Minutes 07-07-04MINUTES OF THE REGULAR f4EETZNG OF THE ARTS COMMISSION BOARD
HELD AT THE SCHOOLHOUSE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM,
129 EAST OCEAN AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLOR/DA,
ON WEDNESDAY, 3ULY 7, 2004 AT 6:30 P.M.
Present:
Debby Coles-Dobay, Chair
Richard Beaulieu, Vice Chair
Suzette Ars
Richard Brightfield
Raymond Marcinkoski
Kimberlee McGow
Anita Remer
Michael McGoey, Alternate
Linda Sage, Alternate
Arleen Dennison, Board Liaison
Call to Order
Chair Coles-Dobay called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and introduced Mr. Quintus
Greene, Director of Development for the City of Boynton Beach and Mr. Douglas
Hutchinson, Director of the CRA.
Minutes Approval
Corrections were made to the minutes as follows: On page 5, Mr. Brightfield made the
remark about the Sculpture Park on Pineapple Way in Delray Beach. On Page 6, Mr.
Marcinkoski stated that they had hauled six hundred (not six) yards of trash out of the
:Industrial Avenue area on their own. On Page 7 in the second paragraph, the remarks
attributed to Vice Chair Beaulieu were actually made by Mr. Brightfield. The minutes
were accepted with these changes.
III. Overview of Current Development Projects in Boynton Beach
Mr. Greene spoke of the background surrounding development in the City of Boynton
Beach. To make up for the significant financial loss of the City's largest taxpayer,
Motorola, the City was trying to attract large, upscale office and mixed-use
development to the City. To help accomplish this, the City had increased height and
density in the CRA district. The height maximum in the downtown core was now 150
feet, stepping back to 75 feet between the downtown core and Woolbright Road and
between downtown and the C-16 canal, and 45 feet further north and south. This area
was known as the Federal Highway Corridor, which runs from the ]:ntracoastal to the
Railroad. To encourage the type of development that would add to the City's tax
Meeting Minutes
Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
3uly 7, 2004
base and help pay the bills, the City also established a Suburban Mixed-Use zoning
district. ]:n short, development was being driven by a need to pay the bills and provide
the services that the citizens had a right to expect.
Mr. Greene explained tax-increment financing and the CRA's role in it. Mr. Hutchinson
added that the CRA was the marketing arm of the City and acted as a recommending
body to the City. Commission. ]~t told developers what they could do, and the
Development Department processed all project plans and told developers what they
must do.
Chair Coles-Dobay stated that the Board needed to know what projects were going on
so it could decide when, where, and how to impact them when it made decisions about
art in public places.
Mr. Greene commented that in the replacement for Motorola, Renaissance Commons,
the City was considering 1500 dwelling units, with over a quarter of a million square
feet of office, retail and residential. ]~t was a project that had five phases including
town homes, condos, apartments, retail, and office space. Mr. Hutchinson stated that
the total value of the project was $800M to $1B for the total acreage, including the
Winchester property. He added that residential projects did not have as much positive
effect on the tax base as mixed-use projects. As a side note, Renaissance Commons
would produce no more traffic than Motorola generated at the peak of its operation.
Chair Coles-Dobay asked if there were a way the Arts Commission could play a role in
the Renaissance/Winchester projects, or any other projects, with art. The Board
understood the financial considerations driving development, but wanted to know what
the current and anticipated projects would look like and what they would deliver to the
City. What image would they portray? What amenities would they have? Ms. Gow
wondered if the City was trying to project a particular image and if so what it was and
how this Board could help to articulate it. Ms. Dennison commented that it was
necessary for the Board to know what the community wanted the City to look like and
what it would look like.
Mr. Greene thought that the Board would benefit from taking a look at the existing site
plans for these and other projects. Later in the meeting, Mr. Hutchinson offered to
provide each Board member with a Notebook containing descriptions of all ongoing
projects in the City.
Mr. Greene commented that the City had crafted codes and ordinances to support
development, but not to dictate design or impose conformity. They had tried to
establish a framework within which development could operate. During the site plan
review process, staff, the Planning & Development or CRA Boards, and also the public
Meeting Minutes
Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
3uly 7, 2004
had an opportunity to review the design of projects and determine how they fit into the
context of what the community wanted.
