Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Who Wants to Fill the FEC Slip? By Geniusofdespair

Moss: It is a BAD idea to fill it in.
It is being discussed AGAIN at the County! First of all it is the city of Miami's call not the County. The City owns the slip and the land around it. Mayor Regalado said no way. I have it on tape. Marc Sarnoff would never do it because it would be suicide for his wife's campaign. Carollo wouldn't do it because he is too smart and is a good steward of the City owned land at the Bayfront Park Trust.  I also assume Suarez is like his dad and would NEVER vote for anything this stupid. There are your 3 votes.

Now the County is another story. Moss has no business proposing it he is getting his zoo theme park and his museum should go on Virginia Key and he knows it or they could make room on Parcel B for all these museums. Has anyone at the county heard of multiple stories? We have an abundance of edifices in this part of town. Audrey Edmonson, didn't you just get an award from the Urban Environment League for "Dedication to downtown open space and waterfront access"? I am quite sure you wouldn't screw with them this quickly.  This is a bad idea: All of you: Put it to bed once and for all.

Naval history of the FEC Slip.

Eye on Miami History of the stupid idea of filling in the slip.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Note to all BCC members: Cut it out! Seriously, stop giving away OUR waterfront land. It is for public use and open space. We don't need to build on every inch of property downtown.

Anonymous said...

How about NOT putting any more museums or other commercial uses on waterfront land. You do us all a huge disservice by floating these as options. They are NOT acceptable uses for waterfront land (as the AA Arena, Bayside, Skyrise, PAMM and Frost Museums are not) and should never have been consider as options. The Black History Museum on Virginia Key idea is equally weak (given inevitable sea level rise, storm surge, open space arguments) as it is just a trojan horse as a venue for private and corporate events. (A much better idea for all of the ethnic and race based museums is to have them be a part of a robust and expanded History Miami museum.) Many in this community look to the EOM blog to guide, inform and educate them on issues that they are not familiar with and to hear the other side of an issue that you will never find in the Herald or other media sources. Please retract your suggestion that Parcel B be used for anything other than a waterfront park for the general public. It perpetuates a very bad public land use policy debacle.

Anonymous said...

The Perez Art Museum Miami (MAM) is funded 96% by the taxpayers and it is losing $1 Mil PER MONTH. Frost Science Museum is losing $1.25 Mil PER MONTH. A for-profit Charter School took over the money losing Children's Museum. Dennis Moss is the dude who voted to divert over $3 BILLION to the privately owned Marlins.
Idiot. But Audrey Edmonson? She wants a broke money losing Black Museum on newly renovated Bicentennial Park?

Unknown said...

Agree with previous anon commenter. We have a very good history museum, affiliated with the Smithsonian no less, with a mission to tell the story of Miami's communities.

If there are any good arguments for splitting up history museums by ethnicities, fracturing the public's attention and donors' interest, I am yet to hear them. I think it was Commissioner Moss (?) who made an argument yesterday that HistoryMiami wasn't focused on telling the story of black Miamians, blaming it on "lack of foresight" something or another.

Even assuming that's true, which I would dispute, that's an asinine argument. Imagine someone coming to the commissioners and telling them the county sewer pipes or police force or school system or libraries weren't serving the needs of a specific ethnic community. Then imagine that person suggested creating a completely new and separate system just to address that issue, instead of fixing the existing infrastructure. They'd be laughed out of the commission chambers, ripped by the Herald and possibly end up the butt end of late night TV jokes.

I know the analogy isn't perfect, but civic institutions partly funded by the gov't are still a similar public good. If the county commission really thinks what we have is not working, and they really care, why not dedicate attention and resources to improving it?

Geniusofdespair said...

Because it is already a done deal. County Deals are never undone...I do not support putting a museum with no funds on parcel B for the record.

You said: Please retract your suggestion that Parcel B be used for anything other than a waterfront park for the general public. It perpetuates a very bad public land use policy debacle.

Anonymous said...

Money. Dennis Moss, Bruno Barrerio, Marc Sarnoff and maybe Audrey Edmonson must think money grows on trees. In 2001-2008 the salesmen/lobbyists at the Miami Art Museum and the Miami Science Museum promised commissioners that their boards would raise money from private donors. They lied. They raised a tiny fraction of what they promised. Now we have two broke museums sitting on $1 Bil worth of waterfront park land. In fact, the Frost Science Museum is 3-5 years behind schedule and losing a fortune daily. No museum...black, white, red or orange should get a site until it raises 100% of an endowment sufficient to sustain itself. Someone please explain Econ 101 to Dennis Moss et al.

Anonymous said...

The current commissioners have to be one of the worst in political history. Commissioner Sarnoff for one does an awful job of keeping his district clean and pedestrian friendly. I am having talks with all the residents where I live providing them with the lack of security, cleanliness, and overall management of our district. He tends to favor just 1-3 streets of his district but forgets about the rest.

Anonymous said...

Sarnoff needs to be recalled.

Unknown said...

I actually think the slip should be filled in and converted into park space along with Parcel B.

Ideally, I'd like to see Museum Park look a lot more like Pace Park, with soccer fields, volleyball courts, tennis courts and basketball courts added. I think it was a major mistake to not include any of these amenities in Museum Park in the first place. While that ship has already sailed, these amenities can still be added to the park if we fill in the slip.

Also, the distance from Pace Park to Bayside along the Baywalk would be reduced by almost 40%, from 1.35 miles to 0.85 miles, which I think would greatly increase foot traffic along the future promenade.

