JACOB'S OUTLOOK: Boca's Best View

As a youngster, Jacob Kosowsky loved climbing to the top of the Gumbo Limbo tower to view nature's splendor.

Beginning next year, Jacob's name will be permanently associated with that beauty.

A gift of more than half a million dollars from the Kosowsky family and friends is playing a pivotal role in rebuilding the tower, with the observation deck atop the structure being named “Jacob's Outlook.”

“When the kids were younger they always went to visit the tower,” said Stephen Kosowsky, Jacob's father. “Jake was a lover of the ocean and conservation. It was a natural fit.”

A 2016 graduate of Boca Raton High School, Jacob died in a 2018 Utah traffic accident. At the time Jacob was enrolled at Vanderbilt University – the school that his sister, Mia, also attended and graduated from in 2021.

“Jake was a coastal steward, for lack of a better term,” Stephen said. “He did believe in environmental protection and he loved fishing and diving - all the Florida things.”

In 2015, corrosion prompted the original Gumbo Limbo tower's closure – and, ultimately, it's dismantling. 

Like the original tower, Jacob's Outlook will rise 40 feet, offering a 360-degree view that will include the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. The Kosowsky family and friends' gift ensures that the tower is ADA accessible, via a series of switchback ramps.

Jacob's Outlook will feature a plaque honoring Jacob. The inscription on it penned by Jacob's mother, Sharilyn Jones, reads:

JACOB'S OUTLOOK
A vista to inspire the soul 
From the depths of the ocean 
to the skies above 
In loving memory of Jacob Kosowsky
May you be moved by its beauty 
And hold it in your heart 

The tower allows the Kosowsky family to share a little bit of their son with the Boca Raton community.

“I think absolutely, that's our vision of it,” Stephen said.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District funds the Gumbo Limbo Center, located on A1A north of Palmetto Park Rd. Stephen credits District Commissioner Craig Ehrnst, a family friend who coached a young Jacob in the Soccer Association of Boca Raton, with suggesting the project.

Ehrnst remembers Jacob as being very bright, giving and humble. 

“I think Jacob's Outlook will bring more people to Gumbo Limbo to enjoy some of the peace and tranquility of Gumbo Limbo, and at the same time it's a very fitting memorial to Jacob,” Ehrnst said.

Tower construction is already underway. It is expected to be open to the public in the spring of 2024.

“I look forward to going up there,” Stephen said. “Our son Jake was very contemplative, so I'm looking forward to sitting up there, enjoying the view and contemplating.”