Wednesday, December 10, 2014

What Does All Aboard Florida have to do with the Demolition of the Courthouse? By Geniusofdespair


The 360' Miami-Dade County Courthouse was the tallest building in the State of Florida when it was completed in 1928.
How do both link up - The Courthouse and the Rail? Sounds like a bad deal for us. Harvey Ruvin: Let's do some explaining. I don't know the answers, I just know something is afoot.  Are we going to give them the land? Tell us what is going on. Why not do some restoration instead of demolition?

BTW there are SEVERAL of these on the December 16th Miami Dade County Agenda:

RESOLUTION WAIVING BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND PROGRAM ADMINISTRATIVE RULES...

Let's not WAIVE rules folks. Where is Bovo? Where is the Mayor? Why don't we waive rules for citizens and let them speak 10 minutes each? Stop waiving rules. We voted on this bond, we deserve for the rules to be followed on all items. It is only ethical and fair.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pay attention people. Downtown Miami is about to be redeveloped for a Las Vegas casino strip by the powers that be. What do you thing the Miami World Center is about? The Courthouse land too. And it's all subsidized by taxpayers who keep getting hit with new bond issues to pay for stuff the Miami Dade can't or won't fund because it's giving away our tax dollars for developer's "subsidies."

Geniusofdespair said...

Why would we do a Las Vegas strip when Atlantic City casinos are Failing?

Anonymous said...

Exactly! GOD. Because certain people- lawyers, bond sellers, developers, politicians who get political contributions- get their money up front and the taxpayers get screwed. And no true economic investment takes place so you end up with the same blight and unemployment, an uneducated workforce, etcetera...exactly where Atlantic City is today. Except Miami will also be underwater.

Anonymous said...

The $393 Mil Courthouse Bond issue pushed by Carlos Gimenez's favorite lobbyist, the misanthrope, Jorge Lopez? (Voters defeated it 2 to 1). The powers that be are doing demolition by neglect. They want the historic courthouse demolished so "they" can make a profit. Much profit for all the slimy toads. The FEC, owner of All Aboard Florida, wants fee money and a profit building a new overly large 600,000+ sq ft courthouse.
Jorge Lopez wants more fee income.

Anonymous said...

It is one of the most historic buildings in south Florida... what the HELL is HistoryMiami doing? (Besides taking money from the county and kissing ass?)

Where are the bar associations doing besides being afraid of Greenberg T's the county?

I am ashamed of Dade County's lack of respect for anything historic. Are we so culturally lacking that we can't respect the past?

We want to fill in the WWII slip, build no memorial to the military base located there, and now tear down a building that was center point of every tourism photo ever taken from the date it was build.

This county is a crass tasteless community that has forgotten its roots rather than embracing them as it grows.

Geniusofdespair said...

From Frank Nero in Miami Today:
Now that the voters of Miami dade have spoken relative to issuing bonds for a new courthouse
I want to share my past experience as chairman of the New Jersey State
Building Authority .The authority is responsible for the financing and
development facilities for the state of New Jersey
During my tenure we were charged with restoring the historic New Jersey
State House .

The New Jersey State house is the second oldest statehouse in continuous use
in the United States.
Like the court house for many years it cried out for restoration .
Like here no one had the political will to address the financial
requirements of restoring this historic structure .
Like the court house it fell into disrepair until a crisis forced the
issue .
A beam cracked and landed on the desk of the governor and there was water
intrusion into the legislative chambers. Having spared the governor it was
finally decided to go forward with a restoration.

knowing that we would have to relocate the entire legislature during the
restoration our first challenge was to locate alternate space for the
legislature and associated government functions .

We conducted a comprehensive space study to determine what exact space the
legislature and executive branch would require projecting out 30+ years .we
also evaluated which functions located in the Statehouse could be located
close but not necessarily in the state house itself.

Exact restoration plans with associated costs were developed by a prominent
architectural team and the firm which restored Ellis Island and the Statue
of Liberty were hired to implement the restoration plans.
Costs associated with a restoration of an historic property are never
exact,as they're always unforeseen circumstances and challenges. our goal
however was to inform the legislative and executive branches and the
public what the outside costs of the restoration would be.
If a state house constructed in the late 1700s can be restored and become
functional for the executive and legislative branches in New Jersey I see
no reason why the current courthouse could not be restored to its former
glory and again function as a courthouse and monument to justice here .
The idea of satellite Courthouses that could perhaps be shared by and
developed in concert with municipalities/School board throughout the county
makes a great deal of sense.

The restoration of the current courthouse could be done via a public-private
partnership .There are financing vehicles in place which could facilitate
such an arrangement. .The county could then fund the restoration and any
additional requirements for additional court space through their annual
operating budget.
No one refutes the fact that the current courthouse is in need of
restoration but rather than patchwork repairs which throws money away it is
time to completely restore the current courthouse and bring it back to its
original condition and purpose,
It is not easy to have the political will and leadership to address these
Long ignored responsibilities.
The voters have given our political leaders a unique opportunity to now
comprehensively address the future courthouse needs our community and do so in a cost-effective ,prudent manner while preserving an iconic historic structure and its function

Anonymous said...

The biggest problem we have in Miami Dade county are politicians willing to bond off tax dollars faster then they can add up the debt service!

If the court house were in private hands it would be restored, on time and probably on budget within some change orders along the way because you just never know with restorations.

How did so many private owners restore so many building in South Beach on their own dime?

Just recently in the Herald was a story about a private owner moving an entire mansion on his own dime to preserve and restore.

So many of our politicians have zero clue what it's like to work for a living, raise funds to do projects, etc. They are used to living off the tax payer trough and the developers/attorney's know they're so easily swayed in to bad decisions throwing crumbs in to a campaign account because that's all they know how to do is run for office!

It's an embarrassment to not only the City, the County but a kick in the pants to the tax payers while the people gaming the system get all our cash!

Anonymous said...

So what can be done about all this? Clearly these politicians have no shame. Even under indictment they run and win. And conscientious voters have no recourse when there is such low voter turnout. So that's why others are taking it to the streets.

Anonymous said...

They can do whatever they want to do because people are not voting. ..

Unknown said...

I'm a politician and I have no shame (because I try to behave myself and I earn a satisfactory living at my non-political day job) but I am truly baffled by the majority of well-meaning Americans who naively vote against their own best interests. This includes some of my own, less educated relatives; the well-educated ones vote more responsibly. It reminds me of the sheep in Orwell's Animal House. I suppose the solution lies in education. Thus this blog. Thank you bloggers.

Anonymous said...

Follow the money.

SEFTA said...

You all right about everything except who's to blame. Dade County had the lowest voter turnout in the entire state. 43.15 percent of the 124,433 registered voters voted. We live in the shallowest city in America. WE are to blame for allowing corrupt politicians to run over us. WE are to blame for not taking control of our city's future. WE are to blame for not having any plans for the future because, apparently, we have no future. The quick buck is why we are going to turn into Las Vegas. Grab the money and run is easier than stopping the rising tide.

Anonymous said...

Justice is not in buildings and offices, preserve it only if it is willing to go beyond that.