Dear Friends and Supporters:

On Tuesday August 10th, 2021, The Delray Beach City commissioners, in a divided vote, blindsided the community by terminating the city’s lease with Old School Square “without cause”, sneaking it in as a non-agenda item without any prior public notice, public input, or discussion with Old School Square.

Despite an unprecedented outcry from the community expressed by over 11,000 signatures on a petition to save Old School Square and a massive email campaign to the commission, coupled with repeated requests by the OSS board asking to sit down and work through their grievances, our mayor and several commissioners refused any potential reconciliation.

While we are eternally grateful for the outpouring of community support, we need your help one more time to preserve OSS and continue our 32-year legacy of bringing you top quality cultural programming in the heart of our downtown.

 Why is Old School Square worth fighting for?

• Old School Square supports downtown businesses through its cultural activities, programs and events, bringing thousands of people to our community annually. In fact, OSS is the single largest economic driver of any cultural entity in Delray Beach and is the most popular cultural venue in all of Palm Beach County! 

• The city plans to have the Department of Parks and Recreation operate OSS. That means the Delray Beach taxpayers will now have to cover the multi-million-dollar annual cost of running the campus and its programming.  There will be no more non-profit entity, no more volunteers, no more tax-deductible donations, and no more benefactors, who previously paid most of the bills and brought you the art and entertainment you’ve enjoyed for free or at a low cost, for the past 32 years.

• It is highly doubtful a city department will ever be able to bring the same high level of programming to you. Viewing the work of internationally-renowned artists in our beautiful museum (restored through private donations, not tax dollars), learning from expert art instructors, enjoying entertainment from national and internationally celebrated musicians, and more.

We can’t allow these commissioners to destroy Delray’s biggest and most successful cultural entity.

We can’t allow these commissioners to ignore you and other 11,000 voters, taxpayers, and friends who love OSS and what we do.

We can’t allow these commissioners to kill OSS, the heart and soul of our community, the place that made Delray Beach unique and brought so much enjoyment into our lives.

We are asking you to show up at the next city commission meeting, Tuesday, February 1st, at 4 pm. Show your support during the public comment portion of the meeting by telling the commissioners how you feel. This is the last commission meeting before our lease termination, and may be the last opportunity to have your voice heard.

On behalf of the Old School Square board of directors, staff, volunteers, donors & patrons, we thank you for your continued support during this most tenuous time. 

If you cannot attend the meeting but want to have your voice heard, follow the link to send an email to the Delray Beach Commission: https://www.delraybeachfl.gov/government/city-commission

If you can’t attend the meeting in-person, but want to watch, it can be seen live by following the link on this page after the meeting starts: https://delraybeach.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx