Old School Square

Old School Square, with its various parts activated and fully programmed, is the heart and soul of Delray Beach and the envy of other communities

Old School Square, if it enters a new revitalized era, could easily become one of the best square/market combinations in North America. It has all of the pieces that could make it exceptional. In our decades-long history here in Delray Beach we have witnessed times that it has almost attained that status.

We recently published a post on how squares are the hearts of communities and markets are their soul. Delray is on course to become another example.

There are so many parts to this puzzle, making the creation of a great square a challenge that only a strong private sector, non-profit entity in partnership with the City can accomplish. Working together, this partnership can achieve the outcome that the city needs. Squares cannot be government led. Politics change and these types of public spaces need to be broadly community owned, managed and constantly changing to adapt to community needs.

Each of the seven parts of Old School Square need to be worked on as separate spaces because they require very different management structures and visions – independent efforts that then blend with the others to create a whole.

The unique set of buildings and public spaces at Old School Square represents one of the greatest opportunities for the city. It has the potential to define Delray as a unique destination along the east coast of Florida. It has to represent all types of communities that make up Delray by becoming the place everyone calls their own.

Together, this site has everything it needs to be a central gathering place – different sizes of outdoor space, indoor and outdoor performance areas, indoor exhibition and meeting spaces, and parking. Developing this central site to its full potential may be the biggest opportunity that a city along the east coast of Florida currently has. It could and needs to put Delray on the map as a city with a thriving downtown and it would be affordable to develop compared to the return that it would achieve.

The process of transforming Old School Square would unleash a major watershed moment for Delray. It would draw out the talent that is so present all around us, just waiting to be involved. With strong leadership and enough funds to get started, you can get on a trajectory where in a few years you will be able to look back at and ask, "How on earth did we get so far?"

Within Old School Square as we now know it, there are 7+ distinct areas that can be developed into great public spaces.

The museum's two plazas (Swinton Ave face including the side of museum)
The area around the Crest Theatre
The area around the Vintage Gymnasium
The Outdoor Entertainment Pavilion
Old School Square Park
The parking garage with the event space and arts garage
The Delray Beach Historical Society

Extending the square's activation to the library, city hall, courthouse, and even the tennis center would add even more to the multi-layered "square." The resulting public space would be anchored by the buildings of the museum, Crest Theatre, the entertainment pavilion and the vintage gymnasium.

Old School Square Park - The Main Square

Weekend Markets/Event Space in Old School Square

The square and market are naturally linked. Therefore, when we think about how to shape Old School Square, the markets/events constitute its soul. Delray should have regular markets and events to bring the community together on a frequent basis. Currently, there are some great events and markets taking place there at different times of the year that deserve highlighting.

A Weekend in March 2024

The Saturday Farmers Market

The Farmers Market celebrates its 25th Anniversary under the leadership of Lori.

The market/event activation in the square has reached a level that no one thought possible, even a few years ago. It has laid a foundation for a much expanded year-round destination unlike any other in Florida.

COCO Health Market

This great market is currently once a month but it could be a more frequent event as a core part of the future for the square.

Annual Antique Car Show

In its second year, this has become a major attraction filling up the entire central area...wall-to-wall with antiques. A very "male" event, the most active participants are abuzz with excitement.

The Challenge

The big question is how should these different spaces of Old School Square work when there are no events? While the events that do take place here are great, there are many event-free days. As this square is the heart of Delray, we need to think of how to keep that heart beating on a regular basis.

Social activity in front of the Cornell Art Museum

Making it Happen

Making it happen is actually pretty easy. The main takeaway for most public places is that making them great is a community-led programming process, not a designer-led process.

The foundation of the best public spaces, a number of which we have worked on such as Bryant Park in New York City and Campus Martius in Detroit, is about design, but design meaning the layering of uses around a concept we call the "Power of 10," not design meaning the look of physical elements such as buildings, planters in patterns, etc.

The Power of 10+ is the idea that there should be 10+ specific places in a public space, and in each of those places there should be 10+ things to do. In the case of Bryant Park, there are 20+ places with 10 things to do in each place, so we say it has the Power of 20. There could even be an additional 10 uses at the micro level when you look more closely.

