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| I am more than angry, my blood is boiling. |
We have been through filling in the FEC slip before.
Dennis Moss proposed it in 2011. It was proposed in 2002 and countless other times.
Bad ideas never die. I recently wrote about this, this week when they proposed a site at the port of Miami. Another bad idea with legs from idiots.
Buried in the Miami Herald today, reporter Chuck Rabin wrote that Mayors Carlos Gimenez and Tomas Regalado think it is a good idea to fill in the FEC slip (South of Bicentennial Park)
NOT to put a soccer stadium (like we believe that one) -- next door to the American Airlines arena. Besides gargantuan traffic jams they would be barring the public from a waterfront stroll (a walkway is/will be errected around the slip). It is a colossally bad idea from two mayors
without any funds, historical reverence or vision. Gimenez said filling in the slip will give us more greenspace. Carlos we already had greenspace and all that they did was plop building after building in it. I would rather have the water.
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Moss wanted to use the Port Tunnel dredge material fill the slip in 2011.
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Here are some things to think about:
The FIND (Florida Inland Navigation District) contributed millions of dollars, toward the $16,000,000 for the seawall and 50% of the $1,700,000 for the bollards for the tie-up of visiting ships. We would probably have to pay that money back. The City of Miami had to match those funds to get the FIND grants.
While Bicentennial park is undergoing construction with those stupid museums the slip has not been usable since there is no land access. This is temporary. To say the slip is not being used in disingenuous. For example, the boat show wanted to use the slip but because of the construction they couldn't.
Biscayne Bay Aquatic preserve does not allow filling of Biscayne Bay, severe mitigation costs and years of permitting would not insure filling would be allowed.
It used to be the Port of Miami and a military site during WWII the city tried to fill in the first 100' bordering Biscayne Blvd. in 2002 and found many state federal and local regulations and stopped the project.
Historically: Suzette Rice, whose recently deceased husband Charlie Rice wrote a WW2 history of the area (THE SUBMARINE CHASER TRAINING CENTER: DOWNTOWN MIAMI’S INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR) wrote:
That slip is the last remaining slip of the WW2 Naval base that was located on Biscayne Bay. In WW2, the naval training center and the Key West Naval base were located along the bay. We should be building a memorial/museum to the military that were training and housed in Miami and Miami Beach, not filling-in the very last vestige of our history that reflects the efforts of the brave military during that war.
For you who don't know, over 400 ships were sunk off our shores during WW2.
People sat on their butts on the beaches drinking cocktails from Jacksonville south down the coast. They actually watched as merchant marine ships burned, like it was some sport. German subs were in the waters off the coast and there are even tales of the crews visiting the Mainland in Miami.
Please leave that slip alone and actually make the effort to tell the story.
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| Historic photo of the slips Piers one, two and three Right to Left |
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| We have the last remaining of the 3 slips pictured here (1943) |
Charlie Rice said: "This picture is actually from 1941 when the first two PT Boat Squadrons with prototype boats, were on a shakedown run (you can tell by the numbers on the boats). They were to go from Miami to Cuba. Squadron 1 had PTs 3-8 and Sqaudron 2 had 10-19. I just discovered that the PT-boat picture on the same page that you posted my downtown/Bayfront Park photo shows the Navy's "PT-boat Shakedown Detail" commanded by Guadalcanal veteran Lieutenant Commander Alan R. Montgomery. It was established in April 1943 to shake down the PT-boats manufactured by the Higgins and Elco companies. I thought you might like this information."
38 comments:
It is a shame that with such apparent historical value, that the government we currently have would just want to destroy it for a soccer field.
There is not much left of the Fort Dallas site or much interest in government for sharing its history either.
It would be nice to have something that represented more than just the hispanic culture in the downtown bayfront area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Dallas
This appears to be the politicians being lobbied by high income connected people with no vision or understanding of the FEC slip, regulatory agencies and past improvements.
There is currently a continuous waterfront bay walk under construction from I395 to the American Airlines arena. Some of the funding again is from FIND for the baywalk.
We need our vets to unite.... Write the mayors! Protect Miami history.
The people here don't need to protect Miami history... We need to protect Americian history.... Good, bad or indifferent.
