The Last Stand for Rare Plant Species of Virginia Key

The first stop in the Virginia Key Coastal Hammock Trail is a “transitional” zone, created to show how attractive native plants can be in the landscape as well as demonstrate how planting natives like Sea Grape, Gumbo Limbo, and Wild Lime helps heal a land once overtaken by exotics.

Restoring the native landscape has also created critical habitat for rare and endangered wildlife species. Migrating songbirds that can be found here include rare migrants like the pine siskin, Tennessee warbler, Swainson’s thrush and indigo bunting. These species travel down the Atlantic coast flyway and use this maritime hammock for food and shelter.

The 13-acre site, accessible from the parking lot of Virginia Key Beach (beyond Jimbo’s across from the Sewage Treatment Plant) is the best example of this forest type remaining in Miami Dade. The following list of the rare plant species that call Virginia Key home underscores just how important it is to protect Virginia Key’s spectacular but fragile wilderness areas.

This is the last stand.

Rare Plant Species of Virginia Key
Locally rare: Balloon vine, Beach-tea, Sevenyear apple, Ocean morning glory, Mangrove rubbervine
Locally imperiled: Florida vente conmigo (I love that name!)

State protected: black mangrove, white mangrove, red mangrove, sea oats

State endangered: beachstar beach-peanut, mangrove mallow

State threatened: Florida silver palm, maidenberry, darlingplum, inkberry, Biscayne prickly-ash

Federally endangered: beach clustervine

Federally threatened: Johnson’s Seagrass

Commercially exploited: coontie





Resources:
To learn more about which natives are right for your yard, see the native planting tool at:
http://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/default.asp
More info:
http://regionalconservation.org
http://www.abettersouthflorida.org/Revive.html

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Photo Friday: Kayaking off Virginia Key Beach

Although there is no public boat ramp (yet) on Virginia Key, kayakers can launch off the public beach and explore the island by sea. The Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area is a no-entry zone, even for non-motorized vessels, but everything else is open for exploration. Dense seagrass beds comprised of turtle grass, manatee grass and shoal grass are within wading distance of the beach next to the coastal dune, where a diversity of fish, sponges, invertebrates thrive. These are prime feeding areas for wildlife, including sea turtles, manatees and dolphins.

Drumming and Discovery Day

The drumming could be heard as far as the toll booth entrance, a faint rhythmic call to the dance pavilion of the historic Virginia Key Beach Park.

Family History Day on Sunday, Feb. 21, drew lots of people to the beach park on a windy winter afternoon. This day it was not so much about the beach-- though it sparkled blue in the surrounding distance - but about the drumming, and the barbecuing, and the smiles on the children riding the seaside carousel and the whisking away into the wilds on a mini-train that emerged from the mini-tunnel to reveal the dense tropical foliage of a hidden hammock and the panorama of a broad, white dune glistening in the sun.

The historic Virginia Key Beach Park is located on Virginia Key, a 1,000-acre barrier island in Miami. For more information on its unique history and future as a civil rights park and museum, go to: http://www.virginiakeybeachpark.net/

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Virginia Key: the heart of Biscayne Bay


In 1877, Commodore Ralph Munroe, for whom the Miami Marine Stadium is named, sailed for the first time from Key West to Miami. His route: Biscayne Bay. The Bay was the community’s highway, north and south and from the Atlantic to the mainland.

Though our highways are now steel and concrete, Biscayne Bay remains an important corridor -- a critical link to our environmental heritage.

And Virginia Key is at the heart of that corridor, connecting North and South Biscayne Bay.

“The pivotal location of Virginia Key offers the opportunity to interpret and manifest the diverse natural and cultural heritage of Biscayne Bay through a network of aqualinks - an Aqua Necklace ....to connect the waterfront resources of Biscayne Bay.”

This was the recommendation of the Virginia Key Park Civil Rights Task Force to the City of Miami Commission in 2000.

The task force went on to enumerate the many ecological, historic and recreational sites along the Bay that would be linked - starting with Oleta State Recreation Area in the North to Biscayne National Park Convoy Point Visitor’s Center in the south. In between would be historic sites - the Miami Circle, The Barnacle, the Charles Deering Estate and trailheads and wildlife observation areas, including preserves and refuges.

“A string of pearls” they called this “aqualink” and Virginia Key would be the Aqua Pearl in the center.

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Does Virginia Key Need Guiding Principles?