Creating a great place is a dynamic, collaborative process. This means we must realize that, first, it may take a lot of time to get to the level it needs to be at; second, you can't know what you are going to end up with and third, you are never finished. It is reasonable to expect this process to be a five year challenge starting with many small experiments (Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper activations) that come with a vision of what the community wants to achieve.

"You can't know what you are going to end up with...and if you think you have to, you are wrong."

The various buildings around the square add up to a very strong and dynamic potential multi-layered destination

Creating "Porches/Plazas" Around Key Buildings

A key part of Old School Square is the Crest Theater, the Cornell Museum, and the Historic Society. All are key gateways leading into the core of Delray. Creating active "porches" or plazas around each building would signal the importance of each institution, making the arrival into downtown inspirational and fun.

We call porches the spaces that are connected to and a key part of buildings but also spill out into the shared with the public realm such as outdoor eating areas, external displays of goods, etc. The outdoor offerings, activities and amenities in these "porches" catch people's attention and make them interested in what is happening within a building.

Such porch areas already exist on the buildings of Old School Square, now it is just a matter of making them interesting and vibrant places that represent what is happening inside the buildings.

From the Delray Beach Historical Society to the Atlantic Avenue Intersection (and Potentially beyond,

Here you can see how Paris' and Vienna's city halls uses their "front porches" to host all kinds of activities and engage with the community. The buildings of Old School Square can do the same.

Vienna - City Hall

The Garage

The Old School Square garage has not changed much in 20 years, except for the palm trees growing taller.

This large underused area around the garage could well be the central feature of the square. Because of the garage's size, each side needs different approaches, especially because each faces different exposures and has a different feel.

A good benchmark for this area is a similar-sized building on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.

Miami Beach - Collins Avenue Garage

This plant-camouflaged garage is a remarkable idea that could easily be applied to Delray's "central garage" as the heart of downtown. With individual "store fronts" along the base it could be a revenue generator as well as offer a series of public uses.

But what could make this site even better would be to create a "Makers Market" centered around some main attractions, creating a year around destination.

An Example to Follow: Gabriel's Wharf - South Bank, London

The perfect benchmark for the Old School Square Garage is Gabriel's Wharf in South Bank, London. Gabriel's Wharf in South Bank offers a unique blend of food and retail. Once an empty space, the transformation of Gabriel's Wharf shows how a public space can support local businesses and entrepreneurs.

The transformation of Gabriel's Wharf started with a mural depicting a Georgian shopping street on the blank facade facing this area. It became the backdrop to a lively square lined with retail workshops, stalls, and restaurants built out of garage-like structures made beautiful with storefronts designed by artists.

The "lighter, quicker, cheaper" interventions that spearheaded its transformation were so effective that it still flourishes as a destination for shopping and dining over three decades later.

Another Great Example – Ithaca's Saturday Market

Benchmarks for Great Squares and Markets

In 2004, Detroit's Campus Martius Park changed the trajectory of the future of downtown. Nearly twenty years later, we see remarkable results practically everywhere. It served as a catalyst for the entire downtown. The square just was recently awarded the best Square in the United States by USA today.

There's a reason we love telling the remarkable story of Campus Martius. In its journey from a traffic-surrounded monument to a genuinely enjoyable space, Campus Martius is living proof of the importance of prioritizing people and social life as the foundation for a "new" Detroit.

In 1999, Campus Martius, once the city's vibrant retail and transportation hub, had been completely emptied out and taken over for car traffic, and there wasn't much of that. Five adjacent downtown blocks, including Hudson's, the world's second-largest department store, were leveled to the ground, leaving only the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of the space as the sole reminder of Detroit's former glory. Downtown Detroit had declined to a historic low
with millions of square feet of buildings vacant and blighted and empty storefronts on every major avenue.
‌

Photos from the earlier days of the current site of Campus Martius: A monument that became surrounded by cars.

Campus Martius opened in 2004, the square had an ever-growing list of reasons to visit: among them, a restaurant, holiday and seasonal activities like ice skating, and programmed activities like movie nights, music events, and outdoor yoga and more. From the moment it opened, Campus Martius immeditely became the heart of a "New Detroit."

