Last year, the City Council had fast tracked one of the biggest public land transfers in the history of Boca Raton without most residents knowing about it. It was moving under the radar and they were preparing to hand over 31 acres of prime real estate in the center of downtown—owned by the public—by themselves with no public vote and without any basic studies being done, not even an appraisal of the land.
Part of this plan involved bulldozing Memorial Park, the largest public park in downtown and a World War II Memorial Park dedicated to our veterans. They were going to allow developers to take over the 31 acres of public land and build high rise condos, office buildings, and a hotel on top of it. They planned to cut down the two iconic Banyan trees that adorn our entrance to City Hall. They planned to destroy the Ball Fields, including Boca’s Original Ball Field of 1947. They planned to destroy the tennis center. They planned to destroy the skate park. They planned to destroy the children’s playground. They planned to destroy the soccer field and the basketball court. They planned to cut down the city’s tree garden.
And they were going to get away with it without most citizens even knowing about it…Until Save Boca fought back and got the project to a public vote.
Over the past year, the prior City Council of Boca Raton planned to bulldoze Memorial Park, a WWII Memorial Park and the largest park in downtown and hand it over to private developers to build high rises on top of it. For far too long, the residents of Boca have been swept aside for the interests of private developers. Save Boca fought back and on March 10th the project was sent to a public vote (it was never planned for a public vote—and was intended to be passed through by a 5-person Council vote only—until Save Boca and our residents fought back). 75% of voters in a historic turn-out at the March 10th election stood with Save Boca in the voting booth and turned down the project. Thank you to everyone who Saved Our City.
We could’ve woken up one day to find bulldozers destroying Memorial Park and our Banyan trees. But Save Boca and our residents fought back to protect the future of our city.
On March 10th, 75% of Boca voters made their voices heard loud and clear and stood with Save Boca in the voting booth. Not one square foot of our public land or parks was handed over to private developers.
The March 10th election was a pivotal victory in the fight to preserve the city we love. We have set a course of protecting our way of life and preserving our legacy as a City Within a Park for our next centennial. The hard work begins now to fulfill the mandate.
75% of voters stood with Save Boca in the voting booth on March 10th and voted NO. Thank you for fighting for the future of our city.