Alternatives to the 2009 proposed master plan for Virginia Key are now being mulled over by community groups, public officials, editorial writers and even University of Miami Architecture School students in a special design workshop on Virginia Key. The City of Miami Commission is set to reconsider the Virginia Key Master Plan in May 2010.

What will guide decisions about what, where and how the island should be used? Should public land be redeveloped using the same principles as private property? Do private sector rules of highest and best use apply? Does public access trump revenue generation by a cash-strapped city? Should short term goals override sound, long-term planning? Is the fragile environment of Virginia Key going to survive?

Perhaps a lesson from the recent past can help. In 1999, the City of Miami was in the throes of a financial crisis, much like today, and Virginia Key public land was seen as an opportunity to increase revenues, much like today. Sensing a need for some kind of order amid the chaos of competing interests, University of Miami Professor Greg Bush, then president of the Urban Environment League, came up with these guiding “Principles for the Future of Virginia Key.” Here is his memo in its entirety:

Memorandum
From: Gregory Bush, President, Urban Environment League
To: Virginia Key Advisory Group
Date: February 3, 1999

Subject: Principles for the Future of Virginia Key

-Open all public parkland for use by the public within three months in order to folly insure the rights of all residents.
All existing deed restrictions should be adhered to in order to avoid further erosion of the public’s historic right to their park land.

-Free and clear public access to the beach and all public property should be maintained.

-Public participation should be insured throughout the process of re-designing the use of public land with due public notice given in major newspapers. The need for public charrettes, paid for by the city and other sources of funds is paramount. All city and county reports should be completed on schedule and issued in writing.

-Those Virginia Key Advisory Board or Waterfront Board members with personal interest of their own, or by members of their family or close personal friends in future economic benefit from the and in question should consider that this might constitute a conflict of interest and should consider removing themselves from their respective Committees.

-Public bathroom facilities should be made available to all and adequate security should be maintained in all public parks.
-Public access to public land should not be inhibited by parking restrictions or inadequate public transportation.

-Public parkland should be used to enhance the appreciation of nature through walking trails, public campgrounds. It should also provide places of contemplation and relaxation as well as be redesigned for active recreational uses and as entertainment venues. There is a paramount value to keep all activity small scale.

-Public parkland on Virginia Key should be used to memorialize the civil rights struggle of African Americans. A memorial structure should be constructed modeled after the FDR memorial in Washington D.D. that will be a place of contemplation and tell the history of the struggle. It should be developed in cooperation with the Black Archives. The site should be a non-commercial service to the community, act as a tourist destination. All proceeds should benefit underprivileged youth.

-A suitable memorial should be created for all those from Cuba and Haiti who arrived on the shores of Virginia Key in their flight from oppression.

-Commercial eating facilities should be strictly limited to small scale operations.

-Educational programs for youth should be a major objective in redesigning the public parkland - done in conjunction with the Biscayne Nature Center.

-This Committee should be retained during the entire process of the planning for Virginia Key not merely to help with Specification for RFP’s so that there be continuity of knowledge.

-A Wilderness Campground should be created for inner city children, children at risk, and others, similar to the youth camp at Biscayne National Park.

-Any designs should be completed only after full and active consultation with local experts in the fields of environmental science and local history and with due deference to the ecological and historical nature of this island.

To see the proposed October 2009 Virginia Key Master Plan that was deferred by the City of Miami Commission, as well as earlier presentations created by the consultant, go to http://www.virginiakeymasterplan.com/

Illustration: EDSA, Rendering of proposed master plan for Marine Stadium Basin properties, Oct. 2009.

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on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Biodiversity of Island Depends on Volunteers

The amazing variety of ecosystems on Virginia Key - from seagrass beds offshore to mangrove forests and hammock - make it one of our communities most significant resources for environmental education and recreation.

But protecting the ecology and native biodiversity of this unique barrier island off the coast of a major, metropolitan area is a constant challenge. Volunteers, whether on the ground - planting natives or removing exotics - or in the commission meetings - advocating before public officials - can make a difference. And often, have been the only thing that has.

