"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. She added, "and we thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice if they worked from the community center at Howard Park?'" The Palm Beach Post reported her remarks in July.
The city isn't adding acreage or courts to the 14-acre park. It's adding a reason to stay. The new building will have a café with shaded outdoor seating and a commercial kitchen. In Rockwell's words, the goal is a spot where parents can eat and relax while their children use the playground or attend a program.
Until that café exists, the middle of the park is a construction site. The project mostly leaves the two places at the park's edges alone, and they will carry its daily life in the meantime.
What the City Actually Approved
West Palm Beach commissioners voted on July 20, 2026 to award a $7,549,398.15 contract to Shiff Construction and Development, Inc. The Post identifies Shiff as a Pompano Beach company. The new center goes up along Parker Avenue, just west of the current building. Plans call for larger activity rooms, an exercise room, the kitchen and the café.
The old building stays. According to the Post, it will be gutted and turned into an outdoor pavilion. The shuffleboard courts will be removed. The architect's project page describes flexible multipurpose rooms and presents the building as a community hub.
The timeline is less firm than the design. The city's Howard Park page still says the community center is "scheduled to close for renovations in Fall 2026." It gives no specific date and asks people to call (561) 804-4900 for updates. The July 20 commission agenda sets substantial completion at 400 days after a Notice to Proceed. No Notice to Proceed date has been published, though, so there is no fixed finish date yet. Four hundred days works out to about thirteen months, counted from a start date the city hasn't announced.
What Changes, What's Expected to Hold
| Part of Howard Park | Status in the city's plan |
|---|---|
| Community center, 1302 Parker Ave | Scheduled to close for renovations in Fall 2026, then gutted into an outdoor pavilion |
| Shuffleboard courts | Removed by the project |
| New center on Parker Avenue | About 400 days of construction after a Notice to Proceed that hasn't been issued yet |
| Tennis and Pickleball Center, 1101 Lake Ave | Not expected to be affected |
| City Paws dog park | Not expected to be affected |
| Playground and picnic pavilion | Not expected to be affected |
The right-hand column for the last three rows comes from one source. Rockwell said in July that she did not expect the work to affect the tennis center, dog park, playground or picnic pavilion. That was a forecast. The city hasn't confirmed it since then, and no public notice says how the site will be fenced once crews arrive. The center's current programs include Southeast Soul Allstars cheerleading and dance classes. The city hasn't said where those programs will go during construction.
The Lake Avenue Edge Runs on a Weekly Schedule
The Howard Park Tennis and Pickleball Center at 1101 Lake Avenue has its own address, its own phone line at (561) 804-4929, and its own hours. The city lists it as open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. That's longer than the rest of the park, since city parks generally close at sunset.
The posted adult clinic schedule fills every weekday:
- Monday: cardio
- Tuesday: advanced and intermediate
- Wednesday: beginner
- Thursday: advanced
- Friday: advanced and intermediate
Adult clinics cost $30 each. Daily court fees for residents are $8 for adult tennis and $5 for pickleball. Non-residents pay $10 for either, so pickleball doubles in price for non-residents while tennis goes up by a quarter. Private lessons are $70 an hour or $50 for a half hour.
The new center is designed for people who come for an hour and stay longer. This corner of the park already works that way, and the rebuild leaves it alone.
City Paws at Howard Park is listed at the main park address, 1302 Parker Avenue. It's one of the city's designated spots where dogs can run off-leash. Everywhere else in city parks, leashes can be no longer than six feet. The main pavilion holds 80 people, is open sunrise to sunset, and can be reserved through Parks and Recreation at (561) 804-4950. Anyone planning a holiday party there should call before booking, since crews could be working nearby.
The South End Has Hosted Classes Since 1987
The other anchor dates to 1939. The Armory Art Center's history page identifies the original Palm Beach County Armory as a WPA project designed by architect W. M. King, with its Art Deco stars installed that summer. The Armory began operating as a community arts organization on July 1, 1987, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 11, 1992.
Today it's a three-building campus at the south end of Howard Park. It offers nearly 100 courses across 12 studios, covering ceramics, jewelry, printmaking, painting, textiles, sculpture and more. Youth programs cover ages 2 through 17, with after-school classes, Saturday-morning arts and caregiver-and-child sessions. Families already drop off a child for a class at one end of the park and wait somewhere nearby. The café is meant to make that easier at the center of the park.
Gallery admission is free, and the Armory says it changes its exhibitions about every two months. The Fall 2 class session starts the week of November 2 and runs six weeks.
The Armory's Fall Calendar at 811 Park Place
- October 15, 6:30–7:30 p.m. An artist-to-artist gallery walk with Hayley Sheldon and Renee Phillips. No registration needed.
- October 22 and 27. Art Encounters workshops in watercolor, then ceramic mugs.
- November 2 through December 26. The juried "HUMOUROUS" exhibition, with a reception on November 19.
- November 6, 11 and 18. Workshops in botanical monotypes, screenprinting and ring-making. The ring session is $85 with materials included.
- November 13, 5–6 p.m. A portrait-painting lecture and demonstration by Jason John, followed by a master-artist workshop on November 14.
- December 2. A relief printmaking workshop.
- December 5–6. The 10th annual Creative Market. Admission is free, with live demonstrations and up to 150 artists.
The Armory describes Art Encounters as hands-on, single-session workshops, not drop-in nights. Prices are set per listing.
The Creative Market is where the rebuild and the Armory meet most directly. The Armory's event page says the market fills both the inside and the outside of the historic campus. Neither the city nor the Armory has said how the market will work around construction at Howard Park. The page also lists two different Saturday start times: 10 a.m. in the description and 9 a.m. in the event-time field. Check before you go.
What to Watch Between Now and the Café
The city has published a Fall 2026 closure window. Three details are still open:
- The exact closure date for the building at 1302 Parker Avenue.
- The Notice to Proceed date, which starts the 400-day clock.
- The new location for programs like Southeast Soul Allstars.
The city's update line, (561) 804-4900, is the most direct place to find all three.
Until then, the courts on Lake Avenue and the off-leash runs at City Paws are among the parts of the park Rockwell expects construction to leave alone. At the south end, the 1939 Armory building runs its own fall calendar through the Creative Market on December 5–6.
At Jefferson Kiely, we follow projects like the Howard Park rebuild because they shape daily life in Flamingo Park and Grandview Heights long before the work is finished. If you'd like to talk through what this rebuild and other nearby changes could mean for your home's value or timing, Let's Connect.