Poised For A New Century- Local History 1980-1999

ONE HUNDRED YEARS of change. And yet two things have come full-circle: We’ve come back to our historic downtowns. And we’re trying to fix decades of mistakes along the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.
We’ve learned the price of growth. And also its certainty.
This era marked dramatic milestones: Palm Beach County’s population reached 1 million, and in 1999, the suburban sprawl of Port St. Lucie eclipsed West Palm Beach as this region’s biggest city.
The industries that spurred growth in the 1950s – Pratt & Whitney and IBM – left Palm Beach County, and Internet businesses sprang up.
A rush of private donations created a culture boom: The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the expanded Norton Museum of Art, the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton.
Our residents became more diverse. One of every eight students in Palm Beach County’s schools speaks English as a second language, and half the students are non-white. In 25 years, Hispanics will be Palm Beach County’s largest ethnic group, growing from 7.7 percent in 1990 to 44.9 percent in the year 2025. In Martin and St. Lucie counties, Hispanics will grow from around 4.5 percent of the population in 1990 to around 25 percent in 2025.
As always, newcomers seek their fortunes in our land, our sun and our sea.
As always, change comes as surely as the next hurricane season, the next housing development, or the next arrival of tomorrow’s tycoons.
Making their mark
SERENA AND VENUS: The Williams sisters – at home on the world’s center courts and in Palm Beach Gardens – are ready to join the next century’s list of great athletes. Serena won the U.S. Open in 1999 at age 18, and both won more than $1 million in 1999. Dad Richard Williams predicts they’ll have more endorsements than Michael Jordan one day.
TV NETWORK IN WEST PALM BEACH: On Aug. 31, 1998, Lowell “Bud” Paxson of Palm Beach launched Pax TV, the first network based in West Palm Beach. The born-again Paxson fills the airwaves with family programming. In September 1999, he announced that General Electric’s NBC would pay $415 million for 32 percent of his Paxson Communications, its 72 stations and Pax TV.
JOHNNY JONES, FROM PLUMBER TO POLITICAL RAMROD: Jones, director of the Florida Wildlife Federation from 1971 to 1986, figures he’s lobbied dozens of bills – all about lake cleaning, land buying, wetlands protection and Everglades fixing. The former plumber could summon legions of hunters and fishermen to support his environmental causes. His creed: “Never lie. Make friends. If they vote against you, don’t hold it against them. Deal with those who have the clout, even if you don’t like their politics. Do your crying behind closed doors and come out smiling.” The West Palm Beach resident drafted the Kissimmee River restoration bill with Art Marshall.
THE DEAL MAKER: Pat Pepper, West Palm Beach mayor from 1988 to 1989, was instrumental in bringing the Kravis Center to its current site after deals fell through with Palm Beach Community College. “It’s a miracle the Kravis is in West Palm Beach,” she said. During her first visit to the hall in 1992, “I was moved to tears by the beauty of the place, the aesthetics and the whole ambience,” Pepper, 53, said. “Just to enjoy that scene and know I had the privilege of helping to make it possible . . . I don’t think I ever had a feeling like that.” Pepper moved on from West Palm Beach, first becoming director of housing for the state, then heading a community partnership for the homeless in Miami. She now lives in New York.
MORT AND HIS MUSEUM: Cartoonist Mort Walker, far more genial than “Sarge” in his beloved comic strip Beetle Bailey, put his reputation and his money behind the $15 million International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton. The museum opened in Mizner Park on March 8, 1996. It holds one of the largest cartoon collections in the world.
LOCAL HISTORY | 1980-1999
1980: Town Center at Boca Raton opens on Glades Road. By the end of 2000, it will be South Florida’s second largest mall.
JAN. 14, 1980: New West Palm Beach City Hall opens at Dixie Highway and Second Street.
MAY 7, 1980: Town-Crier newspaper opens in Wellington.
MAY 7, 1980: West Palm Beach jail closes for good. All prisoners now go to county jail.
JULY 7, 1981: John D. MacArthur Beach State Park opens.
JUNE 1982: Palm Beach Junior College opens Palm Beach Gardens campus.
JULY 8, 1982: Public station WWPF-TV, Channel 42, signs on. It becomes WXEL on Jan. 1, 1985.
OCTOBER 1982: WFLX-TV, Channel 29, signs on in West Palm Beach.
OCT. 4, 1982: Delray Community Hospital opens.
DEC. 1, 1982: Jail complex opens in West Palm Beach.
MAY 6-15, 1983: First SunFest in West Palm Beach.
MARCH 1984: Northwood College opens in suburban West Palm Beach. It becomes Northwood University in 1994.
APRIL 20, 1984: Stuart News becomes a daily newspaper.
JUNE 13, 1985: Port St. Lucie annexes St. Lucie West, a 4,600-acre development.