Citizens for a Better South Florida, one of several groups bringing students and volunteers to the island for workdays and environmental education speaks frankly of what’s at stake and what to do about it:

“...(N)atural coastal areas, with their beautiful vistas, sea breezes, and access to the ocean, are severely threatened by development across the globe. Virginia Key is no exception. On several occasions, various groups have attempted to develop large tracts of Virginia Key for private projects. Fortunately the project was halted by citizens concerned that public land was being misappropriated for private projects, as much of Virginia Key is designated as public park land....
Across south Florida's coastline, public access to coastal areas has been severely restricted by private development. Already, much of Biscayne Bay is off limits to the public. Any citizen concerned with their ability to access, enjoy, and preserve our remaining beautiful coastline found at Virginia Key should voice their concerns and participate....”

Volunteering in the native plant nursery on Virginia Key is one important way to contribute to protecting the biodiversity of the island. Volunteers work with naturalists and the City of Miami staff to propagate native plants, remove exotics, clean the coastline and plant natives in the coastal hammock and dunes.

Information on volunteer opportunities and Virginia Key can be found on the Citizens for a Better South Florida website: http://www.abettersouthflorida.org/VirginiaKey.html


Photo: Reclamation project, Xavier Cortada works with volunteers to replant mangroves on Virginia Key and Key Biscayne

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Nature surprises on Virginia Key

Photo credit: Sam Wright. Okenia  hypogaea is a new variety of each peanut  discovered by Wendy Teas, Sea Turtle Stranding Coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service in the maritime tropical hammock of Virginia Key. This variety has pink pigment on the stems and leaf, a color that has never been observed before now.

Aerial view of Virginia Key shows Tropical Hammock and dunes alongside Bear Cut that is part of the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park.

Newly vegetated dunes are part of a federally funded ecological restoration project.

There are some who would chafe at the notion that Virginia Key is, at its core, a wilderness. If there’s a restaurant there, or for that matter, a Water and Sewage Treatment Plant, how can it be a wilderness?

But even within and certainly around the man-made structures and uses, wilderness prevails and perseveres. And often surprises.

The discovery of a new variety of beach peanut is such a surprise. The separate population of Okenia hypogaea was discovered by Wendy Teas, Sea Turtle Stranding Coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service in the maritime tropical hammock of Virginia Key. This variety has pink pigment on the stems and leaf, a color that has never been observed before now.

The maritime hammock of Virginia Key is just one small part of a web of wild places. Other habitats of Virginia Key include a beach dune, coastal strand, and mangrove tidal swamp.

Reclaiming and restoring disturbed natural areas has allowed new species never before seen on Virginia Key to return to their ancestral habitats.

Former Fairchild Tropical Garden Conservation intern Allison Rosenberg documented the presence of a new population of beach star (Cyperus pedunculatus). And beach clustervine (Jacquemontia reclinata) has been introduced along the dune habitat.

Wilderness certainly can be defined as the most undisturbed, pristine, free of human contact places left on the planet. But it can also be found closer to home, in the swaths of wildness on a barrier island that appears to be reclaiming itself.



Download the guidebook to the Tropical Hammock of Virginia Key:
http://www.virginiakeybeachpark.net/guidebook.pdf

Photo Friday: Boardwalk Trail Over Restored Wetlands

A new boardwalk accessible from the parking lot of the historic Virginia Key Beach Park offers visitors an opportunity to walk through restored wetlands, where wading birds can often be observed feeding in the mangrove shallows.

Seed Money for Miami Marine Stadium Restoration

This week at a community dinner meeting at the Rusty Pelican restaurant on Virginia Key, City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said there would be “good news” regarding the Miami Marine Stadium.

“There will be an announcement soon that we will have access to $3 million to be used as seed money to start restoration,” Regaldo told the audience of about 75 people. The meeting was sponsored by the Urban Environment League (www.uel.org).

Regalado’s announcement was part of a free-wheeling oral history interview conducted by the UEL’s Gregory Bush, a University of Miami history professor and longtime public parks advocate.

The interview traced Regalado’s roots to Havana and arrival as a teenager in Miami during the Pedro Pan children’s airlift in the early 1960’s. Regalado also recounted his time as a journalist covering the Haitian and Cuban migrations. The interview was recorded and will be posted to the UEL website, the group announced.

During the interview Regalado floated the idea of having a “public trust” manage the stadium and hiring promotional companies to book events and concerts, much like the Bayfront Trust manages events at Bayfront Park.

“No condos or shopping centers,” Regalado said regarding uses outside the stadium, where empty parking lots now sit. “Well, maybe a cafeteria,” he added.

Illustration: courtesy University of Miami, College of Architecture Design Studio. Rendering of a restored Miami Marine Stadium.

