Volume 3 . Issue 4
April 2010
Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Along the Coast
Celebrating Our History
Annexation specter puts island on alert
Casa Alva: From home to club to home again
By Thomas R. Collins
By Mary Thurwachter Back in 1957, Eisenhower was president, Leave It to Beaver premiered on TV, and Elvis was shaking, rattling and rolling his way toward becoming the king of rock ’n’ roll. Closer to home, a couple of movers and shakers were making headlines, OUR too. The former PRIVATE CLUBS Duchess of An Marlborough, occasional Consuelo series Vanderbilt Balsan, was selling her fashionable Manalapan estate, Casa Alva, to developer William E. Benjamin II. Benjamin turned much of the mangrove hammock island into a gated, luxury subdivision called Point Manalapan and transformed the Vanderbilt Balsan estate into a private social club and golf course. “I wanted to have some sort of center to the community here,” says Benjamin, who moved to Florida from Southampton, Long Island, in 1950. He knew a thing or two about local social clubs as a member of the Everglades
TOP: While it was The Manalapan Club, the property had a palm-lined swimming pool. MIDDLE: Looking north across Hypoluxo Island, Casa Alva dominated the undeveloped landscape. LEFT: William E. Benjamin II, has owned Casa Alva since 1957. It’s now for sale. ABOVE: The gilded dining hall has changed little since it hosted club guests. Photos courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Diana Reed, and by Tim Stepien
See CASA ALVA on page 24
Just south of Briny Breezes, east of the St. Andrews golf course and north of Gulf Stream sit two rarities: pieces of barrier island land that are unincorporated, belonging to no city. And the residents have seemed to like it that way. But lately Boynton Beach officials have been talking about making those areas —”pockets,” they’re called — part of their city through annexation. That would likely bring better services but also higher taxes — and a loss of a sense of independence. It also raises questions about what could be built there. The interest in annexing the pockets, the last unincorporated pieces of barrier island in southern Palm Beach County, has put neighboring cities on alert and prompted the Florida Coalition for Preservation to begin education efforts to make sure residents there know what’s going on. Boynton Beach publicly discussed including the pockets as part of an official study — called an interlocal services boundary agreement, or ISBA — that needs to happen before annexation is possible. But the city, for now, is focusing only on areas west of the Intracoastal, most of it west of I-95. Donna Brosemer, a consultant working on the annexation issue for the city, said Boynton Beach considered it to be too complicated politically to include the barrier island pockets in the study with those western areas. Kurt Bressner, Boynton Beach’s city manager, said annexation of the barrier island pockets is still up for See ANNEXATION on page 5
Coastal Stars
Fitness bug an epidemic in this family By Emily J. Minor
The fitness bug took root many, many years ago, with little notice, when Leonard Griff began teaching his four children through example. Griff, a retired radiation oncologist, would take the
Unsafe playground equipment removed
Hypuloxo Island neighbors working with city to find replacement. Page 10
stairs. He’d bike to work. He jogged before they even called it jogging. “I think they called it ‘crazy’ back then,”he says. “Very few people were running and people used to think there was something wrong with me.” And now?
Well, if ever there were a family addicted to endorphins, it’s this one. Maybe you’ve heard about this sweaty gang — or saw them, even, at the Marathon of Palm Beaches, the grandkids wearing sombreros, working
See COASTAL STARS on page 2
Drs. Charles and Nancy Griff follow the example set by their dad, Leonard, and now run marathons. Photo by Jerry Lower
Inside Summer camps sampler
Kids can play at sports, study art or work in fashion during vacation. Page 27
Paws up for pets
Manalapan resident rescues animals. Page 33 Obituaries. Page 28
Become a ‘localavore’ Local markets keep food close to home Page 20