DEC. 12, 1985: Avalon State Recreation Area opens in St. Lucie County.
FEB. 2, 1986: West Boca Medical Center opens.
FEBRUARY 1986: Columbia Palms West Hospital opens.
AUGUST 1983: St. Lucie Medical Center opens, Port St. Lucie.
OCT. 1, 1986: Wellington Regional Medical Center opens.
NOVEMBER 1986: $25 million post office opens on Summit Boulevard in West Palm Beach.
MAY 4, 1987: The Evening Times merges into sister paper The Palm Beach Post.
DEC. 19, 1987: Missing link of Interstate 95, from Palm Beach Gardens to Stuart, opens, completing 1,894-mile expressway from Miami to Maine.
MARCH 5, 1988: New York Mets start spring training at St. Lucie County Sports Complex in St. Lucie West.
APRIL 16, 1988: Area code 407 established from Boca Raton to Orlando.
MAY 31, 1988: West Palm Beach annexes about 1,500 acres near Beeline Highway.
JUNE 7, 1988: Delray Elementary School closes after 75 years; building becomes part of Old School Square complex.
JUNE 15, 1988: Palm Beach Junior College renamed Palm Beach Community College.
SEPT. 19, 1988: WAQ-TV, Channel 19 (independent) signs on.
JAN. 1, 1989: WPEC-TV, Channel 12, switches from ABC to CBS; WPBF-TV (ABC), Channel 25, signs on; and former CBS affiliate WTVX-TV, Channel 34, becomes an independent.
JAN. 9, 1989: Tri-Rail commuter train, a 70-mile line from West Palm Beach to Miami, begins.
JAN. 10, 1989: Martin County courthouse complex completed. Three years later, it’s evacuated because mold makes employees sick. Employees will not move in until 1996.
APRIL 6, 1990: Port St. Lucie’s developer, Miami-based General Development Corp., files for bankruptcy protection.
JAN. 11, 1991: Mizner Park, Boca Raton’s 28-acre shopping and entertainment complex, opens, signaling a rebirth of the city’s downtown.
MARCH 9, 1991: Old School Square, comprising three restored buildings of the former Delray High School, opens.
APRIL 1991: A Jupiter woman, Patricia Bowman, accuses William Kennedy Smith of raping her behind the Kennedy estate in Palm Beach. The trial lures world press to downtown West Palm Beach. Smith is acquitted on Dec. 11.
SEPT. 20, 1991: College of Boca Raton becomes Lynn University.
OCT. 20, 1991: Abandoned burial ground behind Tamarind Avenue home, believed to contain about 674 black victims of 1928 hurricane, is rededicated.
OCT. 22, 1991: Seabranch State Preserve in St. Lucie County opens.
JAN. 6, 1992: Indian River Community College opens St. Lucie West campus.
AUG. 27, 1992: Black-oriented Courier newspaper in Fort Pierce begins publication.
SEPT. 19, 1992: Raymond G. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach opens.
APRIL 22, 1994: North County Airport in Gardens opens.
MAY 16, 1996: Fifty acres in St. Lucie County placed in trust for Florida’s sixth Seminole reservation.
FEBRUARY 1995: New West Palm Beach police station opens.
JUNE 26, 1995: New VA medical center opens in Riviera Beach.
AUGUST 1995: Palm Beach County’s first mosque opens in West Palm Beach.
FALL 1995: Florida Atlantic University opens Treasure Coast campus at St. Lucie West.
MARCH 3, 1996: Area code 941 is created for central and southwest Florida, including Okeechobee, Glades and Hendry counties.
APRIL 26, 1996: Coral Sky Amphitheater opens west of West Palm Beach.
MAY 13, 1996: Area code 561 is created for Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
DEC. 31, 1996: Wellington incorporated as Palm Beach County’s 38th city.
1997: Stuart begins annexing more than 1,200 acres, increasing its size by 40 percent.
FEB. 8, 1997: WHDT-TV, Channel 55, goes on the air.
MAY 2, 1997: Stuart News begins publishing Fort Pierce News.
AUG. 31, 1997: West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium hosts Expos minor-league game, its last league baseball game.
FEB. 28, 1998: $28 million Roger Dean Stadium complex in Jupiter opens.
MARCH 7, 1998: WPXP-TV, Channel 67, goes on the air.
APRIL 7, 1998: Everglades Regional Regional Medical Center closes after 60 years.
SEPT. 1, 1998: 61-year-old Palm Beach County town of Golfview, bought out for airport property, goes out of existence.
JUNE 10, 1999: Work begins on restoring Kissimmee River.
AUG. 12, 1999: Pratt & Whitney and partner Sikorsky Aircraft announce they will close most of their Palm Beach County operations.