A LITTLE-KNOWN campaign to raise money to restore the shuttered Hobe Mountain observation tower in Jonathan Dickinson State Park is getting a major boost thanks to an unlikely source.
This summer, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection quietly drew up a proposal to raze and remove the popular tower as part of a plan to build golf courses at the southern Martin County park.
When details of the plan were made public for the first time Aug. 20, in the Tampa Bay Times, it sparked protests from passionate park users and bipartisan condemnation from politicians.
Five days later, the agency withdrew its JD Park plans. And on Aug. 28, Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to backpedal, calling the plan “half-baked” and saying his agency was “going back to the drawing board.’’
While the controversy was upsetting to thousands of people, it shined a spotlight on needed repairs to the 25-foot tower and inspired thousands of dollars in donations to restore it.
“I have to tell you, as mad as I am, I was like ‘Thank you, Gov. DeSantis.’ Thanks to him for spotlighting this,’’ said Wendy Morse, president of Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park, a nonprofit dedicated to raising money for park projects.
Built in 1966, the timber tower sits atop Hobe Mountain, an ancient sand dune 86 feet above sea level. The upper platform offers breathtaking views of the 10,500-acre park, the Indian River Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean.
But the tower has been closed to the public since April 17, the day the park received a state-commissioned engineering report that said the structure was unsafe and in need of thousands of dollars in repairs. The 700-foot boardwalk leading to the base of the tower remains open.
The engineering survey was done after park staff and volunteers called attention to the tower’s deteriorating condition. The report, which said some wooden pilings have lost up to 25 percent of their capacity, includes photographs of beams and decking “showing signs of shear failure’’ and wood rot.
The report recommended two options: $145,000 in repairs that would add five years to the tower or $175,000 to build a new one.
After the engineering report was issued, Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park launched a fundraising campaign on its website for a new tower.
Because the nonprofit wasn’t actively advertising the tower campaign — the group had been focusing on raising money for other park projects — less than $200 had been donated for the tower when news broke about the state’s golf course plan.
But over the past 10 days, as the tower gained prominence in media reports about the aborted DEP proposal, that amount has jumped to more than $8.000, according to the donation portal on Friends’ website. The campaign's goal is $200,000.
One resident launched a GofundMe page that has raised more than $1,000 for the project. Jupiter Town Councilman Cameron May posted a call for donations on Protect Jonathan Dickinson State Park, a Facebook page with more than 47,000 followers since it was launched in response to the state’s golf course proposal.
“If EVERY person in here donated just $5 to Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park, that would raise $236,500 for the tower,’’ May wrote. “Let’s get this done!’’
Morse said she hopes to “galvanize some of the support that has already come out’’ and eventually host a charrette for ideas on the new tower.
The costs of a new tower could exceed $200,000 depending on ideas collected from the public. For example, Morse said she’d like to add ramps or an elevator to make it more accessible for the handicapped and elderly. The existing tower has stairs.
“To truly elevate the experience and ensure accessibility for all visitors, including features like an accessibility ramp, the costs could rise significantly,’’ said Morse, who said a model could be a new tower at Caladesi Island State Park north of Dunedin.
“We see this as a unique opportunity, with enough community support, to create something even better — a state-of-the-art observation tower that surpasses the original in both function and form.’’
The first step is to raise enough money for an architect or designer to draw up plans, said Morse, a former West Palm Beach police captain.
But she said many park users feel a sense of urgency to restore the tower, noting that DEP could come back in a year or later with a new proposal that could include razing the tower.
“I would love to hold a public meeting at JD for folks to come out and help determine what this tower would look like,’’ she said. “I'd love to do a big public engagement activity around that but I would also love to get this thing rebuilt before this (DEP) plan is re-done.’’
The aborted golf course proposal at JD State Park, part of a larger statewide plan to add hotels and pickleball courts at eight other Florida state parks, involved two of the biggest names in golf: Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, according to NBC News.
“There were actually going to be at least two courses; one would be a Tiger course and one would be a Jack course,” Eugene Stearns, an attorney who represents Nicklaus, told NBC News.
© 2024 ByJoeCapozzi.com All rights reserved.
Pease help support local journalism by clicking the donation button in the masthead on our homepage.
About the author
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.
Comments