Mr. Greene cited the Best Buy project as an example of what the City tried to do with
developers who wanted to build "ugly gray boxes." Best Buy wanted to build its usual
building, but the City asked them to establish their project within an existing building in
Catalina Centre. Best Buy did this and even made improvements at its own expense so
it would harmonize with the existing building and present a unified front. The Board
appreciated hearing that the City was trying to do this.
Mr. Greene alluded to the ground breaking that had taken place on the long-awaited
Marina project and assured the Board that the development of the Marina project was a
reality. The anticipated finish date was 18 months from June 2004. He deferred to Mr.
Hutchinson to give information about the other projects.
Mr. Greene mentioned that the City had been under serious consideration as the
headquarters site of Office Depot ~. Mr. Hutchinson added that Boynton
Beach had actually "won" this, but ultimately, the Office Depot Neme-4~e¢~ Board of
Directors turned Boynton Beach down because it did not believe that its shareholders
would want a headquarters facility in a small town overlooking the ocean. ]~f approved,
it would have brought 2,500 new jobs into the City and 600K square feet of office space
to the City's downtown. :It would have been sited in the block that now houses Bank of
America. Mr. Greene commented that one of the reasons the City had established an
Urban Central Business District was to accommodate a project like that. The City
needed a headquarters type of facility.
Mr. Greene remarked about a widely distributed map of Florida that Mr. Hutchinson had
on the wall in his conference room at the CRA office. This map showed Delray Beach,
West Palm Beach, and even Lake Worth, but Boynton Beach was not on the map,
literally. Chair Coles-Dobay stated that the Arts Commission was going to help to put
Boynton Beach ON that map.
Mr. Hutchinson stated that the City's tax base was currently $3B. The CRA area, in its
fifth year, had added $1B to the tax base, an addition of 30% from an area comprising
less than 3% of the town's total area, with another $1B coming from the Congress
Avenue area. Mr. Hutchinson had seen reports that called for 1% of the tax base to be
set aside for public art, and in this city that would be $30M.
Mr. Hutchinson felt that it was important not to "frame" art in Boynton Beach or put it
in a "box." He thought that to choose what the City wanted to look like and drive the
art to that would be a radical mistake. He was a firm believer in not putting a
mechanism in place to say that "X" percent of a particular project had to be devoted to
art. :In his opinion, much more could be achieved from the development community
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Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
3uly 7, 2004
through carrots and incentives than by forcing adherence to certain impact fees, rules
and measures of that kind.
The redevelopment of the Gulfstream Mall was given as a case in point. They were
trying to design a Mizner or CityPlace type of project to draw attention away from the
intersection and towards the plaza. Tf this project were to incorporate $1M in
architecture and commission $1M for public art, the public would be attracted to the
plaza and it would become "the" place to go. Ultimately, the developer would make
more money.
Office Depot was a very good corporate neighbor, a huge underwriter of community
projects and a corporate giver for the arts, but the City had not yet asked them for
grant assistance. Mr. Hutchinson felt that the City needed to learn how to ask for
things such as historic preservation and art grants.
To Mr. Hutchinson, the biggest challenge in the City was not finding money for art but
overcoming a general air of indifference to art. He felt that educating the public about
art and getting the public's interest in art could be as important for the Arts Commission
as finding funding and deciding what art to have and where to put it. He hoped that the
Arts Commission would not just establish a gallery, preferring instead that it provide
interactive, kinetic, "live" art, in which people could participate. He envisioned that this
type of art would be exciting and would cause people to remember it and tell their
friends about it, helping the City to become a destination.
The City was embarking on a $20M extension to Boynton Beach Boulevard called The
Promenade including a walk for public art. The gateway going into it was bordered by
two projects, one of which had already offered to give $75K for gateway art. The gravel
path along the Marina's north edge, from the sewage lift station to the Tntracoastal, will
be The Promenade, a major festival area having six pad sites for public art. The CRA
was not in favor of fountains from the standpoint of liability and maintenance. They
were hoping to have art that gave a feeling of motion. The conceptual idea at present
included some shaded areas that would look like sails from ships on masts. Also in
concept, there were drawings of 150-foot stainless steel bows of ships to depict
shipwrecks that had happened off the coast, with cables that looked like the ribs of a
ship. There would be two at either end of The Promenade and they could be seen for
many miles when lit up at night. This would cost about $1.5M and if the Arts
Commission had a program put in place, Mr. Hutchinson thought he could raise the
money for that fairly quickly. They wanted to have a heritage/marina feel to The
Promenade and envisioned an annual jury process for the public to select the next
year's art. He felt that funding for the artwork on The Promenade could be obtained
from public sponsors and grants from foundations. The CRA did not believe it was its
role to choose public art and welcomed the expertise of the Arts Commission in this
area.
