Gonzalez of West Palm Beach-based REG Architects designed both the current and former helipad plans, town records show.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation also signed off on the plans as required because Mar-a-Lago is a National Historic Landmark, and the trust has preservation easements on the 17-acre property, records show.
The helipad will not destroy any historic materials or features, Claire Jones, associate director of the trust’s easement program, wrote in a letter supporting the rebuilt concrete pad.
Trump’s previous helipad at Mar-a-Lago was demolished
The helipad faced some pushback from residents when first proposed in 2017. One Mar-a-Lago neighbor’s attorney told town officials at the time that noise from the helicopters would disrupt residents’ way of life. The Marine Corps insisted the helipad was necessary for security reasons.
The landing area was rarely used during Trump’s first term. The first recorded use was in April 2017 when a Trump-branded helicopter landed and remained on the concrete pad for about 24 hours when Trump was at Mar-a-Lago. The Trump Organization’s helicopter raised questions about how and when the helipad would be used.
While the Town Council had said in its approval that the helipad could be used “for business related to the presidency only,” a town official at the time told the Daily News the approval did not specify what kind of helicopter could land there. The same helicopter landed there again in December 2017.
One Marine One landing at Mar-a-Lago happened in 2019 when Trump visited the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.
The former helipad was demolished when Trump left office in early 2021. A permit for the pad’s removal was requested in February of 2021, and the helipad was gone within two weeks.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach issues permit for President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago helipad
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Post
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