Volunteers give hall needed makeover
By Michael Van Sickler, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 10, 2002
WEST PALM BEACH -- If there's a promised land for the Jehovah's Witnesses in Palm Beach County, it's the old Leaky Teepee at 1610 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd.
Officially, it was known as the West Palm Beach Auditorium. But the roof cracked badly when it was built in 1967, prompting locals to give it a nickname.
The name stuck -- until now. This spring, the Leaky Teepee will be reincarnated as an assembly hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
The religious group was one of the first to rent the building. "We've been here from the beginning," said Mike Smith, an insurance broker who's a member of the local congregation.
For the past three years, more than 2,400 volunteers from across the country -- and some from around the world -- have contributed their time and talent to the $3 million renovation of the auditorium.
The transformation has come a long way.
Gone is any hint of the controversy that roiled the city's political landscape in 1998 when then-Mayor Nancy Graham convinced city commissioners to sell the facility for $12.5 million to the religious group after 31 years of losing money. Gone too are the monster truck pulls and musical acts such as Elvis Presley, Jimmy Buffett, and, ahem, Marilyn Manson.
In its place are dozens of volunteers wearing hard hats and finishing up a project that has saved the Jehovah's Witnesses millions of dollars in hard labor costs.
"It's amazing," Smith said. "There is no way to estimate how much we have saved through their benevolence."
The arena now seats 6,100, 700 more than when it was owned by the city. It also includes eight dorm rooms for visitors and offices where the concession stands used to be. It has a new air system and bathrooms.
The moat that surrounded the arena and fueled the cooling system has been filled in with dirt because the chemicals to treat the water were deemed too expensive.
The new roof will forever put to rest the monicker "Leaky Teepee," Smith said.
"It's not the Leaky Teepee anymore, that's for sure," Smith said, laughing.
The arena's new era will begin by the end of April, when Smith said the volunteers and other licensed contractors will complete the job.
The project's gone a little slow, said Rick Jones, the city's assistant building official. But he said it hasn't been too bad considering the constant rotation of volunteers doing the project's heavy lifting.
"They're not pushing any deadline, so it's not a concern with them," Jones said. "And it's a neat thing what they've done. All of that labor was just donated from people all over the world."
One of those laborers is Mike Thompson, a 45-year-old surveyor who was working on another Jehovah's Witnesses hall in Daytona Beach when he was told to head south in 1998.
Thompson said he works full time and only earns a small stipend that pays for his meals and other meager expenses. He said he's not too concerned about saving up a nest egg because he knows the church will take care of him.
"We also believe that we're living in the last days and that the end is close," Thompson said.
But their belief that the end is near hasn't prevented the Jehovah's Witnesses from planning a busy year of conventions.
In May, the assembly begins its summer convention season, when 70,000 are expected to come. Another 30,000 are expected this fall, Smith said.
"Hotels and restaurants love us," Smith said. "Everyone who visits our assembly hall helps the local economy."
This is the fourth Jehovah's Witnesses assembly hall in Florida. The others are in Plant City, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach. Smith said much of the attendance at the assemblies and conventions will come from the 119 congregations that are within a 100-mile radius.
But volunteers like Thompson won't be among them. Thompson said he expects to get a new assignment as soon as this project is wrapped up.
"No matter where I'll go, I always know that people need the good news," Thompson said. "And I'll go wherever they tell me to go to spread it."