Tropical Hammock is Nature's Last Refuge

Virginia Key’s Tropical Hammock


In the center of Virginia Key, a 1,000 acre barrier island off the coast of Miami, is a rare tropical hammock, where endangered plant and animal species find a last refuge.

The hammock is a treasure trove for the naturalist in all of us eager to explore an ecosystem where native butterflies and migrating songbirds abound.

After Hurricane Andrew, the alternately barren and exotic-laden landscape was reforested with native plants. Removing exotics allowed the native seed pool waiting under the rubble to come to life. The state endangered plant, the Biscayne Prickly-ash, began to flourish - its population growing from one species to more than 40 in a short time period.

Field biologist Samuel Wright, who has been working with City of Miami naturalist Juan Fernandez and his staff to restore the 15-acre hammock, documents the restoration project and discovery of new species in the Virtual Herbarium website of Fairchild Tropical Garden http://www.virtualherbarium.org/GardenViews/VirginiaKey.html
Here’s his invitation to explore:

“Imagine getting out of your car and taking a five-minute walk through such rare habitats as coastal dunes, coastal hammocks and mangroves. Could you envision a pleasant, relaxing day with a beach all to yourself in the middle of Miami? Come and lose yourself as you stroll through the Virginia Key Coastal Hammock Interpretive Trail. With all its diverse flora, fauna and cultural history, Virginia Key has a lot to offer.”

The Tropical Hammock entrance is off the parking lot of Virginia Key Beach (Windsurfer’s Beach). The hammock trail is free but there is a City of Miami parking fee of $5 to enter the island off Rickenbacker Causeway.

Virginia Key State Park?

The official Florida Historic Marker actually lists historic Virginia Key as "Virginia Key Beach State Park." Is this the harbinger of things to come or just wishful thinking?

In any case, here's what the marker says:

"Virginia Key Beach Park is an environmental and historic landmark on a barrier island in Miami. Its earliest recorded history is of an 1838 skirmish during the Second Seminole War in which three Seminoles were killed on this site. From the early 1900s onward, during the era of segregation laws, this location became a popular unofficial "Colored recreation area known as Bears Cut. In response to a bold protest led by attorney Lawson E. Thomas and others demanding an officially designated beach, Virginia Key Beach opened for "the exclusive use of Negroes" on August 1, 1945. The new park, at first accessible only by boat, was an immediate success, attracting over 1,000 visitors on any given weekend. In addition to the baptisms and sunrise services which regularly took place, churches, organizations, and families gathered here for memorable picnics and social events. The park brought together all neighborhoods and social classes of the Colored community. By the early 1960s, another courageous protest brought segregation to an end. The beach park symbolizes the struggle of Black Miamians who persevered to bring about change for future generations."

According to state records, the roadside marker ( #F-573) was erected in 2006. The sponsors for this "Florida Heritage Site" include: the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department and the Florida Department of State.

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The Honeymoon Cottages of Virginia Key Beach

“With its scant four-tenths of a mile of actual shoreline, the (Virginia Key Beach) Park was the only bathing beach in the county legally available to African Americans at that time. In spite of these restrictive limitations, however, Virginia Key Beach Park was a cherished “Paradise” and a vibrant recreational locale which united all neighborhoods and social classes as a center of Black life.”
Virginia Key Park Civil Rights Task Force, December 2000

One of the most cherished aspects of Virginia Key was the availability of bathing cabanas and overnight cottages.

Former Miami-Dade County Parks Director A.D. Barnes recalls in his History of the Dade County Park System how the honeymoon cottages came to be there:

“The Dade County Port Authority had just purchased a piece of land in Virginia Gardens to enlarge Miami Airport. There were several houses on the property and the Port Authority agreed to transfer any of the buildings the Park Department needed...One, a rather substantial and not too unattractive single family house was selected for the cabana area at Crandon. Another substantial three living unit building was selected for Virginia Beach...It was refurbished with one unit set aside as living quarters for the Virginia Beach Maintenance Foreman...the other two units were furnished with beds and items common to efficiency apartments and rented out....”

Though long gone, the so-called “honeymoon cottages” live on in the memories of those lucky enough to have spent time there. And they are part of impetus behind the idea of considering the entire historic Virginia Key Beach Park a Civil Rights Museum:

Artist and writer Dinizula Gene Tinnie spoke of this in the landmark essay, “Politicized Memories in the Struggle for Miami’s Virginia Key Beach,” by University of Miami Professor and Historian Dr. Gregory Bush, in To Love the Wind and the Rain: African Americans and Environmental History, (Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 2005).

