The aging seawall at Midtown Municipal Beach will be replaced as part of a large-scale resiliency project approved by the Town Council at this month's development review meeting.

Council members unanimously approved plans to build a new 2,700-foot-long seawall along South Ocean Boulevard between Royal Palm Way and Gulfstream Road.

Plans also call for the removal and replacement of the existing knee walls, gates, beach access stairs and ramps along that stretch of beach.

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A separate but related project approved by the council during the Dec. 14 meeting will include design modifications to the iconic Worth Avenue Clock Tower.

As part of that project, a pedestrian terrace with matching architecture and style will be installed to the east of the clock tower, which was built in 2010 as part of a $15 million makeover of Worth Avenue.

The new terrace will be open at the north and south ends to allow pedestrians to pass through the area.

That accommodation was made after the town's Architectural Commission, which reviewed the plans at its November meeting, expressed concerns about an enclosed terrace impeding the flow of foot traffic.

Council members said they supported the commission's recommendation to open the north and south ends of the new terrace, though some had misgivings when the plans were initially presented.

"When I first saw this at ARCOM, I couldn't believe what had to get done," Council President Maggie Zeidman said. "I was really upset about it because I liked the vista. Then it came back, and what I see now is it actually elevates it. It's beautiful. We miss the vista, but we're doing what we have to do by opening it up. This is the icon of Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. Everybody recognizes it."

Both the new terrace and seawall will be designed by the Palm Beach architecture firm Bridges Marsh, which also designed the Worth Avenue Clock Tower.

The new seawall will replace the original structure that was built in the 1940s and has reached its useful service life, said Jason Debrincat, a senior engineer for the town.

It will be installed to the east of the existing wall and provide increased coastal protection, Debrincat said.

Bridges Marsh designed the new wall consistent with the Level-Up Palm Beach Coastal Resilience Implementation plan created by Massachusetts-based international environmental consulting firm Woods Hole Group. The plan was released last summer and outlines specific actions for the town to pursue in its efforts to strengthen the community’s resilience to coastal flooding.

"The wall has been designed to address direct impacts from wave action and ocean surge," Director of Public Works Paul Brazil said.

The new wall will be 2 to 10 inches thick and a maximum of 4 feet high, at a distance varying from 42 to 78 inches east of the town's bulkhead line, according to town documents. The decorative wave pattern of the existing wall will be duplicated on the new seawall.

"The existing seawall is at the sidewalk elevation, with a parapet wall placed on top of the wall to the current elevation," Debrincat said. "The new seawall height will be consistent with the existing parapet wall elevations. It will visually look the same as is, with coastal protection to the full height."

The town will receive final plans and specifications for the seawall and terrace projects in January, and then will advertise for construction, Debrincat said.

Construction is tentatively projected to start in the summer of 2023, and is expected to continue through the summer or fall of 2025, Debrincat said.

Costs were estimated at $18 million in February, but could change based on current market conditions, environmental permitting conditions, and final design elements, the town said.

In addition to overseeing the seawall and Clock Tower terrace projects, town staff also will prepare a new landscape plan for the Midtown Beach seawall area that will include upland restoration.

When complete, the plan will be presented to the council and then to the Architectural Commission for feedback.

The council will have final approval of any changes recommended by the commission, Brazil said. Currently, there is no schedule or budget for the landscape work.

Brazil said he expected work on the landscape project to begin after the new seawall is completed.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.