History of change at Addison Mizner-designed Memorial Park

The march of time will mar any icon, be it of flesh and bones or concrete and rebar.

Memorial Fountain and Park long the stately postcard of Palm Beach is no exception.

Palm Beach Daily News publisher Oscar Davies proposed the park as a way to screen the fire bays fronting Town Hall and to honor town pioneers who made out-sized contributions to Palm Beachs development. Designed by Addison Mizner in 1929, the park has remained largely unchanged through the years.

The fountain will be reconstructed this season, and on Tuesday the Town Council will review a $3.3 million renovation plan for the park and streetscape. Town staff has broken the project into segments so the council could approval all of it or part of it.

Although the basic elements have remained the same, the park one visits today is not exactly as envisioned by Mizner more than 84 years ago. It has not been frozen in time, says longtime former town preservation consultant Jane Day.

The Australian pines, for example, that landscape architect Charles Perrochet had installed as a fountain backdrop and to further screen the fire bays on the north side of Town Hall were replaced early on by palm trees. Landscaping on each side of the reflecting pool has changed a number of times. Deteriorating portions of the fountain were repaired in 1975 and 1988.

The biggest change occurred in 1985, when curved monument walls designed by architect Ames Bennett were added to the parks north end.

The purpose of that was to expand the idea of a memorial, Day said.

The walls allowed space to honor more people. Today, inscribed on those wings are the names of all town residents who served in any war and the names of firefighters and police officers who died in the line of duty. The list includes President John F. Kennedy, who served in the Navy during World War II.

In 1991, the state gave the town a grant to repair and renovate the aging park. During that project, the main bowl of the fountain was patched, the depth of the reflecting pond was reduced to improve safety and the original tile from Mizner Industries was removed, Day said.

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History of change at Addison Mizner-designed Memorial Park