NEW WEATHER STATION in KEY WEST is Hurricane Proofed for Category 5

DID THE NEW KEY WEST HURRICANE CENTER GET IT RIGHT?

We all sure hope we never know, but it’s likely that we will find out one of these days, with the hurricane season coming closer.

One of the most secure weather centers now, the new National Weather Service's Key West office, a $5.1MM building, can withstand a Category 5 huuricane, taking 165 mph winds. The glass could crack but not shatter the building sits at about 14’ above sea level, above a large storm surge – and even the flagpole can withstand the Category 5 winds without snapping. So they tell us.

Located near an airport, where planes on the runway could slide into the building with heavy winds, the concrete slab walls and bunker area around the office bathrooms (which can withstand 255 mph winds) would not collapse due to anything crashing into its side walls. The Office Staff’s families can join them in the building during a hurricane.

Walls are being decorated by children’s artwork and by local artists as well. Tours are conducted.
Suggestion: If this works, why not repeat it everywhere, and eventually have large buildings where people can go for safety during a bad hurricane – just include enough bathrooms and kitchen facilities for a multitude of people, please! This MAY BE the way of the future!

For information about homes for sale in Boca Raton, stay on and return to this blog. Questions are welcome and will be responded to soon. Blog is founded by Marilyn Farber Jacobs, Realtor, ePRO of Lang Realty in Boca Raton.

Prices range from about $100,000 for active over age 55 residents toover $5,000,000 for oceanfront condos and homes and gated golfing communities which require equity fees and annual dues. There is something for everyone. For families with children, Boca has A-rated public schools and private schools. Sport facilities abound (golf, tennis, fishing, e.g.) and the beaches are the best anywhere. Restaurants, shopping (from flea markets to the most upscale stores), concerts, theatre, airports... all are within Boca or nearby.

For detailed information about Boca Raton, go to www.MarilynJacobs.com, EXPLORE THE AREA, and click on "click here for more information...." under BOCA RATON. You can SEARCH THE MLS on this site, see many homes for sale on the home page, and look over communities in EXPLORE THE AREA.Life is GOOD in BOCA RATON... C'mon down!-Marilyn Jacobs

June 13 Boca Council Hearing set for 172 homes off Yamato

A public hearing is set for June 13 on two ordinances aimed at bringing a 172-home development to Yamato Road which would include 140 town homes and 32 single-family residences. The development will be guarded and gated and include a clubhouse and pool.

After the hearing, the ordinances will be reviewed by the Department of Community Affairs, and if approved, then another hearing will be scheduled which will require four of the five council members vote of approval. One ordinance would amend the future land use map of the city's Comprehensive Paln by changing part of the 23 acres at 5051 Broken Sound Boulevard from light industrial use to residential. The other ordinance would designate the remained of the land from light industrial to multi-family use.

6-15-06
FINAL HEARING IN AUGUST ON AFFORDABLE HOMES
AT YAMATO & BROKEN SOUND BLVD
The Developer of a proposed 172-unit residential complex has voluntarily offered Boca $3-MM for an affordable housing trust fund if the company gets the go-ahead to construct 140 townhouses and 32 single family residence on property that was once eyed by Office Depot as the site of its new headquarters. Almost a million additional dollars were offered for offsite improvements and onsite work and included a contribution to the city’s beautification fund.

The homes would abut a county-owned marshland at the northwest corner of the property. To the south would be Blue Lake, and beyond is city-owned property being developed into the d Hoernle Park, a massive recreation area that already includes the city’s dog park and the partially constructed western library.
The Council voted to transmit the plan to the State Dept of Community Affairs for review, and a hearing is tentatively scheduled in August, which will require 4 of the 5 council members to vote “yes” because the project needs universal approval, a rezoning, a planned unit development master plan, a site plan and an easement abandonment.

MUSICAL and other CULTURAL and SOCIAL PRESENTATIONS

EXHIBITIONS at the BOCA RATON MUSEUM OF ART

To June 11th: Documenting China: Contemporary Photography and Social Change

To June 18th: Edward Burtynsky: The China Series; Graham Nickson: From Private Collections; William Crutchfield – Drawing Range

55th Annual All Florida Juried Competition and Exhibition
The Museum’s All Florida exhibition annually showcases the best prominent and emerging Florida artists working in all media today. As the state’s oldest annual juried competition, the Museum’s All Florida has introduced the work of thousands of Florida artists – emerging, underrecognized, and established younger and mid-career artists. Representing a dynamic contemporary cross-section of our state’s talent, the 55th All Florida Juried Exhibition reinforces the Museum’s commitment to Florida artists, provides professional exhibition opportunities for emerging artists, and reveals a provocative glimpse — through Florida artists’ eyes — of the state-of-the-art today. More than 1,300 artworks were submitted for the 54th Annual All Florida, and 76 artists were selected by Juror Louis Grachos from the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, New York.

