City Center is a new civic complex that will include our new public library, City Hall, and the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, a non-profit cultural and educational institute. City Center is designed to be a gathering place that is the educational, cultural, and civic foundation of our community. The City has acquired the entire 400 block of Clematis Street for the City Center project. This area, commonly known as the “D&D Centre,” is bordered by Banyan Boulevard to the north, Dixie Highway to the east, Clematis Street to the south, and Quadrille Boulevard to the west. The City has been planning this project for years, and will be able to build it without raising taxes.


The need for a new West Palm Beach City Hall is long established. The City began looking at solutions to deal with the growing city population and growing government in 1995. In 1997, consultants found the current City Hall to be too small, inefficient, and structurally deficient. The building has problems with air conditioning, heating, ventilation, the elevators, and the roof. It also does not meet current hurricane codes. The West Palm Beach City Commission voted unanimously to move City Hall to the D&D Centre site on November 24, 2003, in Resolution #588-03. As part of the process to move City Hall, the City held hundreds of Commission meetings, workshops, and hearings, all with opportunities for the public to share their input and be involved in planning the future of this critical project.


The new City Hall will be a “one stop shop” for West Palm Beach residents. People will be able to apply for permits or jobs, pay bills, or rent a park pavilion- all under one roof. By housing more City workers in one complex, employee communication and efficiency will be greatly improved. City Hall will also feature permanent emergency generators, enabling essential City functions to run without interruption during power outages.

The new public library will help rejuvenate our downtown Clematis area, and help meet the educational needs of our growing city. Public libraries are much more than just technology centers and places to store books; they are economic anchors, returning $6.54 for every $1.00 invested. More than 500,000 people visit the City’s library every year, and that number is projected to double with the construction of a new facility. Our new public library will feature a bookstore and coffee shop, interactive areas for kids and teens, and the latest in computer technology. In addition, moving the current library off Clematis Street will help city residents access our biggest asset: the waterfront. In June of 2003, an independent Urban Land Institute report recommended moving the library off Clematis Street, to “uncork the bottle” and help open up the waterfront. As part of the City Center project, this goal will be accomplished. On the site of the former library, the City will construct a new City Commons and waterfront park, reestablishing the historic link between the waterfront and the City’s downtown area.


The Palm Beach Photographic Centre is a twenty year old non-profit cultural and educational institute, and the only facility of its kind in the United States. The Centre will offer hands-on, personalized instruction from world renowned masters of photography, exhibitions, book signings, and more. It is estimated the Photographic Centre will have a total economic impact of more than $50 million a year.

West Palm Beach has changed a great deal since the current City Hall was built on 2nd Street. When the building opened in 1980, 150 employees worked at City Hall, serving a population of 60,000 residents. Today, nearly 300 City employees work in the current City Hall, and the City’s population has pushed past the 100,000 mark and continues to grow.
It’s important to know that the City of West Palm Beach has been planning the City Center project for years, and will be able to complete the project without raising taxes or compromising any existing city programs.

The guaranteed maximum price for the City Center project is $104.6 million. This price includes the entire City Center complex, with the new City Hall having a projected cost of $45 million, and the library, photography museum, and parking garage projected to cost $59.6 million. The City has $13.5 million in cash on hand to devote to the project, and will fund the balance through bond proceeds.

The City has issued a bond to help finance the City Center project. Issuing this bond has given the City the option of extending the current Community Redevelopment Agency (C.R.A.) by ten years. The C.R.A. is financed through both City and County tax dollars; however, those tax dollars, regardless of their origin, must be pumped back in to the C.R.A. This means extending the C.R.A. will capture approximately $200 million in additional county tax dollars for the C.R.A., which will more than offset the projected cost of the library, photography museum, and parking garage.

More than five hundred City employees will eventually be housed at City Center, creating staff efficiencies that will save taxpayers money in numerous ways. The City currently has key departments located at facilities across the City, and will save millions by centralizing the employees, selling or terminating leases at existing facilities, and reducing the amount of travel time necessary for City workers to meet and communicate with each other. The staff efficiencies alone are expected to save taxpayers $5.4 million over a thirty-year period.

The City of West Palm Beach has been planning the City Center project for years, and it is very much underway. A contractor started demolition of the D&D Centre site in April of 2006, and construction on City Center is expected to begin in early 2007. Once begun, the project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2009.

Construction of City Center will begin with City Hall itself. Crews plan to being laying the foundation for that building in December of 2006. Much of the structure’s exterior will be completed by early 2008, with work on the interior to follow. Work on the library and museum foundations begins in early 2007.

The City Center project is intended to be a masterwork: a fusion of utility, art, and design that will help change the dynamic of our downtown. The project will be completed without raising taxes, and without compromising any other city programs or services. City Center is not only an investment in our city; it’s also an investment in our future.