How does a schoolhouse built in 1886 end up at its third address, about 100 feet from its second? The Little Red Schoolhouse closed as a school in 1901 and then spent years as a gardening shed on Casa Bendita, John S. Phipps' Palm Beach estate. In 1960 the Gardener's Society of Palm Beach rescued it, and the town moved it to Phipps Ocean Park. On Dec. 16, 2025, crews moved it again, from its spot near South Ocean Boulevard to a new foundation at the base of a 22-foot beach dune, as the Palm Beach Daily News reported.
That move is a small version of the larger change. On Thursday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m., the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach holds the ribbon cutting and grand opening for the restored park, and the event is free and open to the public. The park reopening on South Ocean Boulevard was redesigned to be crossed on foot from the Atlantic to the Intracoastal. It was paid for almost entirely by private donors, and the nonprofit that led the work will help run it for generations.
Seventy-Eight Years Without a Redesign
The Phipps family gave the land to the town in 1948. Henry Phipps Jr. was an early investor and partner of Andrew Carnegie, and the gift has been called one of the most important philanthropic gifts in Palm Beach County history. The park covers 18 acres and runs from ocean to lake. Foundation officials have said it went without any significant redesign or upgrade from 1948 until now, and the Palm Beach Civic Association called it "a prime but underperforming asset."
The Foundation's own project page says the work restores the park's "original intent as a public oceanfront space." It describes a public beach and park reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway, with 1,200 feet of oceanfront. The Foundation has been involved at Phipps since 1990, and its campaign brochure dates its Little Red Schoolhouse living history program to that same year. According to the Foundation's CEO, Danielle Del Sol, the schoolhouse was the reason for the whole project. "This iconic 19th-century building, where thousands and thousands of students learned about what it was like to be here in pioneer days, was flooding repeatedly," she told WLRN.
A Park Designed to Be Crossed
Miami-based landscape architect Raymond Jungles drew the master plan, and Fairfax, Sammons & Partners designed the park buildings, according to the Palm Beach Daily News coverage of the 2024 groundbreaking. The plan turns what the Civic Association called a "sunbaked" park into native trees, shrubs and wildflowers, with two miles of ADA-accessible walking paths. WLRN described the trails as curving through the dunes so a walker can watch the sunrise from the beach or the sunset over the Intracoastal.
Here is what each side of the park is planned to hold, east to west:
- Ocean edge. A 22-foot-high dune system to control erosion and protect plants farther inland. Also new beach pavilions, a lifeguard tower and restrooms.
- Dune line. The Horizon Plateau, which rises to the height of the dune and looks out over the ocean. Below it sits the relocated schoolhouse, with a Great Lawn and wildflower garden to the west.
- Center. The Kenneth C. Griffin Coastal Conservancy, a plant nursery and horticulture education building next to the schoolhouse. Nearby is a playground designed by the Danish firm Monstrum. There will also be an outdoor classroom and a schoolyard garden.
- Intracoastal edge. New plantings added to the existing mangroves to steady the shoreline, plus removal of invasive snake plant.
Del Sol told WLRN that the staff was "growing, buying or contracting to grow 80,000 plants, a lot of which haven't been in the park for decades." She also said no toxic pesticides, fungicides or herbicides of any kind will be used. The nursery is meant to work beyond the park's borders too. The Foundation describes the Coastal Restoration Center as a propagation facility for native plants that will support healthy dunes in the park and across the town. In practical terms, the park becomes a supplier of plants for the island's shoreline.
