"Those folks are going to go south, and you are going to have a potential overload there." Town Council member Lew Crampton, who lives in the South End, said this at the council's September 8 meeting. He was talking about Midtown Beach beachgoers who may lose their beach this winter.
The Estate Section sits between the two places he meant. Midtown Beach, at Royal Palm Way, is one of only two public beaches in town with lifeguards. Phipps Ocean Park, at 2201 South Ocean Boulevard, has been closed for reconstruction since May 2025. Over the next few months the two trade places. Phipps reopens just as Midtown goes into a construction cycle that could run into 2028. The park taking on Midtown's beachgoers was designed as a native-plant restoration site, a history classroom and a walking preserve stretching from the ocean to the Intracoastal. The beach is one part of it.
A Handoff Measured in Weeks
The timing comes down to a few dates, all from town and Preservation Foundation sources published in the past six weeks:
- November 1, 2025. The rebuilt Phipps Ocean Park racquet center and its parking reopened. This was the first finished phase, and it added two pickleball courts.
- September 25, 2026. FDOT gave final acceptance to its South Ocean Boulevard project from Lake Avenue to Ibis Way.
- October 29. The town has scheduled a public meeting on how the seawall work will affect construction, beach access and traffic.
- November 19, 2026, 11 a.m. Phipps Ocean Park's ribbon cutting and grand opening. It is free and open to the public, with registration through the Preservation Foundation.
- December. Midtown Beach seawall construction is expected to begin and to take 18 months.
- Spring 2028. If the town closes Midtown completely, the beach would be off-limits to the public until roughly this point.
That leaves about three weeks between Phipps opening and Midtown work starting. For a household in the Estate Section, the realistic choice for a public beach with lifeguards this season shifts from north to south.
What Midtown Is Still Deciding
The 2,715-foot seawall runs from Royal Palm Way south to Gulfstream Road. According to Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks, it protects about $7 billion in private property, along with public streets, utilities and telecommunications lines. The replacement is expected to cost $20 million or more. That includes $1.5 million the council set aside in July for design and planning.
Whether the beach closes partially or completely is still undecided. Jake Hurley, senior project engineer with the town's Public Works Department, told the council that the plan from design-builder Murray Logan Construction includes building a dune that "won't leave much room for beach accessibility." Staff will ask the contractor what keeping part of the beach open would mean. Hurley also cautioned that "very likely, it would be extended duration of the project and extended cost." As of early October, no later decision had been reported.
A separate project is moving at the same time. The town's Midtown Beach Linear Park redesign is budgeted at about $4 million. It proposes more open space, safer crossings, a wider sidewalk and new beach stairs at Royal Palm Way, while keeping the existing coconut palms. The design was scheduled to go before the Architectural Commission on October 28, the day before the public meeting. When Midtown reopens, it will look different on the street side as well as the water side.
The Park Built Around a Schoolhouse
Phipps Ocean Park's redevelopment began with a building, not the beach. The Phipps family gave the land to the town in 1948. Henry Phipps Jr. was an early investor and partner of Andrew Carnegie. The site runs from the Atlantic to the Intracoastal and includes 1,200 feet of oceanfront.
The Little Red Schoolhouse opened in 1886 and closed in 1901. It is Southeast Florida's first schoolhouse and the oldest structure in Palm Beach. For years it served as a garden shed at Casa Bendita, John S. Phipps' Palm Beach property. In 1960 the Gardener's Society of Palm Beach rescued and restored it, and the town moved it to the park. Over time it began to flood repeatedly. "Was flooding repeatedly," as Preservation Foundation CEO Danielle Del Sol put it, which is why the schoolhouse was the reason for the whole renovation. It has now been moved to higher ground near the dune.
The schoolhouse is home to the Foundation's living history program, in which fourth graders spend a day in an 1890s classroom. The program is free to schools and homeschool families, runs about two hours, and usually takes place from 10 a.m. to noon during the September-to-May school year. During construction the schoolhouse has been closed, and WLRN reported that the program would continue at Yesteryear Village at the South Florida Fairgrounds while the park stayed shut.