“One of the strategies that we have to have is looking at our sacred sites, places that have been consecrated by, labored by, the struggle. There are too many people with too many fond memories, too many people who have been baptized out there; had their honeymoon’s out there, had their first love affair out there. I said that was a place that brought together an entire black community. It was the only place we could go.”

Read excerpts from To Love the Wind and the Rain, including "Politicized Memories in the Struggle for Miami's Virginia Key Beach," at:
http://books.google.com/books?id=-rAXz2l92mkC&source=gbs_navlinks_s


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Kayaking the Key

The Virginia Key “experience” is as much about the waters surrounding the 1,000 acre island as it is the wilderness of its tropical hammocks and dunes.

The island is surrounded by the protected waters of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, which includes 67,000 acres of sovereign submerged lands. The Preserve shares the bay with Biscayne National Park, whose watery boundary begins just to the south. (If you’ve ever sailed past Stiltville in Biscayne Bay, you’ve been in National Park territory.)

Biscayne Bay’s shallow, clear waters make it a haven for nature lovers who can peer over the edge of the vessels to see all manner of critters that make their home in the soft sediments of mud or sand or among the seagrasses, including Johnson’s seagrass, a threatened species found only in southeast Florida.

And then there’s the wildlife swimming alongside, on the edges or flying above.

The fact there’s a major metropolis just over the horizon makes the experience even more thrilling and startling:

Siobhan Morrissey, who rows in the early mornings in the Marine Stadium lagoon, paints the picture:

“Perhaps the best place to see the moon over Miami is from a boat that sits a mere six inches off the water and glides silently along with a cityscape for a backdrop.

We also see dolphins breaching above the water. Occasionally a manatee may become intrigued enough to investigate us as our oars silently slip into the water and propel us along.

The lagoon by the rowing club provides a refuge for other animals, as well. On any given day we see blue herons wading at the shoreline, pelicans in formation, pods of leopard rays and an occasional shark or crocodile.
It’s amazing to see such wildlife in the midst of Miami.

TRIP! Experience this watery world of Virginia Key on a kayaking trip sponsored by the Tropical Audubon Society Sat., Feb. 20 that combines adventure with nature photography. Bring your own kayak ($10) or rent one for $35. Reservations and information can be made by calling or emailing Tropical Audubon: 786-543-1926 or tropicalaudubon@gmail.com

More info:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/biscayne/
http://www.tropicalaudubon.com


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Photo Friday: Miami Marine Stadium Lagoon

Studies in blue: Miami Marine Stadium basin lagoon.
Photo 1: Approaching Rickenbacker Marina
Photo 2: Preserve area in background is part of the state-designated Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Refuge.
Photo 3: Denizen of lagoon enjoys Miami skyline. (Photo credit: Coki Michel)

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Video: Historic Virginia Key Beach Oral Histories

Black History Month event at Virginia Key is all about the memories

In 1999, when the City of Miami considered leasing part of Virginia Key to developers, the late City Commissioner Athalie Range called for the creation of a civil right parks on the Key to honor blacks who had fought against segregation.

Range told the New York Times then, “We forget about these things and when it comes to a point when someone wants to something else, you remember.” Developers Covet a Florida Island Beach That was Born of Racism, March 18, 1999).

Church picnics, dancing, barbecues and baseball games. This is where the memories resided. Family reunions, weddings and baptisms. This is where life was lived.

Memories date back nearly a century, before 1945, when a section of Virginia Key became a designated beach for blacks, and even before the Rickenbacker bridge was built.

As part of Black History Month, historic Virginia Key Beach Park will be hosting “Celebrating Family History Day” from noon to sunset, Sunday, Feb. 21.

“We’re inviting everyone to come and share their history,” said Kechi Okpala, the park’s marketing director. Okpala is encouraging people to dig up old family photo albums that show good times at Virginia Key Beach Park. And bring them to the park to pass around.

There will also be food, drum circles, dancing, children’s activities and prizes.

Virginia Key Beach Park is located at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Virginia Key. For more information, contact the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust Trust at (305) 960-4600.

Map and directions: www.virginiakeybeachpark.net




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On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

What a “Green” Master Plan Looks Like: Trails, Public Beaches, More Trails

During the five years of “master planning” for Virginia Key, there was lots of talk of creating a “green” plan for the island. But doubts set in after one early proposal showed 11 parking garages.

