Two of the three medians on Royal Poinciana Way – Palm Beach’s historic “main street” – will soon undergo a landscaping redesign that will beautify the high-profile space while making it easier and safer to traverse.
The transformation of the two medians between North County Road and Cocoanut Row/Bradley Place is scheduled to begin in June and reach completion by November, when seasonal residents will be returning to the island.
The Garden Club of Palm Beach is spearheading the medians makeover and covering the lion’s share of the cost.
“It’s our biggest project to date,” said Ginny Parker, town beautification chair of the garden club, founded in 1928.
Parker and garden club President Christine Aylward were joined by other club representatives, Town Council members, town employees and residents at a groundbreaking Wednesday on the east median.
SMI Landscape Architecture, the firm behind many beautification projects in Palm Beach, including the tidal garden in Bradley Park, is responsible for the complimentary redesign.
Jorge Sanchez, longtime resident and founder and principal of SMI Landscape Architecture, said the firm’s contribution was a matter of civic pride.
“This is my town, and I love it,” he said. “Anything I can do for the town – I’m here for it.”
The re-do will cost around $900,000, according to Palm Beach Public Works Director Paul Brazil. The council will decide at an upcoming meeting if the town, which owns the medians, will pay some of the cost.
The iconic royal palms that flank the medians will remain. But the existing kaleidoscope plant beds, which date to 2009, and St. Augustine grass will be removed in favor of new plantings and a freshly graded surface with CitraZoy, a dark green zoysia grass that is fine textured and soft to touch.
Following an elegant parterre plan, each median will have five circular plantings surrounded by an oval-shaped, crushed shell pathway tucked behind shallow ilex hedges.
Three of the five plantings on each median will be adorned with a native lignum vitae broadleaf evergreen tree with blue flowers that become orange seed pods. Though full, the lignum vitae is not a shade tree.
As a landmarked vista of the town, the medians are considered a visual space and not a park.
Parker said that, although the redesign is a beautification initiative, its larger purpose is to create a safe and accessible crossing for residents.
Councilman Ted Cooney, who lives on Royal Poinciana Way, said the new design will be a vast improvement.
“I regularly traverse this space and see that it isn’t terribly pedestrian friendly,” he said. “The plan they are going to execute this summer will make it so much more [crossable] and beautiful.”
The original scope of the project was scaled back to fit budgetary constraints. But Parker said the club is optimistic that this will ultimately become the first phase of a broader initiative.
The Garden Club envisions future phases that would add native shade trees along the north and south sides of Royal Poinciana Way, as well as the re-planting of the street’s third median, west of Cocoanut Row and Bradley Place, she said.
The Garden Club is proud of its legacy of advancing town beautification, Parker said. Its contributions are visible from all three principal entrances to Palm Beach, from the stately royal palms that line Royal Palm Way to the recent restoration of the Southern Boulevard traffic circle.
“With the enhancement of the Royal Poinciana Way medians … we are honored to complete the transformation of the town’s gateways, enriching both the quality and the beauty of life in our beloved community,” she said.
Council President Bobbie Lindsay, who is a garden club member, expressed the town’s appreciation.
“This is just another thing that the garden club has continued to do to make our town more beautiful,” Lindsay said. “We’re so proud of it.”
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