Next to the schoolhouse is the new Coastal Restoration Center, a nursery that grows native plants for the dunes in the park and elsewhere in town. WLRN reported it under the name Kenneth C. Griffin Coastal Conservancy, after the $7 million gift from Ken Griffin that brought pledges to $29 million before construction began. The Institute for Regional Conservation plans to base its Restoring the Gold Coast partnership with the Foundation at the center. That program includes restoration events and workshops for children and adults.
From the Dune to the Mangroves
Inside the gates, the plan reads like a cross-section of a barrier island. These features come from the Foundation's campaign plans and from WLRN's reporting in November 2025, so the finished park may differ in some details.
- The dune. A 22-foot-high oceanfront dune system meant to control erosion and shelter the plantings behind it.
- The paths. About two miles of winding trails through the dunes, according to WLRN, leading to sunrise on the beach or sunset over the Intracoastal. The plans name a Dune Crest Path, sand paths to the beach and an ADA-accessible beach access.
- The gardens. A Great Lawn connecting the schoolhouse to a Wildflower Garden with a gravel exploration path, plus north and south rain gardens and an area called Horizon Plateau.
- The plantings. About 80,000 native plants added or moved. No toxic pesticides, fungicides or herbicides will be used.
- The Intracoastal edge. Invasive snake plant will be removed and the mangroves expanded, creating habitat for egrets, herons, kingfishers, pelicans, ibis and roseate spoonbills.
- The play and gathering spaces. A custom playground by the Danish firm MONSTRUM and an outdoor classroom for 30 to 40 students. WLRN also reported new beach pavilions, a lifeguard tower, restrooms, benches and picnic tables.
The design team includes Raymond Jungles on the grounds and planting, and architects Anne Fairfax, AIA, and Richard Sammons, AIA, on the buildings. Burkhardt Construction is building it under a guaranteed maximum price of $31 million, which the council approved in February 2025 after a rebid saved $2 million.
"The park will now be ADA-accessible, which it wasn't before," Del Sol told WLRN. "It's not just a beach destination. It is a true learning center and enjoyment area for the community."
Crampton's concern about crowding applies to a park designed with this much space set aside for plants, paths and classrooms. The Foundation will also stay involved after opening day. Del Sol said the organization is responsible for part of the park's maintenance "forever" and will work with the town "in perpetuity."
The Ride South Was Finished in September
Phipps sits about three miles south of Mar-a-Lago. For most Estate Section addresses, getting there means riding South Ocean Boulevard, and that road just changed. FDOT's 2.074-mile State Road A1A project runs from south of Lake Avenue to north of Ibis Way. It received final acceptance on Friday, September 25, 2026. The work added bike lanes, upgraded pedestrian signals at Lake Avenue, a new mast-arm signal at the Palm Beach Par 3, a rapid-flashing beacon at Phipps Ocean Park, new lighting, and new sidewalks, curb ramps, drainage, signage and pavement markings.
The Par 3 crossing signal was already working by late June. The beacon at the park entrance is the newer addition. It is the crossing anyone walking or biking to the beach will use on opening day.
Parking and Court Fees
The campaign plans call for an 18,000-square-foot permeable-paver parking area. The Foundation's current instructions for schoolhouse visitors direct cars to the south entrance lot and its parking meters. The racquet center already posts separate daily rates for residents and nonresidents and requires proof of residency for the resident rate. Those rates should be confirmed with Palm Beach Recreation before booking.
The October 29 meeting is the next chance to learn how much of Midtown will stay open. The Phipps gates open to the public on November 19 at 11 a.m.
Changes to how the island's beaches, roads and parks work affect daily life in the Estate Section. Elizabeth DeWoody follows these town projects closely and is glad to talk through what the Midtown seawall schedule and the reopening of Phipps Ocean Park mean for a particular stretch of South Ocean Boulevard. Work With Elizabeth.