The inclusion of “bioswales,” “green roofs” and “green recreational opportunities” didn’t do much to sway a skeptical public from the impression that the plan contained a tad too much concrete.

A June 2009 Miami Herald editorial summed it up this way:

Residents don't want to tart up Virginia Key with retail complexes and parking garages. They want a beautiful place to play and relax....A place to walk through nature preserves, hang out at the beach or take the family on a spin along a biking trail.

That eco-friendly vision might come to fruition first in the North Point. Miami-Dade Environmental Resources Management restoration expert Gary Milano (with input of Tropical Audubon Society, the Sierra Club Miami Group and Urban Paradise Guild) has just submitted to City officials a “green” blueprint for the North Point.

The proposed plan protects restored natural areas while carving out space for biking trails, beachside picnics and solitary strolls through hammocks and alongside dunes and marshes.

The proposal, which includes a primitive camping area, reflects public consensus culled from many several well-attended public planning charrettes on the island dating back to 2007.

It's what a "green" master plan should look like. Let's hope the City agrees.

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The Commodore's Story: afloat on the "liquid light" of Biscayne Bay

The Miami Marine Stadium was named after Commodore Ralph Middleton Munroe, a yacht designer and early Coconut Grove resident who some consider Miami’s earliest "environmentalist." He loved Biscayne Bay, fought fiercely for it, and spent his years in South Florida sailing and photographing it. His Coconut Grove home, the oldest house in Miami-Dade still in its original location, is part of the Barnacle Historic State Park.

Munroe described the beauty of Biscayne Bay in the era before developer Henry Flagler came to town, in his autobiography, The Commodore’s Story: The Early Days on Biscayne Bay:

No sea-lover could look unmoved on the blue rollers of the Gulf Stream and the crystal-clear waters of the Reef, of every delicate shade of blue and green, and tinged with every color of the spectrum from the fantastically rich growths on the bottom, visible to the last details through this incredibly translucent medum. It scarcely resembles northern seawater at all - a cool, semi-opaque, grayish-green fluid, which hides the mysteries of the bottom. Drifting over the Florida Reef on a quiet day one may note all the details of its tropical luxuriance twenty feet below, and feels himself afloat on a sort of liquid light, rather than water, so limpid and brilliant is it.

Photos 1-2
Kayaking in Biscayne Bay in the waters off Virginia Key (credit: Coki Michel)
Ralph Middleton Munroe

For more info:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/biscayne/
http://www.floridastateparks.org/TheBarnacle/

Playtime at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

When the ocean water is too cold for a dip, there’s still lots to do at the historic Virginia Key Beach Park.

Kids, especially, will enjoy a seaside carousel, mini-train and elaborate playground with seaside theme. There’s also a boardwalk (accessible from the parking lot) that overlooks restored wetlands. Beachside picnic tables with grills dot the palm-shaded landscape.

The Virginia Key Beach Park, which reopened to the public in 2008 after a major renovation, is located at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive, at the entrance closest to the Bear Cut Bridge across from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. (RSMAS). It is one of two public beach parks open on Virginia Key. The third (undeveloped) beach is on the North Point).

In 2002, Historic Virginia Key Beach Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a place of significance in African-American history. More on the history, including photos and videos, are posted on the park’s website, www.virginiakeybeachpark.net.

The park is open from sunrise to sunset 7 days a week (except Thanksgiving & Christmas). There is an entrance fee for parking.

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Photo Friday: Three Virginia Key Beaches

Photos 1-3
North Point Beach
Virginia Key Beach (Windsurfer's Beach)
Historic Virginia Key Beach Park

North Point video tour - restoration and renewal

North Point: hiking and biking in the "forbidden zone"

The North Point of Virginia Key - the point that faces Fisher Island - is a forbidden zone.

The 22-acre site is locked behind a chain linked fence that abruptly ends the joy ride through the island as it edges the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Station, just past the Jimbo’s parking area.

But this week about dozen people, including bike enthusiasts, conservationists, biologists and a handful of city employees, got together to tour the North Point to discuss how to best site biking and hiking trails through the Point.

The area has been heavily impacted by the dumping of dredge spill from a previous Port of Miami expansion. But that has also created rare South Florida bluffs - as high as 50 feet -- above Biscayne Bay, where visitors get spectacular views of the city skyline and the green tranquility of mangrove shorelines stretching to the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Refuge.