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Meeting Minutes
Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
.luly 7~ 2004
Mr. Hutchinson said that developers had money set aside for landscaping and fountains
and other such amenities, and the Arts Commission could help the developer by
offering an exchange of goods and/or services. For example, the developer could give
$100K to the Arts Commission to select art to embellish the developer's project, and the
developer could get a tax deduction on the project. The Arts Commission could use the
$100K as the basis to pursue a challenge grant as well. When there was an unveiling
of the public art, arranged by the Arts Commission, the public would flock to the
developer's project and this would be to the developer's benefit. Developments offer
places where art can be clustered and appreciated by the public.
The CRA offered direct incentives to developers to provide better projects in terms of
landscaping, architecture, public areas, art, parking, massing, building textures, and
other amenities. ~[f a developer provided parking for his entire project, he would get
extra points, l~f he provided retail/hotel space, he would also get extra points. The
Arches was a prime example, having received $4.7M in incentives. This was a
benchmark and any projects that followed The Arches would have to provide even more
amenities to qualify for such incentives.
Mr. Hutchinson spoke of the area now housing Margie's Restaurant, saying that a hotel
and restaurant was planned for that area. The back of that development would face
the art walk and museum and the developer was asked to set aside significant funds to
make the area larger to accommodate a raised concrete stage for jazz and other
concerts. The developer had already committed to the art element on the gateway and
public right-of-way. Mr. Hutchinson felt the developer would be very amenable to
approach by the Arts Commission. The Arts Commission had to position itself as the
entity that provided approval. Publicity was what drove the developer's sales and the
Arts Commission could perform a service to the developers by offering this. The Arts
Commission could supply the grand openings, the wine and cheese parties, and the
publicity to assist the developer's project.
Chair Coles-Dobay stated that it was the Board's intention to do this and not to squeeze
money out of developers. The Board did not want to be another irritating element with
which developer's had to contend. The Board had to determine how it could become a
part of what was already going on and how to get money to do things. Mr. Hutchinson
stated that going through the Arts Commission could be made part of the scoring
process for new developments.
Ms. Dennison commented that the Board had been discussing whether they should
pursue 501(C)(3) status. The Arts Commission was not a City department and was not
affiliated with the City in the same way as other Boards. She stated that the
Schoolhouse Children's Museum had done this when they realized that people did not
want to make contributions to governmental entities.
Meeting Minutes
Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
3uly 7, 2004
Mr. Hutchinson said that if the Arts Commission had a vision and a process, and were
able to show that they could provide solutions for developers, finding funding would not
be a problem. Also, the CRA was about to produce design guidelines, and some things
could be put in there that would direct people to ask questions related to art.
Mr. Hutchinson spoke of an upcoming program called Movie Friday whereby Mr. Robert
Katz was going to project movies such as Grease and Beach Party onto the white side
of his building on the second Friday of each month. The CRA planned to underwrite this
for nine months and if BODA was not interested in picking it up, the CRA may be
interested in other non-profit groups stepping up to take advantage of it.
Mr. Hutchinson felt that the City had experienced a loss when it decided to discontinue
the GALA event since this was one venue where the public had been exposed to art.
On The Promenade, weekly arts events could be planned for the public plaza area and
this would give a lot of opportunities for the Arts Commission. The people would have
something to see and be entertained, and would support the local businesses as they
ate and drank.
!f a developer came to the Arts Commission and said, "! want to do a particular project
and ! have $100K for art. What can you do for me?" The Arts Commission should be
ready to respond with a series of steps and a process by which the developer's needs
could be met along with the public's need for art. When this happened, the Arts
Commission would have its first chance to "shine" and all eyes would be upon it. The
developer would lay out a project for the Arts Commission with a particular space. The
Arts Commission could ascertain what their budget was, what structural considerations
were operative, and offer to come back to the developer with options. The Arts
Commission could say it did not want a particular type of art but would recommend
another type, and give an example of how it would go about selecting the artists.
