Winter club is NPB landmark'Hinter club
is N.P.B.
landmark
By Bill Burke
The story of the Winter Club, one of
North Palm Beaches most notable
I landmarks, begins with the name
Paris Singer. Singer, of the sewing
machine family, was one of many
speculators who bought land from
Harry Kelsey, the pioneer developer
of what is now Lake Park.
Singer convinced Kelsey to build
the Winter Club and an adjoining golf
course as an adjunct to a hotel Singer
was buildng on the island now named
after him. Singer's hotel eventually
became a victim of the souring U.,S.
economy and was never completed,
i and Kelsey sold the Winter Club to
Harry Oakes, owner of the Tesdem
development company.
Oakes and his family lived in the
club for several years, and so it is
often also called the Oakes mansion.
After Oakes was brutally murdered in
the Bahamas in 1943, the area that is
now North Palm Beach and the
Winter Club were sold to John D.
MacArthur.
During the years of North Palm
Beach development, the Winter Club
fell into disrepair and for a while
faced possible destruction. A public
referendum in 1978 on whether to tear
down the building ended in a tie, but
since that time Village residents have
decided to preserve the Club, and it
has been designated a 11ist()ricsl
building.
The Village recently made a
substantial c()1111111 t illell t to the
rejuvenation of the Winter Club,
spending $409000 dollars for a new
roof. The money for the repairs was
part of a one million dollar bond issue
earlier this year.
Although the "ultimate goal is to
refurbish" the Winter Club, Village
Manager Raymond Howland admits it
"takes a back seat" to more pressing
Village needs. Howland says a stud
will soon be undertaken to assess the
economic and s tru c t u ra 1 aspects of a
full renovation.
Howland says he has already "had
several requests" from groups that
would like to use the Winter Club
once it is fully repaired. Aou
called the Oakes Arts Foundationis
s
trying to raise mone for t
in the hoy he repairs
11 pe t hat the club will,
eventually become. a cultural and arts
center. Other requests for use of the
building have come from the Jaycees
and theatre groups.