Who Paid, and Who Stays
The Town of Palm Beach owns the park. The Foundation raised the money to cover nearly all of the renovation. In February 2025, the Town Council approved a contract with Burkhardt Construction at a guaranteed maximum price of $31 million, which was $2 million less than the year before. Here is how that contract splits, according to the Palm Beach Civic Association:
| Contract line | Amount | Funding source |
|---|---|---|
| Park redevelopment | $29.7 million | Preservation Foundation donors, plus a $2 million town contribution |
| Lifeguard station renovation | $674,000 | Town capital improvement fund |
| Tennis court renovation | $392,000 | Town recreation department |
| Electrical panel replacement | $67,000 | Town capital improvement fund |
The donor list is broader than one headline gift. The best-known gift came from Ken Griffin, whose $7 million brought the campaign to $29 million, and the conservancy building carries his name. With its $2 million capital grant, the town became one of 11 landmark donors. The others were Griffin and nine anonymous donors who each gave $1 million or more. Another 20 major donors gave between $250,000 and $1 million, and 65 community donors gave between $5,000 and $250,000.
The arrangement continues after construction ends. In November 2024, the Town Council unanimously approved an agreement that governs both the improvements and how the park operates afterward. It includes two 75-year leases to the Foundation, covering the schoolhouse and the Coastal Restoration Center. The Foundation also set up a $10 million endowment for maintenance and for programs at both buildings. WLRN reported in November 2025 that $3 million of it had been raised. Del Sol was direct with WLRN about the long term:
"We are not gone. We are responsible for a portion of the maintenance of the park forever and we're going to be working with the town in perpetuity."
Palm Beach now has a public oceanfront park with a nonprofit co-steward, a funded maintenance commitment and lease terms of three-quarters of a century.
Why the Ribbon Cutting Lands in November
The schedule moved several times, and each step left a mark on the park.
- 2020 to 2022. The Foundation hired Jungles in 2020 to draw a phased master plan, the Palm Beach Civic Association reported. The Town Council approved the site plan in December 2022 but delayed a decision on two pickleball courts after council members raised concerns about noise, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. The final plan includes both courts.
- April 2024. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held, and construction was expected to start that June. Bids came in higher than expected, so the project was rebid with more complete drawings, as the Civic Association reported.
- May 1, 2025. The park closed after a delay of nearly a year, and the Foundation expected it to reopen around October 2026, according to the same Civic Association report.
- Nov. 1, 2025. The tennis center and its south parking area reopened, which completed the first phase, as a Palm Beach Daily News report republished by AOL later recounted.
- February 2026. The council unanimously approved a signage plan developed by the Foundation and C&G Partners, the Palm Beach Daily News reported.
- April 14, 2026. Town Engineer Patricia Strayer told the council that requested design changes made the finish date less certain. "We hope September — we were shooting for Labor Day — but it depends on how many more changes we embrace," she said, according to that Palm Beach Daily News report.
At that same April meeting, the council approved a $20,000 change order for additional construction-phase services that the Foundation requested. A donation from the Foundation funds it. Strayer said any cost changes would come from the Foundation's requests. The Foundation's project page now says the park stays closed until November 2026. Under this arrangement, the partner paying for changes also helps decide when the park is finished.
What the April Update Showed
The most detailed public construction report came from that April meeting. Adam Rossmell, a project manager with Burkhardt Construction, told the council that all four picnic pavilions were built and roofing was underway. The two restroom buildings were at a similar stage, and the Coastal Restoration Center had its interior systems installed with inspections in progress. The lifeguard station was moving more slowly because of conditions in its original wood structure, and playground equipment was being installed. Crews were also regrading and replanting along the west side of South Ocean Boulevard.
That report is now more than six months old. The ceremony on the 19th celebrates the park as a whole, and the Foundation's announcement does not list which features will be ready that day. The tennis center has been back in use since last November. While the park was closed, the schoolhouse's living history program for fourth graders continued at Yesteryear Village at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The relocated building is meant to keep that program going on higher ground, where it is protected from frequent flooding and high winds.
At The Pitlake Group, we follow changes like the reopening of Phipps Ocean Park because they shape daily life on the island's South End. If you would like to talk through what this stretch of South Ocean Boulevard means for your plans this season, we would be glad to schedule a private consultation.