Chair Coles-Dobay stated that the Board had considered a lot of roadmaps that they
had taken from other art programs, so this was not something they would have to
invent from scratch.
Mr. Hutchinson thought that having a brochure authored by the Arts Commission would
be very useful and was something he could distribute to developers when they first
came to him with concepts for projects.
Mr. Greene asked, "Why art?" Chair Coles-Dobay stated that it helped to establish the
City's image and give historical credence to it. Also, history could be celebrated through
art. !t gave ownership to the community and educated the community.
Meeting Minutes
Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
3uly 7, 2004
Mr. Greene's background included an undergraduate degree in architecture. He believed
that architecture, done properly, was art, citing West Palm Beach's Kravitz Center, new
City Hall and Library, and the Mizner Center in Boca Raton as prime examples. Mr.
Greene felt that the City had a real need to present a unique piece of architecture.
also needed to establish itself as a destination, to provide something that would give
people a reason to go to Boynton Beach. With the exception of the Schoolhouse
Children's Museum, he did not believe that such an attraction currently existed.
The Old High School and Town Square concept were touched upon. The City had
already made the decision to renovate the school. The issue at present was
determining the uses for the building. Mr. Hutchinson believed that there were probably
more uses than space available in the building.
According to Mr. Hutchinson, The Arches and The Promenade were art forms in
themselves, mini-Mizner and CityPlaces. Some of the best architects in America were
designing those projects and would be presenting a classic interpretation of historical
Florida elements that could not be found in any other CRA area in the State of Florida.
Mr. Hutchinson gave a status report of the Savage Creatures of Ancient Seas, a project
that he had generated himself. Preliminary study results had shown a cost of $28M
compared to an original estimate of $26M. The original estimate was that the project
would bring in 200K people year and the preliminary study reported that it would bring
in close to 680K people a year. The original estimate was that it would bring in $500-
600K a year with CRA and all grant funding. This would be the third largest Standard
Metropolitan Statistical Area in America for tourist impact. The preliminary study
showed that the project would bring in $3M in profit each year, which meant that it
could fund itself without CRA underwriting, corporate giving, or memberships. Mr.
Hutchinson said that the South Florida Water Management District did not want the
water feature since it was next to mangroves. He thought that the City had the political
clout to make this happen, but they had never asked for it.
The Savage Creatures Museum would put Boynton Beach on the map and make it a
great destination. He said that regardless of where it was finally sited, at the Marina, in
Town Square, or elsewhere, it would bring a museum system to Boynton Beach for the
first time.
Mr. Hutchinson praised the Children's Schoolhouse Museum, and thought that it was
time for the City to step out and go after similar projects. Ms. Dennison stated that the
Arts Commission could develop its plan and make a recommendation to the City
Commission.
Some future projects included a second hotel, an office tower, and a trolley system.
Over $2.5M in grants had been found for the Old High School, and another grant for
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Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
3uly 7, 2004
$360K for the trolley system. The CRA area now had its own dedicated Police force with
four full-time officers with cars and bicycles.
A discussion ensued about why the Scripps Institute had opted to come to Florida, and
the reason was that the wealthiest area in America was now in Boca Raton, Florida,
which boasted a large number of corporate headquarters. Scripps generated over 60%
of its funding from donations.
The image of Boynton Beach in relation to art was discussed briefly. The comment was
made that "museum quality" should be the guideline.
The cultural profile of Boynton Beach was discussed. It was thought that the City was
in transition between a working class culture and a culture more oriented to the arts.
The fear of cultural displacement and change were mentioned. Mr. Greene commented
that every community had a culture and whatever it was, it was valid. The Heart of
Boynton was a community with a particular history and culture, but it was badly in need
of redevelopment. Redeveloping that community, bringing in new housing, and at the
same time respecting the existing history and culture, was a major challenge. Chair
Coles-Dobay stated that art could help to give validation to the history and culture of
the Heart of Boynton community.
In response to a question from the Board about art in the Heart of Boynton, Mr.
Hutchinson responded that the CRA was assembling 6 acres in that area and should be
finished by the first part of 2005. The Arts Commission could meet with the developers
in the spring of 2005 and pose the question, "How do you intend to address public art
in your development?"
