By Hannah Morse
Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

More than four years after a piece of Palm Beach history closed to the public, officials have agreed to a set of terms that would see the county take over the bunker built for President John F. Kennedy and other historical properties on a portion of Peanut Island.

Palm Beach County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a 30-year lease with the Port of Palm Beach for $10 a year, following a “long and trying period” of nearly a year to hammer out the lease’s details, said Eric Call, the county’s parks director. Port commissioners unanimously agreed to the lease in December.

The county will be in charge of managing, maintaining and renovating the Kennedy bunker, built to shield the president in case of a nuclear attack during one of his visits to Palm Beach, as well as the former Coast Guard station built in 1936 and its boathouse for recreational and educational purposes on six acres of Peanut Island. The county has also leased 36 acres from the port since 1994 and has run the property as a park, which as become popular with boaters, snorkelers and anglers.

“I think this is a jewel for all of Palm Beach County,” County Commissioner Maria Marino told port commissioners last month. “And the faster we can get it done and get it approved and people visiting and seeing the historic value of it, the better.”

Yet a “significant amount” of work, as well as permitting and fundraising, is needed to restore the historical facilities, Call said.

“I would expect it will be several years before it is accessible to the public,” he noted.

State Rep. Mike Caruso requested $1.5 million from the legislature for the project. A similar request submitted last session did not make it out of committee.

Commissioners also approved $100,000 of park impact fee dollars, generated from new construction, toward the design and engineering of the renovation project.

Between 1992 and 2017, the Palm Beach Maritime Museum managed nearly 6 acres on the island that contain the historical properties, a time rife with disagreements and code violations, while the properties needed millions of dollars worth of repairs.

But the nonprofit did not renew its lease and the port revisited the idea of a county takeover. Instead, Riviera Beach was in talks with the port until December 2020, a point at which the county and towns of Palm Beach Shores and Palm Beach disagreed with the city’s vision of redevelopment over restoration.

There were no hard feelings from Riviera Beach representatives as port commissioners agreed to the lease terms with the county.

“We are certainly excited and we are here to support our municipal partners, as well as the county, in making sure that this is a success and something that is preserved for future generations,” Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans said. “I don’t foresee any situations where the county will not fulfill every expectation, as they have the bandwidth and the staff that’s committed and has the right motives to move this forward.”