Location: East of Old School Square campus, between NE 1st & 2nd Avenues
Architect/Engineer: Garage design - PGAL/Eliopoulos
Contact: Joe Gillie, Director, Old School Square, (561) 243-7922; Diane Colonna, CRA Executive Director, (561) 276-8640

Project Description: The Downtown Plan incorporated ongoing plans to expand the Old School Square campus by creating a 2-acre park on the parking lot immediately to the east. This required the elimination of more than 170 public parking spaces that serve Old School Square and several nearby businesses. This parking has been replaced by the construction of a 500+ space parking garage at the north end of the block (fronting on NE 1st Street, between NE 1st and 2nd Avenues). The four-story public parking garage also houses 16,000 square feet of ground level retail space along Pineapple Grove Way (NE 2nd Ave.) and NE 1st Street, part of which will be occupied by the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. 

Phase 1 of the park began in September 2009 and was completed that December. Today, the park includes paved walkways, landscaped areas, seats and resting areas. Special lighting features and public art elements are expected will be incorporated into the park in the future.

The project is being funded from a voter-approved bond issue and a Florida Community Trust grant. In addition, the CRA contributed approximately $6.5 million toward the cost of the garage construction. The total project has an estimated cost of $15.7 million. Garage construction began in the fall of 2006 and was completed in November of 2007.