A Year's Worth of Accomplishments

From launching projects to opening new park features, District Commissioners guided the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District to one of the most impressive 12-month stints in its 50-year history.

Many new beginnings highlighted 2024 – none with a better view than Jacob's Outlook. Named for Jacob Kosowsky and made possible by a gift from the Kosowsky family, the Jacob's Outlook observation deck sits atop the new 44-foot tall Gumbo Limbo tower, which opened to the public in June.

ADA-accessible Jacob's Outlook provides a 360-degree view of Boca Raton, including the Intracoastal and the Atlantic.

March of 2024 marked the 50th Anniversary of the District's creation, and Commissioners – along with the City of Boca Raton - invited the entire community to celebrate.

Sugar Sand Park came alive on a Saturday in April as the City threw the District a birthday BBQ. Other celebratory events at Sugar Sand and Patch Reef parks included a photographic archival display, a tree giveaway, and free carousel rides on September Sundays.

District-owned parks Sugar Sand, Patch Reef and the Boca Raton Swim and Racquet Center, along with the District-funded Gumbo Limbo, also provided festive venues to help Boca Raton celebrate Independence Day, Halloween and the winter holiday season.

“It's been wonderful to see the District's relationship with the city grow even stronger this year,” District Commissioner Suzi Vogelgesang said. “When we work together like we have over the past year, we accomplish great things for the Boca Raton Community.”

In 2024 Commissioners advanced the District's mission of providing exceptional recreational facilities for the Boca Raton community by creating six additional pickleball courts at Patch Reef Park and adding a new surface at Sugar Sand's outdoor roller hockey rink that allows for futsal play.

A new roof and support columns at the Sugar Sand community center help ensure that visitors will be able to enjoy the Science Explorium, Willow Theatre and meeting rooms for years to come.

With an eye on improving the future, District Commissioners also launched multiple projects – two of which will enhance an already exceptional park, with another transforming the landscape of northern Boca Raton.

Ground has already been cleared and construction is underway on a state-of-the-art covered pickleball facility that will include 18 new courts. And in November crews began disassembling the Pirates Cove playground to clear space for an inclusive, all-accessible playground inspired by young Jordan Ogman. When complete the playground will allow children of all abilities to play side-by-side.

“Of all District's accomplishments during my tenure, this is the most important to me,” Commissioner Steve Engel said. “We are creating a playground that will allow special needs children to play with all of their friends and make new ones.”

The much anticipated North Park project on the site of what once was the Ocean Breeze Golf Course within Boca Teeca also achieved multiple milestones in 2024. District Commissioners approved the contract with Boca Paddle to created an indoor pickleball and padel facility on the site.

And in August the Boca Raton City Council approved the District's site design, allowing District to move forward with construction of a park that will transform a dilapidated golf course into a park that includes walking trails, biking trails, and some golfing features.    

“I think North Park, with all its trails, is going to be a fantastic project and that's the one I'm looking forward to the most,” District Chair Erin Wright said.

As significant as 2024 became, the projects at Patch Reef and North Park could make 2025 even more exciting.

“From an accomplishment perspective, it's exceptional they are all coming together right now,” District Commissioner Craig Ehrnst said. “This year, from the tower, to Ogman's park, to the Patch Reef pickleball, to the indoor center for pickleball coming up, all these things are coming together in a short window of time – 12-18 months. It took a long time to get them here. It will be worth the wait.”