I respect your opinion about maintaining views of the water and I agree with you in opposing the addition of museums but I think park space with athletic facilities would be an improvement over the slip.

Geniusofdespair said...

We paid a lot of money for that seawall and it is the only view of the water from Biscayne Blvd. It is not a soccer field park. Parcel B was supposed to be for soccer fields.
There are dolphins in the slip. Go to Pace Park (you left out the Margaret) you are not from here that is for sure.

Unknown said...

I was born and raised in Miami. I prefer calling it Pace Park and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Pace Park is packed most of the time and will only become more crowded when Aria is built. The population of downtown Miami is rapidly increasing so there is a very real need for more athletic facilities, one that far exceeds the need of dolphins to have an extra few acres to swim.

If your argument is that anyone who wants to use athletic facilities should go to Pace Park, I could turn that around and say anyone who wants to see dolphins should go in the ocean.

Geniusofdespair said...

I said parcel B.

Margaret said...

Where were you when we flecked for the soccer field some parcel B?where were you when we decided to have a passive Park not unlike Central Park? Every park doesn't have to have a athletic fields. some of us just want to contemplate and have a green space. A respite from the hustle impossible of our world. We want to hear Margaret pace park because it is a woman who is being honored. We don't want that forgotten.

Anonymous said...

Paul Moore: Talk to some kids in Overtown they have never been to the ocean. Some of the only sea life they see is around this slip area. Young people living in the towers should get involved with the community and know what's been going on for years with these parks. Read the history that Genius Of Despair provided at the end of the post About the slip. Talk to Dr. Gregory Bush of the University of Miami and read article 7 of the home rule charter and then let's hear how you feel about the soccer fields that were promised to us on parcel B in the original referendum.

Anonymous said...

G.O.D. - Correct me if I am incorrect but my understanding is that there is no done deal with the County relative to locating museums on the Parcel B site. What occurred was a vote by the BCC for the Mayor's office to begin negotiations. Also, there are provisions that no County money be spent on the construction or maintenance of the museum. The backers still have to raise the approx. $125 mil. Additionally, there will need to be a final vote by the BCC to approve the final plan. Please, let's not make something a done deal when it clearly is not.

Anonymous said...

Yes we need more parks like (Margaret) Pace and Kennedy in Coconut Grove. We needs small neighborhood parks too. We have the money from act fees to acquire those parcels. We have the ability to extract green spaces and public parks from developments being approved now - where city officials give zoning waivers and air rights away and reimburse CRA funds yet get nothing back to the surrounding communities. Why not? Are city officials really looking out for the public interest? Are they building a live able sustainable city? I don't see it.

COMMISSIONER MOSS said...

GENIUS, I FORWARDED A COMMENT ON 10/9/14. HOPE YOU GOT IT.

COMMISSIONER MOSS

Geniusofdespair said...

No I did not get it, it might have gone to spam....I don't really look at spam I just delete it. Please send it AGAIN. I apologize...If it is really you. Otherwise, too bad Paul Moore.

COMMISSIONER MOSS said...

GENIUS, I ALWAYS GET A CHUCKLE OUT OF THE PICTURE LAMPOONING ME! IN RESPONSE, I AM FULLY AWARE THAT THIS IS CITY OF MIAMI PROPERTY AND NOTHING COULD HAPPEN WITHOUT THEIR APPROVAL. BUT I STILL BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNTY TO CREATE OUR MILLENIUM PARK IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI BY FILLING THE SLIP AND JOINING PARCEL B AND MUSEUM PARK WHICH ARE ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER BY THE SLIP. IN FILLING IN THE SLIP, I AM SUGGESTING THAT POSSIBLE LANGUAGE BE PUT IN PLACE THAT WILL PROHIBIT ANY BUILDINGS ON THE SLIP AND ALLOW FOR THE AREA TO BE USED FOR OPEN SPACE PARK USES ONLY. RIGHT NOW YOU CAN'T PLAY CATCH WITH THE KIDS, HAVE A FAMILY PICNIC, ENJOY A LAWN CONCERT, SIT AND ENJOY YOURSELF UNLESS YOU HAVE A LIFE JACKET ON, ETC., IN THE SLIP. THOUSANDS OF NEW RESIDENTS WILL BE MOVING TO DOWNTOWN, AND THE ADDITIONAL PARK SPACE WILL BE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. GENIUS, IT IS WORTH A DISCUSSION. COMMISSIONER MOSS

Anonymous said...

Dennis Moss and Audrey Edmonson need to stop trying to divert $300 Million of the taxpayers money for a Black Museum. $100 mil plus debt service = $300 Mil. Dumb idea.

Unknown said...

@Margaret

My suggestion was to keep the current Museum Park as is and to add recreational facilities where the slip and Parcel B are today. The idea isn't that the park should be made hostile toward those who just want to take in the view but should be shared with everyone, including those who want to play sports.

@Anonymous

I know all about the history of the park, slip, and Parcel B. I just think that the opportunity to improve our park spaces outweighs the historical significance of the slip.

You made a good point about young people in Overtown. We should absolutely keep their interests in mind when planning parks around their neighborhood since they are the ones who stand to gain the most. However, if you want to know what Overtown kids want in a park, look no further than Gibson. That park was design by and for the Overtown community and it looks nothing like Museum Park today. The athletic facilities that I am proposing for Museum Park would draw young people to the bay, where they can still see sea life and will soon be able to learn about at the new science museum.