Palm Beach Society: 'Extraordinary Spaces' campaign nears $30 million construction goal
The Palm Beach home of Lynne Wheat and Thomas Petterffy was the setting for a dinner dedicated to the Preservation Foundation's Phipps Park project.
The event took place Nov. 28.
The dinner was Wheat's third time chairing an event for the campaign, which she has supported since its onset and to which she made a generous leadership gift.
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She has been member of the Preservation Foundation’s executive committee since 2020.
Before dinner, Wheat underscored the historical significance of the project. “We are realizing the Phipps family’s vision for their 1948 gift," she said. "A beautiful public beach and oceanfront park where people can play, learn and celebrate the unique scenic quality of Palm Beach.”
In addition to dinner, the evening included an conversation between Preservation Foundation President and CEO Amanda Skier and landscape architect Raymond Jungles, who played a pivotal role in designing the transformation of Phipps Ocean Park. They shared insights on the project, emphasizing its significance for the community and the environment.
"By bringing back the plants that were supposed to be here, you actually create a natural landscape that’s self-sustaining,” said Jungles.
During a question-and-answer session that followed the talk, philanthropist Pauline Pitt noted, “I have been involved with this project for three years now, and these 18 acres have been largely neglected since 1948; just no TLC at all. And for the last few years, the park has also been a staging area for the town’s undergrounding project. I think the fact that the Little Red Schoolhouse is there, and that Raymond is going to make this back into a Florida sanctuary the way it should be, is exactly what is needed here in Palm Beach.”
Skier announced that $27 million had been raised toward the $30 million construction goal for the project. She also explained the Foundation’s long-term commitment to caring for the park’s delicate ecosystems and sustaining the educational programming at the Little Red Schoolhouse and Coastal Restoration Center. To support those efforts, she added, a $10 million endowment is being established to which $6 million has already been committed.
More than 75 people attended.
Proceeds benefit the Phipps Park revitalization project.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Dinner supports ambitious transformation of 18-acre Phipps Ocean Park
