"They wanted spaces like a Starbucks where you could sit and work from," Leah Rockwell, West Palm Beach's parks and recreation director, told city commissioners, as The Palm Beach Post reported in July. "And we thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice if they worked from the community center at Howard Park?'"
That quote explains the next year for anyone in Flamingo Park. The city is designing Howard Park as a place to spend a morning, with a laptop, a coffee, and a kid at the playground. Meanwhile, the state is rebuilding the stretch of South Dixie Highway between Belvedere Road and Okeechobee Boulevard so it's easier to cross on foot. This fall sits between the old version and the new one. Some things close, some get torn up, and one institution on Park Place has its fullest calendar of the year.
What the city is building on Parker Avenue
Commissioners voted on July 20, 2026, to award a $7,549,398.15 contract to Shiff Construction and Development, Inc. for a replacement community center at Howard Park. The new building goes along Parker Avenue, just west of the current center.
Here's what the plans add, according to the Post's coverage:
- Larger activity rooms
- An exercise room
- A commercial kitchen
- A café with shaded outdoor seating
The kitchen and café are the new idea. Rockwell described them to commissioners as a way for parents to eat and relax while their children use the playground or attend a program, and as an answer to residents who asked for a quiet place to work outdoors. The current center doesn't close for good. It will be gutted and turned into an outdoor pavilion.
One feature does go away. The project removes the park's shuffleboard courts. If you've played there, plan your last games now.
What pauses, and what is expected to stay open
Howard Park covers 14 acres just south of downtown, and the rebuild affects only part of it. Here's how things stand going into the season:
| Part of the park | What to expect this fall |
|---|---|
| Community center, 1302 Parker Ave | Scheduled to close for renovations in fall 2026. The city lists (561) 804-4900 for updates. |
| Shuffleboard courts | Removed as part of the project |
| Tennis and Pickleball Center, 1101 Lake Ave | Rockwell said she didn't expect the project to affect it |
| Dog park | Rockwell said she didn't expect the project to affect it |
| Playground | Rockwell said she didn't expect the project to affect it |
| Picnic pavilion | Rockwell said she didn't expect the project to affect it |
Rockwell offered that as her expectation to commissioners. Call before you head over for a program. That matters most for anyone in classes held inside the center, including the cheer and dance programs Southeast Soul Allstars runs there. The tennis and pickleball center keeps its own phone line at (561) 804-4929.
There's no café opening date yet. The July 20 commission agenda sets substantial completion at 400 days after the city issues a Notice to Proceed, so the countdown starts when that notice is issued. Four hundred days is a little over a year. Even with a quick start, the new building is a 2027-and-later project, and the park will run without an indoor gathering space for at least that long.
The Armory picks up the slack through December
While the community center is scheduled to close, the Armory Art Center at 811 Park Place has a full late-fall schedule of classes, workshops and shows.
- Fall 2 class session, November 2 to December 12. Six weeks of classes starting the week of November 2, with registration open now.
- "Humorous" exhibition, November 2 to December 26. The opening reception is November 19.
- Make a Ring with Deborah Kashdan, November 18, 6 to 9 p.m. A single-evening Art Encounters workshop for $85, with supplies included.
- 10th Annual Creative Market, December 5 and 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free admission, with handmade-art vendors and demonstrations.
The dates line up well for a week of evenings. The ring workshop on Wednesday, November 18, falls the night before the "Humorous" reception, so two trips to Park Place cover both. The Creative Market falls on the first weekend of December, with free admission and artists demonstrating their work on site. For more of the season downtown, our downtown West Palm Beach events page has the wider calendar.
Rebuilding the walk on South Dixie
The same idea, making it easier to get somewhere on foot and stay a while, runs through the state's work on Flamingo Park's eastern edge. The Florida Department of Transportation's resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation project on S.R. 5/U.S. 1, which is South Dixie Highway here, covers 1.044 miles from Belvedere Road to just south of Okeechobee Boulevard. It began in April 2026 and is expected to run through early 2027, according to the City of West Palm Beach's October road report.
Most of it is street-level work. These are the pieces that change how you cross:
- A new signalized mid-block crosswalk north of Vallette Way
- Upgraded pedestrian signals at Belvedere Road and at Flamingo Drive, plus the crosswalk north of Cranesnest Way
- Overhead flashing beacons in the school zone north and south of Flamingo Drive
- LED lighting along the corridor and a new light at Flamingo Drive
- Curb ramps rebuilt to ADA criteria and sections of sidewalk replaced
Flamingo Drive appears in that list three times, more than any other cross street. The Flamingo Drive crossing gets new pedestrian signals, school-zone beacons and a new light, all in one project.
The cost is a slower drive this fall. Northbound U.S. 1 from Barcelona Road to Acacia Road has its outside lane closed through fall 2026 for drainage and concrete work. Short-term closures across the full corridor change week to week. The city's weekly road and dock report is the best source before a morning drive north, and FDOT takes questions at (866) 336-8435.
If you own near Howard Park or along South Dixie and want to talk through how these projects affect your home's location and how buyers might see it, Frater Realty is right downtown and happy to walk the blocks with you. Contact us whenever the timing works for you.
