On Dec. 16, 2025, crews moved the Little Red Schoolhouse about 100 feet to a new site inside Phipps Ocean Park, the Palm Beach Daily News reported. The building dates to 1886 and is the oldest structure in Palm Beach. It flooded again and again at its old spot in the park, and saving it was what started the whole renovation, WLRN reported.
The park is being rebuilt around the planting and the walking routes more than the beach facilities. Phipps Ocean Park covers 18 acres and runs from the Atlantic to the Intracoastal Waterway. The Phipps family gave it to the town in 1948. It's coming back as a planted, walkable park meant to be crossed on foot, with the beach at one end and mangroves at the other.
The Date Moved Three Times Before It Settled
People who have been waiting since May 1, 2025, have seen several reopening dates. Here is how the target shifted:
- April 2025: The town said the park would be closed from May 1, 2025, through Oct. 1, 2026, with only the tennis center and its parking reopening earlier, according to WPTV.
- April 2026: The Palm Beach Daily News reported the town was aiming for September. Town Engineer Patricia Strayer told the Town Council that design changes had made the completion date less certain.
- Later in 2026: The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach's project page said the park would stay closed until November 2026.
The Foundation has now set the date. The public ribbon cutting and grand opening is Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 11 a.m. The event is free and open to the public, and you register in advance through the Foundation's event page. The listing gives the address as 2201 South Ocean Boulevard.
The racquet center came back first. The renovated tennis facility reopened on Nov. 1, 2025, as the first finished phase, with two new pickleball courts added to meet demand. The Palm Beach Tennis Centers page lists Phipps Racquet Center hours as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Ocean Edge Is a 22-Foot Dune
The beach is still there, with new pavilions, a lifeguard tower, restrooms, benches, and picnic tables. The biggest change on the coastal side is the dune behind it. The plan calls for a 22-foot-high oceanfront dune system, meant to control erosion and shelter the plants behind it.
The amount of planting is what sets this project apart. Preservation Foundation CEO Danielle Del Sol told WLRN that staff were "growing, buying or contracting to grow 80,000 plants, a lot of which haven't been in the park for decades." The species are native to barrier islands. They include native trees and palms, flowering shrubs, dune grasses, and groundcovers, including the red-flowered Salvia coccinea and Florida firebush, chosen to bring in hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.
The park is also meant to be safe for children. The plan uses no toxic pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides of any kind. That matters because the next part of the park is planned mainly around kids.
The Schoolhouse Moved First
The Little Red Schoolhouse was Southeast Florida's first schoolhouse. It opened in 1886 and closed in 1901. Then it spent years as a garden shed at Casa Bendita, the Palm Beach estate of John S. Phipps. In 1960 the Gardener's Society of Palm Beach rescued and restored it, and the town moved it to Phipps Ocean Park. Its new spot near the dune keeps it out of the frequent flooding and high winds it faced before. That protects the Foundation's living history program, in which fourth graders spend a day getting an 1890s education. During construction, the program has been running at Yesteryear Village at the South Florida Fairgrounds.
The plan puts a new native plant nursery and propagation center next to the schoolhouse. It is meant to supply plants for dunes inside the park and elsewhere in town. Sources use two names for it. The Foundation calls it the Coastal Restoration Center, and WLRN calls it the Kenneth C. Griffin Coastal Conservancy. Expect to hear both.
The town's plan for the same area also calls for an outdoor classroom and a schoolyard garden. A playground designed by the Danish firm Monstrum is planned nearby. Del Sol told WLRN that the park "will now be ADA-accessible, which it wasn't before."
The West Edge Is Mangroves
The Phipps parcel runs all the way across the island, which is rare among public beach parks. The Foundation describes it as a public beach and park reaching from the Atlantic to the Intracoastal, with 1,200 feet of oceanfront. The new trail system makes full use of that. According to WLRN, about two miles of curving trails wind through the dunes, so you can watch the sunrise from the beach and the sunset over the Intracoastal on the same visit.
The Intracoastal side is getting its own restoration. Invasive snake plant is being removed and the existing mangroves are being expanded to steady the shoreline. In WLRN's account, the mangroves also serve as a nursery for young fish and a nesting area for egrets, herons, kingfishers, pelicans, ibis, and roseate spoonbills.
Raymond Jungles summed up the idea in WLRN's report:
"By bringing back the plants that were supposed to be here, you actually create a natural landscape that's self-sustaining."
Who Paid for It, and Who Stays On
A park built around 80,000 plants needs ongoing care, and the funding setup reflects that. The Town Council approved the renovation in 2021. Bids came in higher than expected, so the project was rebid with more complete drawings. In February 2025, the council approved a revised contract with Burkhardt Construction at a guaranteed maximum price of $31 million, $2 million less than the earlier figure.
Most of the money came from private donors. Before work began, the Foundation announced a $7 million gift from Ken Griffin, which brought donations to $29 million. In November 2024, the town approved a $2 million capital grant and signed an operating agreement with the Foundation. The Foundation counts 11 landmark donors at $1 million or more, 20 major donors, and 65 community donors who gave between $5,000 and $250,000.
The Foundation isn't stepping away after the ribbon cutting. "We are responsible for a portion of the maintenance of the park forever and we're going to be working with the town in perpetuity," Del Sol told WLRN. That long-term commitment is a big reason the plantings, the nursery, and the schoolhouse program can work together.
What Hasn't Been Published Yet
Several practical details hadn't been posted publicly as of mid-October 2026:
- Parking rates and the number of spaces for the reopened park
- Daily park hours outside the racquet center
- Rules on dogs and other uses of the trails and beach
The town's Phipps Ocean Park Transformation page is the place the town named for construction updates. Separately, the Town Council delayed a vote again in September on a proposed program to regulate commercial beach chairs and furniture on public beaches, according to the Palm Beach Post. Reporting so far hasn't said whether Phipps would be covered.
If you want a longer outing on the island, the new trails pair well with the town's other outdoor spots: the Lake Trail farther north, and the oceanfront Par 3 course on the South End. The Palm Beach neighborhood page covers more of the island.
Phipps Ocean Park is one of the main public spaces on the South End, and a renovation this size shapes daily life on that part of the island. If you'd like to understand what the reopening means for homes and buildings nearby, Greg Forest Group can walk you through it. Request a private market consultation.