The Beach at Campus Martius

A second transformation in 2013, included an “urban” beach space in the center of Campus Martius. Sponsored by Southwest Airlines, this innovative and unexpected addition solidified a new era for Detroit. Once an experiment, it's now a permanent summer fixture for downtown, making waves throughout the city.

There is a Beach Bar that anchors the beach and creates a stream of revenue that supports the management of Campus Martius. Continually re-imagined and upgraded over the years, the seasonal beach remains one of the most popular hangouts in the city. Last year, Campus Martius was honored as the best square in the United States by USA Today.

Perth Cultural Centre, Australia

When we arrived in Perth this collection of buildings were barely used. Each entity worked independently with collective effort. When we finished the response was entirely different...They talked about being "Pavilion-of" the Centre. In fact the State librarian moved most of her library functions to the mezzanine level and made the ground floor the "main indoor square" in the Centre

Takeaways

We think Delray's Old School square could qualify as one of the best examples in North America...matching some of the best in Europe.

The main idea is that the center of Delray can be the foundation for the Delray of the future...The Village by the Sea. This future can be defined by special neighborhoods with a central square that is created and constantly renewed together with the community. The strategy includes the following steps.

Connect with nearby neighborhoods
Makes room to incubate businesses
Iterate and Experiment
Creates iconic places
Focus on multi-use destinations
Bring in pop-up restaurants and cafes
Incorporate public art
Creates seating, amenities for people
Think Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper
Connect with other destinations
Creates Social Life for All

Regular, changing and evolving programming is key to creating the activity that draws people from every walk of life into public spaces. These kinds of places have always been loved and popular in communities. Cities filled with them could be described as cities of the future, and Delray Beach could be a leader globally in achieving it.

The best public spaces are program-driven, using LQC Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper activation strategies to get started. By doing these experimental activations, communities quickly get a sense of what works and what doesn't. In the case of the public spaces in Old School Square, it is even more true. With 4 significant buildings anchoring the square, some with both sides needing different approaches, each area can become its own unique space that defines the area.

Benchmarks and Other Resources

Squares

The best squares focus on people. They provide a mix of spontaneity and programming, and become everyday stages where passerby are actors in a never-ending urban theater. The two posts below represent some of the best square around the world. We firmly believe that Old School Square (with a new name) could be a great model for other cities the same size.

In Part 1 are squares we worked on. In Part two are other squares we believe might be useful in a discussion.

Markets

Who we are

Kathy's old Neighborhood became a row of garages

Of the four buildings 3 have only garages facing the street. Kathy's has porches, but recently they let the hedges grow

In Delray Beach, Kathy's family built and owned property on this corner. Her family owned the two lots above, the one with apartments lining the street with parking behind and the corner lot with 4 double (for 8 car) garage doors facing the corner on both streets.

We are people who think of ourselves as as long time, part-time residents of Delray Beach. Kathy and her sister and their parents started coming here over 70 years ago and Kathy has been coming here for 68 years. They are resort owners from Minnesota ...Madden's on Gull Lake. They put down roots here as well. As frequent visitors, we have biked on every street in Delray between I-95 and A1A…some over hundreds of times, so we have seen the creeping devastation from cars erupting in certain neighborhoods and witnessed some seeds of destruction beginning to take hold in other neighborhoods. One could easily say that it is spreading like cancer and metastasizing in more and more neighborhoods.

Our main home is in Brooklyn where our two sons and their families live in walkable neighborhood, Cobble Hill and in an even smaller community within a special community which is described a "Pocket Neighborhood" described in the book. Our family thinks that it is one of the most livable small communities in a larger neighborhood that reflects the values that Delray once embraced.

The Foundation and Future of the Placemaking Movement

The mission of the Social Life Project is to incite a renaissance of community connection in public spaces around the globe. Through our online publication, presentations, campaigns, and catalytic projects, we can create transformative impact on communities everywhere. Our work grows out of more than 50 years devoted to building the global placemaking movement. It is an initiative of the Placemaking Fund, along with PlacemakingX — a global network of leaders who together accelerate placemaking as a way to create healthy, inclusive, and beloved communities.

If you are interested in collaborating (articles, presentations, exhibits, projects, and more) or supporting the cause contact us.