PALM BEACH, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — President John F. Kennedy’s Cold War-era bunker and a former Coast Guard station on Peanut Island will be operated by Palm Beach County, the Port of Palm Beach commission has indicated.

The port commission unanimously supported extending the county’s existing lease on the island, set to expire in 2024, and expanding it to include five acres where the historical properties lie.

Palm Beach County has proven itself to be a responsible manager of the land, said Eric Call, the county’s parks director. It has leased about 36 acres on the island since 1994 and enveloped it as part of the county’s parks repertoire.

The county plans to restore the historic properties and “operate it as a low-impact, educational, historical and cultural facility and a passive park,” Call said, noting the county would not seek to change the zoning or land use allowed.

“Nobody wants to see that island become Ferris Wheel City,” Riviera Beach Councilwoman Julie Botel said in December. “It’s not conducive to a Coney Island kind of thing.”

Port commissioners want the county to formally work with the surrounding municipalities — the city of Riviera Beach, the town of Palm Beach Shores and the town of Palm Beach — to ensure their involvement in how the island is managed.

“We’re all reasonable,” Palm Beach Shores Mayor Alan Fiers told port commissioners in December. “It’s the way sausage is made in our democracy. Everybody that’s got equity comes together. We may have disagreements, we may have agreements, we find the middle ground, we find the way forward and then we all put our shoulder behind it to make it work.”

There may be strength in numbers when it comes to seeking financial support for the restoration project, Fiers added. Palm Beach County lawmakers have asked for $1.5 million from the state, and officials are going after another $1.5 million from the federal government, Call said.

Who will manage Peanut Island’s historic properties has been in question since 2017, when the Palm Beach Maritime Museum didn't submit paperwork to renew its 25-year lease, and the port didn't pursue keeping them on. The port and museum were in dispute over code violations and the lack of maintenance of the properties. The Kennedy bunker has been closed to the public ever since.

At that time, port commissioners wanted the county to take over the lease. But then Riviera Beach signaled interest in taking it over, and the county stepped aside.

Just a few months ago, in December, it was all but certain Riviera Beach would be given the chance to run the facilities. Port commissioners asked the four local governments to spend the following few months working together on a unified vision for the site.

That pitch fell apart as the county, town of Palm Beach Shores and town of Palm Beach didn’t agree to Riviera Beach’s vision.

“There is a time for redevelopment and a time for restoration,” county parks director Call said. “The historic nature of that site really begs for restoration.”

Riviera Beach saw numerous opportunities in managing Peanut Island’s historic properties, as well as ensuring access for its residents, said Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans.

“We want to ensure that there’s inclusion, that there’s diversity, that we have an opportunity to have a seat at the table because we made sure by virtue of getting involved that our community was not left out or left behind,” he said.

The city proposed to restore the historic properties, but also construct a new facility that could host meetings or small events, including an aquarium that featured the flora and fauna of the Lake Worth Lagoon.

Evans envisioned weddings on the island where guests would be ferried to the marina’s event space for a reception, or working the bunker into a wider historical tour of the Kennedys’ presence in Palm Beach.

Development partners would work with the city to construct, renovate and manage the facilities to recoup the cost of renovation, costing the taxpayers “next to nothing,” Evans said.

“Our intention was to do something world-class, something we can all be proud of,” he added.

But knowing the county wanted to limit the allowable use on the island, Evans said it wasn’t worth the “inherent risk” to take the lead on a project.

“There was not a movement with regards to any deviation from the thought of historic preservation and the restoration of those facilities,” Evans said.

He added: “To be good neighbors, the best thing to do is for the county to take the lead, with the caveat that there’s so much potential and we cannot look ourselves in the face and say we’ve done the best we can do to make that a unique experience for all persons that would visit the area.”

This wasn’t the first time development dreams on Peanut Island have been dashed. In 1991, developers floated the idea of a multimillion-dollar aquarium, but supporters couldn’t raise enough money. Then an upscale restaurant to accompany the Maritime Museum was in the works in 2000, but was never an idea Palm Beach officials favored.

The port has owned Peanut Island since 1923, five years after the 79-acre island was created from the dredged sand of the Lake Worth Inlet. The Navy built the bunker for Kennedy on the island, near his Palm Beach compound, in December 1961, which was the tail end of his first year as president.

A two-story, Colonial Revival-style house built in 1936 operated as a Coast Guard station operated during World War II. A boathouse is also part of the historic properties, but the docks were destroyed during Hurricane Irma.

"I can’t wait for the day where we can cut the ribbon and say, 'Hey, no matter how we ended up getting here, we were able to restore these facilities and preserve history,'" Evans said.

hmorse@pbpost.com

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