Palm Beach moves forward with plans for a new park near the North Fire Station

Plans for a new park near Palm Beach’s redesigned North Fire Station are progressing after the Town Council approved conceptual design plans and accepted a private donation for its construction.

During their regular meeting Feb. 11, council members voted unanimously to authorize the town’s Public Works department to move forward with final design, bidding and construction phase services for the unnamed park, which will be funded by an anonymous donor.

The donation amount is to be determined at the time of the final bid, according to town documents.

The park will be built in the right-of-way areas of the intersection of Wells Road, Crescent Drive and North County Road, just north of the fire station, Paul Brazil, the town’s public works director, told council members.

The fire station, at 300 North County Road, is nearly ready for crews to begin moving in following a lengthy redevelopment project, according to the town.

Once work wraps up, Wells Road will be restored to run straight and intersect with North County Road, with Crescent Drive modified to intersect perpendicular to Wells Road, according to town documents. The modification will allow for more green space on the north side of Wells Road, just west of North County Road.

When construction on the fire station began in 2022, the town altered the traffic pattern at the intersection of Wells Road and North County Road to allow motorists to navigate around a temporary station set up during the project.

The temporary station will be dismantled once the new building is complete, the town said.

Design plans for the new park will include landscape and hardscape elements, including sidewalk, benches, and a water fountain, according to town documents.

Work will be performed at the same time as drainage improvements in the canopy area on North County Road, Brazil said.

“The fire station landscaping design will slide right into the park design, which slides into the canopy,” Brazil told council members. “We believe this is a much better use of all of the asphalt that’s sitting there right now.”

Design plans will go to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for review before going back to the council for final approval, Brazil said.

Wells Road is landmarked, which triggered the board’s review.

Council members praised conceptual design plans for the proposed park.

“Talk about another part of town that has too much asphalt,” council member Ted Cooney said. “This area has a ton. You know, this is always where you get dumped off of that trail, and then you hit too much asphalt on County (Road) here, and you feel unsafe riding your bike. So I think this is lovely. Thank you to the donor for the vision to want to do this.”

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.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach moves forward on plans for new park near North Fire Station