Photo: Kim Frisbie
Photo: Kim Frisbie
“I was fortunate to have a recent tour of the wonderful Phipps Ocean Park. This exciting project will be a tremendous gift to the residents of Palm Beach.
The Preservation Foundation’s plans for the renovation of this 18-acre area include educational facilities and native landscaping to promote and restore environmental sustainability. In 1948, the Phipps family donated 1,200 feet of ocean frontage for use as a public park to ensure the land remained open in perpetuity. The park has not been well-managed in the intervening 75 years, is grossly underutilized, and currently consists of just some random paths and picnic tables with a few cabanas. Plantings are infested with invasive species including Brazilian pepper and melaleuca, and it is not an inviting area to visit.
Enter the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach in 2019 with a master plan for the park, incorporating educational facilities with native landscaping to restore, protect and preserve the coastal and intracoastal vegetation. Unique, diverse, and extraordinary spaces will inspire visitors to understand and appreciate the importance of environmental sustainability. With Raymond Jungles’ vision to promote the park as a nature preserve, it will be planted with only native species, capturing the original spirit of the land as the Phipps family knew it. Visitors will gain exceptional education and information on plants they can add to their own landscapes, seeing how different species grow on coastal and inland areas…
Phipps Ocean Park will also embody an important coastal restoration center dedicated to growing native species for the park and for the Town of Palm Beach. This nursery/propagation facility will provide hands-on activities for children and adults for restoring coastal ecosystems throughout the island or in their own landscapes…
The historic Little Red Schoolhouse, built in 1886 and recently restored to its one-room glory, will interact with a new outdoor classroom sponsored by the Garden Club of Palm Beach to provide additional educational opportunities for children in an engaging native setting…”
— Kim Frisbie, Palm Beach Daily News