The Preservation Foundation

Donations are now being accepted for the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach’s 2008 Palm Sale Project.  Funds collected will be used to install a row of coconut palms on the west side of North County Road from Miraflores Drive to the Beach Club, creating a canopy for pedestrians and automobiles along this well traveled route.

To donate online using a credit card, please click here.

The project will remove the ill and intermittent queen anne palms currently there and replace them with 75 to 100 cocos nuciferas or coconut palms, specifically green Malayan ones, placed every 15 to 20 feet.  The Foundation will use healthy, mature trees with at least 5 to 6 feet of grey wood stalk and a total height of 12 to 16 feet.  The project looks to begin planting work in mid-summer.  To ensure no burden is placed on the community, each tree will be properly staked and maintained for the first three critical months by the Palm Sale Project.

Planting Begins

Before	After

Visualization work by the University of Miami School of Architecture's Preservation Studio

This year’s project builds upon previous Palm Sales by identifying a location in town and completing a project for the benefit of the residents.  What once was a roadside sale to bring back the palms is now a project to beautify public space in the high-residential north end of Palm Beach, now and for the future.  The Foundation is currently working with the town on plans for the 2009 Palm Sale Project in the South End, and will announce those plans in the coming months.

Coconut palms are a historical cornerstone of the island of Palm Beach, though coconuts are not native. It was the ill-fated Spanish brigantine The Providencia making its way from Havana, Cuba to Cadiz, Spain that originally brought the palms to Palm Beach.  On January 9th, 1878, it ran aground on the beaches of what is now Palm Beach.  Its cargo of wine, cigars, and 20,000 coconuts from the island of Trinidad was then sold to the area’s few settlers.  Area residents bought the coconuts and planted them in large groves all over the island, giving the inspiration for the town’s name, “Palm Beach,” and it’s first hotel, the “Coconut Grove House.”

Donation levels:

Coconut         Palm Tree         Providencia
$500.00+       $1500.00+        $5000.00+

Any size donation is welcomed.

All will receive a receipt.

All those who donate will receive a Palm decal.

All donations will be acknowledged in the Palm Beach Daily News.

To make a donation online using a credit card, please click here.

Otherwise, please call the Foundation at 561.832.0731 or mail a check payable to:
PRESERVATION FOUNDATION OF PALM BEACH
311 Peruvian Avenue
Palm Beach, FL 33480