Gimenez and the County Commission propose the Bay of Pigs next door on the vacant AA parcel. Make that the WWII museum instead, highlighting the local history and sacrifices and leave the historical Boat Slip.
tregalado@miamigov.com
(305) 854-4001
Mayor city of Miami
Mayor@miamidade.gov
https://www.facebook.com/MayorGimenez
Mayor of Dade county
Wasn't that AA parcel supposed to be open park land? We are giving away public land again? Where are people of this county?
First we let the Miami heat screw us and now the city and county are going to give away not one but 2 more parcels of the last open areas?
That is mayor regaldo's fax number above.... This is his
(305) 250-5300 office.
Faxes work too, if you can do them.
This is water not land. They want to fill it in and MAKE IT LAND.
I propose the Charlie Rice WW II Historical Museum on parcel B.
Why don't we preserve our own history?
We could have two museums and make everyone happy. One building two floors...so easy.
Why doesn't someone email the county commissioners and the city people the history Mr. rice wrote?
Is there anywhere to see it?
It could be the Charlie Rice WWII museum sponsored by Betsy Hotel. They have a Foundation and were wartime hotel.
As a WW2 vet I am very unhappy with those politicians who never helped during the war and now want to make pocket money by screwing our history. Get rid of them.
Rick Scott just gave $1million in from the current state budget for the Bay of Pigs museum that the County and Gimenez plan to put on the parcel next to AA arena.
Scott can't expand medicare to help people with medical care, and He can set aside a million for a parcel to be given away of public lands?
Save the slip.
We have the Freedom tower on one side of Biscayne, now the Bay of Pigs on the bay, and now, they want to destroy US military History because it is convenient for the developers and the money grabbers?
Is there anything wrong with giving a damn about something of American Historical importance? I am tired of people not taking a stand for preserving American history or even local history.
History does not start when you stroll into South Florida or neighborhood. History is something that happened BEFORE your presence that allows you to be at that spot at this point in time. Respect it and embrace it. Make it work for the community, don't bulldoze it.
Yes --- never underestimate the persistence of a really bad idea. Thank you for the history lesson. I did not know the story and it makes even angrier about this proposal. What are they thinking??
Its all about the ultra rich. Developers control this city. We need to elect city officials that do not cave to the pressures applied by scum looking to make money off the citizens while destroying Miamis beauty.
Let me rephrase .. “A**hole developers” We do have decent developers that do build for the right reasons whom helped Miami become the city it is today.
The Miami Heat owner and his minions only want the slip filled in so they can use new land fill for parking. They hate not collecting every penny. So all they want is more parking spaces. They already illegally use the East vacant lot for parking. They promised a soccer field but they lied. Remember the Heat wants to use the slip for parking.
I want the Miami Heat to pay what they owe us. I am offended they rip off the tax payers every year on rent and then charge them an arm and a leg for the privilege to watch their over-paid children play. I would be thrilled if they went away, the arena came down and we restored the slip they filled in.
Stop screwing with public assets.
Condo owners on Biscayne Blvd. must be ready to cut and run. Can you imagine owning property near two stadiums, a museum, performing arts center, and open air concert venue and a shopping center. Talk about noise and traffic. Yikes! Certainly not an urban paradise.
Just due west of the condo towers on Biscayne Blvd are 24/7 drug clubs. Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne, Ten Museum, Marquis and the proposed tall tower on the BP site all sit adjacent to noisy crime filled drug clubs. Club Space illegally plays music on its roof. Marc Sarnoff receives money from drug clubs. Campaign contributions. Steve Marin on the payroll? Traffic? Noise? Illegal billboards? Protect the slip.
To the Anon who wrote:
"Condo owners on Biscayne Blvd. must be ready to cut and run. Can you imagine owning property near two stadiums, a museum, performing arts center, and open air concert venue and a shopping center...?
YES! That is what makes Miami a 1st World city talked about all over the world!
"Condo owners on Biscayne Blvd. must be ready to cut and run. Can you imagine owning property near two stadiums, a museum, performing arts center, and open air concert venue and a shopping center...?"
YES! That is what makes Miami a 1st World city talked about all over the world!
Hmmm.... Yah, $350,000 to live where you can't get out of your building for the traffic jam and can't sleep because of the noise level 25 floors up. Yup. That is the American Dream.