The ways and means of the Arts Commission making an impact in the various
developments was discussed. The conclusion was that it should concentrate its efforts
on one area at a time for the maximum impact and after that, success would build on
success. Mr. Hutchinson commented that there would be some competition between
developers and that this could benefit the Arts Commission in its goal of establishing
public art. A developer who saw a successful result from having art in public places
would not want to have the only development in town without any art. Mr. Greene
suggested that the Winchester property project was in its very earliest stages and that
the Arts Commission could have an impact there.
The Boynton Beach Mall was discussed as an opportunity for the arts through
redevelopment. For example, the Macys space would soon be occupied by a Muvico
theater. Mr. Hutchinson said that the Boynton Beach Mall was under pressure to
increase its revenues and would probably be very amenable to a presentation by the
Arts Commission showing them a plan that would generate increased traffic for the
Mall. One of the hottest trends in Malls at this time was to bring museum and art
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Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
.luly 7~ 2004
elements into the malls. The Boynton Beach Mall was now the City's #1 taxpayer and
had to be kept healthy. This point was emphasized by repetition. Contributing to its
success made a lot of fiscal sense.
Tn order for the Arts Commission to impact public art, it had to be prepared. There was
some concern about how it would know when to act. Mr. Hutchinson explained that he
would make sure that the developers contacted the Arts Commission because he was
interested in having Boynton Beach become known as "the" place to live with its art and
cultural attractions. His job was to bring bigger, better, award-winning, projects to the
City. He believed that investing in the community helped to bring in projects.
The demographic profile of the City was discussed. The current population was thought
to be close to 62-63K. Families with children were more in evidence than in the past.
The median age was dropping with the largest decline experienced in the group aged
65 and over. Mr. Greene stated that the Marina project would attract singles, empty
nesters, and couples, while the Winchester/Renaissance projects would attract more
families with children.
The Board asked for further comment about an Arts Commission brochure. Mr.
Hutchinson said that the Arts Commission could state that it had a Developer's Services
Division as part of its organizational structure. He suggested that the Board research
how to get local artists commissioned for various projects. He thought it would need a
"stable" of quality art. The comment was made that a new City Hall would have to be
built before putting sculpture in front of it.
Mr. Hutchinson shared some of his personal ideas pertaining to art. He wanted the
Board's input on an event where outhouses would be painted and judged. He believed
there was a potential that he could get two-year art school scholarships for the
winner(s) and paint through sponsors. The outhouses would go to festivals, to job sites,
and be put on display, becoming icons of a sort. From that, he wanted to see a local
art gallery that would bring the raw talent in the area together under one roof. It
would not only be a gallery where one could view art, but would be a place that
generated money. He envisioned cultivating talent through events or fun types of art
demonstrations. Mr. Hutchinson wanted to discover unknown artists in Boynton Beach,
who might only come to light if given such opportunities to participate.
Mr. Hutchinson asked the Board to think of projects other than just development ones,
and to try to involve the local community. He envisioned "out of the box" events rather
than a regular art show. For example, 4,000 pounds of scrap metal could be provided
so people could make a kinetic sculpture. Kite building was another suggested event.
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Arts Commission
Boynton Beach, Florida
.~uly 7, 2004
Mr. Hutchinson wanted to work with the Arts Commission on events. Delray Beach
spent $1.2M a year on events. His office spent $36K last year, and expected to spend
$60K this year. The CRA Board was not convinced that it should be involved in the arts
issue and it would be helpful for organizations like the Arts Commission to come to his
Board and explain how the use of art could help to bring bigger and better projects to
the City.
Ms. Dennison distributed handouts from Public Art 101 Curricular Book of the Seattle
Arts Commission. The articles specifically pertained to the Visual Artists Rights Act, and
the Federal Copyright Laws. There was also an article discussing a proposed impact fee
on developers in Wellington to pay for art in public places. The Board was also provided
with a document pertaining to funding and the expenses associated with the
procurement of art.
At Ms. Dennison's suggestion, each Board member introduced himself or herself to Mr.
Greene and Mr. Hutchinson, giving them a feel for their individual backgrounds and
experience. The Board contains many talented business people and community
members in the areas of art, marketing, finance, and business.
Mission Statements
The Board agreed to defer this topic until the next meeting.
Next Meeting:
August 2, 2004 at 6:30 p.m., Schoolhouse Children's
Museum
VT[. Adjournment
Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned
at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Collins
Recording Secretary
(071004)
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