CityPlace stair-down
Hello. You look nice today. This morning, Related responds to pushback on The Harriet, downtown West Palm Beach through a departing leader's eyes, a homegrown internet troll and your June to-do list.
🪜 CityPlace offers stairs to nowhere
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The stairs are back at The Harriet in CityPlace.
At least some of them.
After a public outcry over plans submitted in April, city officials told the Historic Preservation Board last week that the developer is proposing to retain the outer edges of the wide staircase and cut a hole through the middle to create a ground-floor entry.
The stairs would lead to nowhere as the developers would seal the upper-level entry to what opened in 1926 as the First Methodist Church.
The proposal appears to mimic a rendering floated in February before CityPlace proposed eliminating the stairs. Stet News published that rendering May 7 here.
Why it’s important: Preservation advocates view the grand stairway along Hibiscus Street as a principal characteristic of the Harriet Himmel Theater. In an era of incredible growth, with tall buildings crowding out the past, many residents believe losing that facade would dilute the city’s heritage.
The city consulted with state historic preservation officer Kyra Lucas, who found the stairs do not need to be preserved.
“The stairs were a character defining feature of the building when it was built as a church,” Lucas wrote on May 15. “They emphasized the elevated status of the church and grandeur of the architecture by forcing an upward perspective.
“Keeping the element of the stairs and retaining or returning the physical design and visual characteristics of the stairs to their historic design and appearance is important and needs to be done, however, we do not think that this iteration of stairs needs to be retained as is.”
Further, the Historic Preservation Board has no power to protect the building, City Attorney Kim Rothenburg wrote May 9. See her memo here.
It comes down to the zoning, she said, which dates to 1989, before CityPlace moved forward.
“It’s not that they’re ignoring or avoiding the historic preservation ordinance,” City Development Services Director Rick Greene told the preservation board May 29. “They are just not subject to that ordinance.”
“It’s a revelation to me,” said perplexed preservation board Chairperson Amanda Skier.
It hardly matters, though, Greene insisted. CityPlace is committed to maintaining the building’s historic integrity and is required to abide by standards set by the U.S. Interior secretary.
“I really don’t think there was anything lost. They have no intention of getting away from the historic nature of that theater. … They want the appearance to be historic,” Greene said.
City commissioners agreed. They echoed staff and Related arguments on May 28 after more than a dozen speakers urged historic designation. Commissioners took no action.
David Smith, a former city commissioner, pushed back against Related’s approach.
“Related has misinformed the public about their good intentions,” he told the preservation board. “They say that the things that have already been done far exceed what they’re going to do. What they used to justify that statement is mostly irrelevant.”
Keep reading:
CityPlace’s lawyer Harvey Oyer says the building was “significantly modified” in 1999 here.
The architect behind the 1999 renovations, Rick Gonzalez, called the developer’s approach “an unsympathetic, major, non-historic renovation” here.
“Stairway to nothing” in Stet News, here.
💌 Love for downtown
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Few leaders are as visible in their city as Raphael Clemente. The outgoing Downtown Development Authority executive director lives just south of the city center. He rides his bicycle along the waterfront. And he’s a New Urbanism/mass transit geek.
Clemente’s 18-year tenure traced the rise of West Palm Beach from its Great Recession low to a post-pandemic economic engine and booming residential center.
Stet News’ Joel Engelhardt sat down last month for an exit interview with Clemente, who is leaving for a job with the Quantum Foundation.
Highlights:
On engagement: “What I'm excited about and what I love about our city is that people care enough about it that they fight over it. That they push and shove. They get mad. They voice their concerns. And it moves us. It moves us toward solutions.”
On downtown overall: “It is a potent, intense center, city, neighborhood and business district. West Palm Beach is lucky to have it. The region is lucky to have it. It is the economic engine of the region.”
On the proliferation of marijuana dispensaries: “There's a difference between a dispensary and a pub. … And when you look at what makes cities really work well, urban places in particular, it's sociability. The ability to socialize and connect with others. … That's the most important thing for humans, right? It's the No. 1 thing. We're social creatures.”
On traffic: “The challenges we have of traffic and other things are growing pains. These are, I don't want to say they're good problems, but … they’re problems many other cities wish they had right now.”
Keep reading: Find out why the head of the DDA rode with city sanitation workers and how he views dominant downtown landowner Related, as well as homelessness here.
🌎 Russian internet troll started here
A former Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, who fled to Russia and is charged with 19 counts of extortion and wiretapping by local prosecutors, is using his formidable computer skills to help the Kremlin spread disinformation about the United States and European countries.