I don't support filling in the slip. But comments on this neighborhood are asinine. Many of the people to move to Miami and the park west area come from cities significantly more congested than the park west area. The people who move here want attractions, convenience, and excitement. They are not looking for .25 acres, 2 car garage, above ground pool environment of the suburbs. Condo values in the park west area are soaring due to the investment in this area (we are seeing 20% to 30% value increases in the last 2 years). Yes traffic is bad but can be corrected with some proper street re-alignment (such as making many of the cross-streets one way). But that will take a true leader (not do nothing Mark Suckoff).
To the Anon above, I think I read in the Miami Herald that the Heat made its first rent payment last month. There was no discussion of back rent. Well, I guess we have to be thankful . . .
The Heat rent payment deserves some wild acknowledgement! really. finally. wow.
Management must have struck an agreement for a gift from the tax payers at a later date, something that they will need more than this rent money.
I support filling in the slip...I am only interested in adding more park, and NO buildings to this site. I find it completely useless in it's present state...
The Heat gross $60 Mil to $80 Mil per year and for the first time EVER they paid the County $250,000. No more public/private deals. They are just scams.
Merits of filling the slip / historical preservation / land-deal conspiracies aside, there sure are a lot of people posting ridiculous comments on here as "Anonymous."
"Yah, $350,000 to live where you can't get out of your building for the traffic jam and can't sleep because of the noise level 25 floors up. Yup. That is the American Dream."
"Can you imagine owning property near two stadiums, a museum, performing arts center, and open air concert venue and a shopping center."
"It would be nice to have something that represented more than just the hispanic culture in the downtown bayfront area."
Seriously? Complaining about traffic in an urban center? I'm not sure about "urban paradise" but living near cultural and sports venues are part of what make city life great. Every great city has traffic. People actually work, live, and pass through these desirable centers. Maybe city life isn't for you. That's fine. But don't sit in your resource-depleting suburbs, pontificating on what we should or should not do with our city. Let those of us who actually live here make those decisions.
Sports stadiums should be built on well landlocked sites close to 95 and other well traveled north south highways. Promoters should respect fans from Broward and Palm Beach Counties. No more gifts of taxpayer owned waterfront land. Just ask Carlos Alvarez.
The historical reporting of Charles Rice regarding the Submarine Chaser Training Center in downtown Miami is truly fascinating. Until I read my brother’s paper, I had no idea that German submarines surrounded the Florida peninsula during WW2 and that the men trained through the center protected our coastline as well as other lands and waters between here and Europe.
The Rice Family has a long Miami history. Catherine Hefinger Rice, our mother, was born in Miami to European immigrants who settled there and loved Miami’s tropical and breathtaking beauty. Catherine met our dad, Harry Rice, a WW2 vet, when he reported for duty in Miami to her boss, an officer in the army air corps. Charlie was born in the Biltmore Hotel during WW2 when it was being used as an army hospital. Charlie graduated the U of Miami law school and never considered moving elsewhere. Charlie’s kids are now fourth generation Miamians.
Thus, our rich family history in Miami prompts our concern for historical preservation. It is shortsighted, to say the least, for city leaders, stewards of Miami’s future as well as its remarkable past, to consider filling in the FEC boat slip south of Bicentennial Park. It is the last remaining slip of the WW2 Naval base located on Biscayne Bay. Its history is rich not just for the City of Miami but for our country. German U-boats sank 24 American ships off the coast of Florida during WW2. German spies entered Florida via the Jacksonville area to attempt destruction of important railroad supply lines. The Second World War was closer to American soil than we recognize. Miami offered the U.S. Navy a strategic location from which to train incredibly brave submariners and to protect our country from Germany’s threatening presence. In so doing, Miami sacrificed its human and economic resources as well as its tranquility. Let’s profit from this historical asset by preserving it rather than commercializing it.
Beckham says Miami "deserves" a soccer stadium.
And he is kind enough to offer us one. Go figure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOiuQl37ZQc
Your research deserves to be posted as a comment after every Miami Herald article on this subject. Otherwise, it just seems like anyone who objects is anti-progress,anti-sports.
According to the Miami Herald:
"They pushed back against their detractors, mainly Royal Caribbean Cruises, and stressed their dislike of the possibility that their stadium could go up next to the Miami Marlins’ ballpark — a location Fuller described as “spiritually tainted.”
Don't we have Santería priests who can take care of the taint?
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