The SE Florida/Caribbean Chapter of the Urban Land Institute has named the City of West Palm Beach City Center and Waterfront Redevelopment their 2010 Public Project of the Year. Simmons & White, Inc. was a proud team meember on the Waterfront Commons/Waterfront Redevelopment phase of the project, providing civil and transportation engineering services, as well as construction administration services.
The thirty million dollar Waterfront Commons Project consisted of the demolition and relocation of the library to City Center as well as the relocation of Flagler Drive to provide additional open space and walkways along the east side of Flagler. The Waterfront Commons includes a new Visitors Center and Pavilion Facility, the Palm Stage for outdoor concerts and Clematis by Night, water gardens and nightly light shows, as well as open space for downtown events like the Annual Boat Show and SunFest.
"This is a prestigious award for West Palm Beach," said Mayor Lois Frankel. "City Center and the waterfront continue to bring thousands of visitors a day to our city and we thank the Urban Land Institute for recognizing their importance and success." The project was developed using “green” building standards and has served to “uncork the bottle” connecting Downtown West Palm Beach to its beautiful waterfront. This is the first time in the Urban Land Institute’s history that the award was given to a city.
“The Waterfront Commons was one of the most exciting projects we’ve been involved with” said Greg Bolen, Vice President and Partner of Simmons & White, Inc. “It’s not often you have the opportunity to work on a project that changes a city’s landscape. The project completely transformed the downtown waterfront and we’re proud to have been a part of it”.