Damning allegations about the latest exploits of John Mark Dougan were featured in a lengthy New York Times story last week.
“Working from an apartment crowded with servers and other computer equipment, Mr. Dougan has built an ever-growing network of more than 160 fake websites that mimic news outlets in the United States, Britain and France,” reported Steven Lee Myers, a NYT correspondent.
Same tricks, bigger stage? Dougan honed his skills as a website creator more than a decade ago to attack Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and then-Chief Deputy Mike Gauger, who is running for sheriff this year against his former boss.
On PBSOtalk.com, and its various digital offspring, Dougan portrayed the top cops as Nazis, fascists, molesters, white supremacists and crooks.
He put their faces on photos of Hitler and Mussolini.
He questioned their sexuality.
Finally, both Bradshaw and Gauger had enough. They launched an investigation in 2012. Five years later, State Attorney Dave Aronberg charged Dougan in court documents that remain sealed.
Acknowledging that the ex-Marine had fled to Russia, Aronberg said then he had “a good faith anticipation” of securing his arrest “in the foreseeable future.” The release of the charging documents would “seriously jeopardize” the ongoing investigation, he successfully argued.
But, wait, there’s more: Gauger also filed a defamation suit against Dougan. He dropped it in 2018, acknowledging that it was doomed. Because the alleged libelous information was in an online publication, Dougan enjoyed the same protections as mainstream media. That meant, among other things, Gauger had to notify Dougan by letter of any inaccuracies on the website. Gauger didn’t.
From Russia with love? Gauger said Dougan recently called him and apologized. Dougan wished him luck with his campaign to unseat Bradshaw. The call was more than a little bizarre, said Gauger, who is running as a Republican against his former boss, a Democrat.
“One thing I give him credit for is that he’s very intelligent. He’s disturbed, but intelligent,” Gauger said. “He has those skills. Look what he did to us.”
Keep reading: “A red flag planted in D.C,” NewsGuard’s coverage of Dougan’s activity.
— Jane Musgrave
🦉 The juice
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🚨 Treated water supplied to Riviera Beach residents tested positive for a fecal indicator twice last year and the Florida Department of Health is proposing the city pay fines and fees topping $81,000. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🚂 Tri-Rail announces a 6:30 am and 5:30 pm weekday express train from Palm Beach County to Fort Lauderdale and Miami starting July 1.
🏠 Hedge funder’s widow Mia Manente sells Palm Beach Gardens home for $16 million. (The Real Deal)
🔋 Florida’s disaster preparedness sales tax holiday continues through June 14. Our list of what’s exempt. (Stet News)
🫡 A Stet news salute to 12-year-old Bruhat Soma of St. Petersburg, Florida, who brought honor to the Sunshine State by winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee. (Scripps)
☀️ 561 insider: Your June planner
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As the calendar flips to summer, a lot of the action shifts indoors. Here’s our to-do list for June.
🎈Visit the Flagler
Founder’s Day at the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach is Wednesday. Admission is free in honor of the museum’s founder, Henry Flagler’s granddaughter Jean Flagler Meadows. Open 10 am to 5 pm.
🌊 Celebrate Mother Ocean
World Ocean Day is Saturday.
Art exhibit opening and live music 7 to 10 pm Friday at the Riviera Beach Marina Event Center. Admission is free. Cash bar. Tickets
World Ocean Day weekend at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Jupiter.
Film festival (16+) $40 admission includes films, panel discussion and a beverage. 5 to 9 pm Saturday. Tickets
Film festival for all ages. Ten professional and youth-directed films from around the world. Noon to 2 pm Sunday. Free. Tickets
Lecture at the Lagoon. “The (sometimes) secret world of fish color” with Michael Robinson, associate professor at Barry University. 2 pm Sunday at Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach. Free, registration recommended.
🎹 Support local live music
Northwood Art and Music Warehouse, an open-air, industrial space west of the Northwood commercial center, hosts The David Julia Band at 8 pm Saturday, June 15. 933 28th St., West Palm Beach
Rudy’s at the Bamboo Room has a full slate of musicians this month. The Cravens (Unplugged) will cool off the summer heat from 2 to 4 pm Saturday, June 22. 25 South J. St., Lake Worth.
Summer Jazz Series at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. No. 2 of 4: Edlene Hart, R&B and soul vocalist. 7 pm Saturday, June 22. $20. Tickets. 601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach.
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