HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-01-30 Island Named for Machine Magnate (WeekDay)1 P API
► 30 -Feb. 5, 1975 WeekDay
Island Named
1t� HARRY 4lEFERT
Singer Island, one of south
Florida's most pleasant
c'sidc'ut ial and tourist areas,
i►\\f's its name to sewing
machine heir Paris Singer,
ivhost' lavish life style in the
I92O's was the stereotype of
the .' rich _American playboy.
Singer vas captivated by
the Palm Beach section at
!' rst sight. Relatively
undeveloped, it seemed
perfect for his hobby of
experimentation in ar hitec-
ture.
In his first venture ir,;.o
construction in Palm Bel -ph
he engaged the services of
.Addison !'lizner to design
the faired Everglades tiiilia.
Singer was so impressed by
Mizner"s first commissiio t t,
that he agreed to pay the
or Machine Magnate
architect .i SCAM a year
.(hirer for life; with the
.qi fiufation that his work was
to 1►0 confined exclusively to
the Palm Beach area.
Nlizner's accomplishments
soon became legendary, as
his architectural style be-
came the nu)st influential
aiiunig south Florida's mill-
ionaire circle.
Eager to expand his
interests in his new-found
paradise, Singer purchased a
large parcel of ocean front
property directly north of
Pali Beach. Here he
entertained friends in a
newly constructed villa and
told thc'nl of his dream of a
luxury hotel complex that
was almost beyond imagina-
tion. The dream called for
the building of two enormous
The never completed Singer Hotel,
hotels, one on each side of
the loran, strip of beach he
owned. 011 the south would
be the Paris Singer Hotel,
and on I he north side of a
proposed 36-hole golf course
would be the huge Blue
H('roli Hotel. The estimated
prick' tag for the construction
was $4 million - - a fantastic
amount in the non -inflation-
ary economy of those years.
Singer often spoke of a
plan to construct a tunnel
beneath the Palm Beach
Inlet, and the development
of a subdivision of lots to be
sold to the (public.
He ortiered Mier to
begin designing the first of
the two hotels - the Blue
Heron, but before the
architect had started his
drawings, Singer started to
build. He was so
enthusiastic for completion
of the project that he could
not wait for filling the land.
The building was erected on
a piling foundation and the
"fill" was later pumped
beneath it.
The hotel's service wing
was the first to be completed
- and the last. The 1928
hurricane and the r stock
market crash of that year
dealt a mortal blow to the
hotel, and as Florida's real
estate market disappeared
int() thin air so (lid Singer's
vast fortune.
Singer reportedly left
Florida a poor man, and he is
said to have spent his ' tst
years on a houseboat an
Egypt's Nile f:aver
The pathetic shell o. the
ill-fated Blue Heron Hotel
remained as a haunting
reminder of Florida'a pre --
depression over -develop -
mt:nt for 14 years, until
was demolished in 1940.
In that same year, the City
of Riviera Beach purchased
the large strip of oceanfront
property for $40,000, a move
that was severely criticized
as . a frivolous waste of
taxpayers' money.
The property is now
considered to • be one of
Florida's finest ocean
beaches.