Florida's best prominent and emerging artists compete each year to be included in Florida's oldest statewide juried show. More than 100 entries, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation and video are selected for this "must-see" contemporary cross-section of our state's talent.

June 25: Juror selects award winners
June 27: Opening reception, 6-9 pm; Awards presentation 7 pm
June 28 - August 27: Exhibition open to the public
Call 561.392.2500, ext. 210 or 222 for more information.

Events for BAM Members include BAM's Moveable Feast, Saturday, June 3 from 6-10pm$75 BAM Members; $100 All OthersPurchase tickets ONLINE ONLY - CLICK HERE

Join BAM for a tasty Scavenger Hunt as we travel through Boca Raton in a fleet of limousines! Guests will stop at the Museum for the first clue which will lead them to a top secret location for the first course of the night. Limos will meet guests at the exciting first stop and drive people in style while they feast and search for clues in hot venues around town. Where you end up... nobody knows!


FAU OFFERS FREE GALA PIANO CONCERT JUNE 4th

Come and listen to “352 Keys Gala Piano Extravaganza” at 3 pm June 4th, with FAU’s piano faculty and grad students performing ragtime selections, music by Beethoven and Schubert, and more. This concert is a kick off for FAU’s summer music camps and is free and open to the public. Call 561-297-3820 or go to www.fau.edu/tops for more information about the concert or summer music camps.

BLUE JEANS BALL to be held Saturday June 10 at 8pm
Adoplh & Rose Levis Jewish Community Centers 9th Annual Blue Jeans Ball will be held at Zinman Hall at the Levis JCC, 9801 Donna Klein Boulevard. Advance tickets: $25 include a light buffet and glass of wine or beer. At the dcor cost is $30. Call 561-558-2521.
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A Groundbreaking Ceremony has been held for the new Caldwell Theater in Boca Raton, which will be named in honor of the late Count Adolph de Hoernle. Countess Hoernle, his widow, is a long-time supporter of the theatre and traditionally attends opening night performances.

A FOCUS FOR ALL THE GARDENERS in the area

A local group of garden lovers is tired of waiting to see their dream come true, and you can help with your donations of time and/or funds, and with a vote in it’s favor if the 2-year old Boca Raton Botanical Gardens Association is able to get this issue onto the election ballet; city records show there has not been a public petition to create a referendum in at least 15 years. "This would set a precedent tying down property by referendum... instead of the city council going through the public hearing process," Mayor Steven Abrams said. Their eyes are on the nearly 30 acres of city-owned property along Spanish River Boulevard.

For the two years since the formed, they've been trying build a park with gardens and an open geodesic dome, design pictured above, which would allow air and light into the building, and would be filled with plants, birds and classrooms. They've raised $555,000 for the more than $2 million project.

To start, they must gather signatures of more than 15 percent of the voters in the March election, which is about 800 people. When they have the needed signatures, the paperwork will be reviewed by the city clerk's office. If it meets the requirements, the proposed ordinance to build the botanical gardens and dome could go before the city council or become an item on the next ballot. If voters pass the ordinance, the city would be required

Murakami Landscape Architects created a preliminary plan for the botanical gardens and designed the conservatory. The proposed project would include a children's garden and play area as well as a Japanese and water lily garden. The centerpiece would be the geodesic dome or conservatory, which would sit at the water's edge on the lake's east side. The dome would be 210 feet in diameter and would house classrooms, labs, research facilities and offices. The city has had several suggestions for the property east of the new library. One suggestion was to make it into a children's park that would be linked with the yet-to-be-built Countess de Hoernle Park on the south side of Spanish River Boulevard. City officials have been focusing on that park and are working with the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks district to build ballfields.

Abrams said they are open to working with the association to find a site, but they are open to suggestions for the property east of the new library. "We'll give priority to projects that are funded," he said. "So far, they're well ahead of any other nonprofit that has wanted to go there."