Palm Beach Daily News from Palm Beach, Florida • Page A001

MAGENTA BLACK ia Final Robert Lappin's king lays on its side after he was bested by the grandmaster. All the right moves Council to hear plan for plaza Royal Poinciana Plaza owners will present their proposal for playhouse site development on Tuesday. Daily News Photos by Jeffrey Langlois Friends Zen Vonkovic, Robert Lappin and Herb Grey play against Grandmaster Susan Polgar Saturday afternoon in The Breakers' courtyard. Chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar helps Robert Lappin celebrate his 85th birthday at The Breakers By MARGIE KACOHA Daily News Staff Writer Robert Lappin had the time of his life Saturday afternoon celebrating his recent birthday, but the casual passerby wouldn't even have noticed. The seasonal resident of The Breakers spent 3V2 hours in the hotel's courtyard seated directly across from Susan Polgar, one of the world's top chess champions.

The match up was a gift from his two sons: Andrew and Peter. "They didn't know what to get him that he didn't already have," said Lap-pin's wife of 61 years, Mimi. Lappin, 85, was flanked by his friends and daily chess buddies Herb Gray and Zen Yonkovig. Polgar, chess Grandmaster and founder of the Polgar Chess Center in Queens, took each of the men on simultaneously. "This is an historic moment in my life," said Lappin, inventor of the Shetland vacuum cleaner who spent many years in the small appliance business.

He served as a naval officer in World War II, and was part of the fleet that accepted the surrender of the Japanese. Lappin continues to work, managing real estate and financial investments. He is also the founder of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation. The seasonal resident returns to Swampscott, during the spring and summer months.

The foursome remained quiet during play, with Polgar recording her moves during the games as she deftly went from one opponent to another across the three boards. "I guess she can probably do it blindfolded," Gray said. It wasn't the first time the Hungarian-born Polgar visited Palm Beach or took on multiple opponents. In 2005, she broke four international records during a single match by playing 326 simultaneous games, winning 309 of them. She also went into the books for most consecutive games played at 1,131, the highest number of games won Please see CHESS, Page 4 Chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar concentrates on one of the three matches.

By STEPHANIE MURPHY and WILLIAM KELLY Daily News Staff Writers Against the backdrop of a legal case between the town and Poinciana Management, the owner of Royal Poinciana Plaza will ask the Town Council for zoning considerations Tuesday that would advance a plan to redevelop the 12 -acre property. A hearing at Tuesday's council meeting is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at Town Hall, 360 S. County Road. Plaza owner Sidney Spiegel and Dawsco Realty CEO Peter Cohen want to build a 74-room hotel and a 299 -seat theater for Florida Stage on the site.

Their plan calls for demolishing the 878-seat Royal Poinciana Playhouse, the Hibel building and a portion of retail space. The 49-year-old Regency-style playhouse and plaza were designed by first-generation Palm Beach architect John Volk. The town is considering conferring landmark status on the complex. In a Feb. 7 letter to the town, James Brin-dell, the lawyer representing Spiegel and the developers, said his clients do not expect or desire a council decision on Tuesday but want to present the plan and obtain input from town officials and the public.

Brindell also said his client and a design team have been "meeting informally with various individuals to obtain their preliminary reactions" to the application. Those meetings have already resulted in modifications to the plan, including elimination of a proposed street between the east-west plaza buildings, Brindell said. Councilmen Bill Brooks and Richard Kleid both said they had been contacted by the plaza team. Brooks said he declined to meet with them while the litigation is ongoing; Kleid said he met with them to learn about their plans but made no suggestions. Other council members could not be reached for comment late Friday.

The proposal by Cohen and Spiegel would replace the playhouse, dining club and Hibel building with the hotel complex and smaller theater. Initially, they wanted to raze about 4,397 square feet of retail space to place a central driveway between the main east-west plaza buildings. The project could not be built as proposed without the council's approval of three special exceptions and 11 zoning variances. Speigel and the town have been entangled in a legal battle since 2005, when Poinciana Management, representing Spiegel as trustee for the plaza's owners, sued the town over its refusal to allow demolition of the playhouse. Poinciana Management wants a judge to set aside a 1979 property use agreement between the town and the previous owners of the plaza.

The town maintains the agreement protects the theater for use as a performing arts venue; Poinciana Management contends that subsequent zoning changes have invalidated the agreement. The last item on the lengthy application before the council Tuesday asks the council to replace the 1979 property use agreement and to release the plaza's owners from a 1979 unity of title agreement that states that no portion of the plaza property "shall be sold, transferred, devised or assigned separately except in its entirety as one parcel of land." Spiegel and the developers have signed a 99 -year agreement to lease the waterfront portion of the plaza property for redevelopment. They contend the playhouse, vacant since 2004, is no longer economically viable. Tuesday won't be the first time Spiegel and the development team have sought town permission to redevelop the site. In February 2005, citing intense opposition from residents and town officials, Spiegel and the developers dropped their request for a zoning change.

The lawsuit followed. The requested variances are for building height and length, lot coverage, landscaped Please see PLAZA, Page 7 Engle wins Wellington Cup tourney free and moved on to the shortened tiebreaker. Nine horses posted double-clear rounds, with Engle taking home the top prize of $18,000 at the Winter Equestrian Festival. Aki Ylaenne of Finland, course designer in the Internationale Arena for the week, presented a particularly difficult challenge in Thursday's grand prix. "I thought Thursday was one of the hardest courses all circuit," Engle said.

"When I By MICHELE DARGAN Daily News Staff Writer WELLINGTON Surprised by a large jump -off field, Wellington's Margie Goldstein Engle rode Hidden Creek's Wapino to the fastest double-clear round of the day in the $60,000 Wellington Cup Sunday. Thirty-eight horses attempted the first-round course, fifteen of those finished fault- walked it (Sunday), I did not think there were going to be 15 clear," Engle said. "I thought it was difficult enough I thought there would be a lot less clean." Going 10th in jump-off, Engle crossed the finish timers in 43.59 seconds, stealing the lead from Olympic gold medalist Beezie Madden aboard Integrity, who finished in 45.04 seconds. Please see TOURNEY, Page 4 An Anniversary Tour Clark Art Institute's Impressionism collection on display at Norton. What: "Collecting the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute" Where: Norton Museum of Art, 1451 S.

Olive West Palm Beach When: through March 11 For more information call 832-5196 By JAN SJOSTROM Daily News Arts Editor Sterling Clark had an eye for beautiful women. Of the 12 paintings in "Collecting the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute," five depict attractive young women. Fortunately, Clark's wife, Francine, shared his collecting tastes. The show, which contains only works bought by the Clarks, is at the Norton Museum. Neither Sterling nor Francine Clark liked gritty paintings.

"They loved sun-dappled landscapes and young ingenues what they felt were the great achievements of impressionism," said Richard Rank, the Clark Art Institute's senior curator. "Their personal taste runs through the whole show." The Clark organized the tour to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the couple's 1955 gift establishing the museum and research center in Williamstown, Mass. The exhibition was offered rent-free to six host venues, which were selected for geo- Please see TOUR, Page 8 Photo Provided by The Norton Museum of Art Pierre-Auguste Renoir: 'A Girl ca. 1875. Oil on canvas, 2878 by 231316 inches.

Part of the Collecting the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute exhibit. Copyright 2006 Palm Beach Daily News Vol. 111, No. 148 Academia. Classified.

Crossword Horoscope Expect mostly cloudy skies, showers and a high near 76. Details, Page 2. 5 Movie Times 5 .7 Today 2 ill "30000" 28041.