The undulating landscape also has bicyclists excited to roam through the wilds of an area free of vehicular traffic.

DERM biologist Gary Milano was on hand Wednesday to talk about the restoration work he has been doing in there since the late 1990’s.

“The area is holding it’s own,” he said, as he surveyed the landscape of mature sea grape trees he planted more than a decade ago. “Those trees started off in coffee cans.”

The dune area that faces Fisher Island has been restored, he told the crowd. Next up: recreating a wetland area through a tidal creek that flows all the way from the Shrimper’s Lagoon near Jimbo’s.

North Point contains some of Virginia Key’s most important wildlife habitats, according to state biologists who examined the area in the 1990‘s in response to the City of Miami’s request to waive deed restrictions. Manatees, wading birds, loggerhead sea turtles all depend on the North Point and its surrounding waters for their survival.

A 1994 report from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection stated:

“The area is highly productive fish and wildlife habitat, as well as a movement corridor for the endangered manatee...A narrow coastal berm on the north shoreline supports a variety of rare plant life and is documented habitat for marine turtles.”

Finding a clear path that protects the restored natural areas and steers clear of future areas marked for restoration was the point of the walk. 


Next step, drawing a road map that reflects a consensus among all interested users.

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On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Will public have a say in Marine Stadium Basin's future?

Does the land around the Marine Stadium belong to the public? And will it have a say in what happens there in the future?

The Friends of Miami Marine Stadium announced this week that University of Miami students in Town Planning, Finance and Land Use Planning classes will be looking at alternative plans and designs for the Marine Stadium and the land around it. That is, an alternative to the Oct. 2009 proposed master plan, which was deferred by City officials until May 2010.

A showing of the students' work will go on display in late March to be followed by a planning charrette where members of the public can provide their feedback. The exhibition is part of Dade Heritage Days. *

Will the students treat the publicly owned waterfront land as a private development? If so, the highest and best uses for valuable waterfront land might very well be a hotels, shopping centers and “signature” restaurants.

But this is not a private development. The land is owned by the community. And it was given to the City of Miami for the use of “a Marine Stadium and allied purposes only,” according the 1963 Deed.

The County Deed states that if that purpose was “abandoned,” the County retained the right to take the land back.

Perhaps someone in 1963 foresaw the day when the land where the Marine Stadium sits would be coveted by private developers or be steered away from community purposes.

As early as 1967, there was a movement to introduce pari-mutual boat racing, according to news reports.

A Miami News Editorial responded: “Keep the Gamblers Out of Marine Stadium.”

“(T)he stadium, an attractive one-of-a-kind structure, is designed for the enjoyment of the community....It seems more logical to turn the Marine stadium into a public park, with picnic tables, barbeque pits, and swimming areas to accommodate the public. Perhaps a combination park-stadium would enable the city to recover some of its finances...Open the doors, just keep the bettors out.”

And keep the hotels, shopping centers and and entertainment strips out, too.

It’s not South Beach. Or Bayside. Or Las Vegas. But does it have to be?
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*Miami Marine Stadium/Virginia Key Planning Charrette
Saturday, March 27, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Rusty Pelican Restaurant, 3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne For more info, call Dade Heritage Trust, 305-358-9572
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Photo: Marine Stadium and basin land as it appears today.

@All rights reserved.
On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Miami Marine Stadium basin: what's in its future.

In 1963, The Miami Marine Stadium opened with much fanfare and hope for the future:

“The Marine Stadium is daring in design and concept and gives high promise of becoming one of the community’s most valuable assets, both as a tourist attraction and for the entertainment of residents. (WGBS Radio, Editorial, December 26, 1963)

And that it did. Over the years, boat races, operas, rock concerts, church services, all made use of the stadium.

But it struggled financially. Often, the stadium and area around it was closed to the public. As it is today.

As early as 1965, newspaper articles noted and lamented that state of affairs.

“We rode across the Rickenbacker Causeway the other warm afternoon, and it was sad to see the doors of the new Marine stadium tightly padlocked,” stated a July 20, 1965 Miami Herald article.

The article suggests the land around the stadium should be transformed into “landscaped picnic areas.” And asks a question that lingers today: “Why shouldn’t small boats be launched - for a small fee -- into the bay at this point instead of at Crandon Marina?”

Indeed. The public boat launch in the Marine Stadium basin has been closed for years. And there is no public boat house for the renting of canoes, small sailboats or kayaks.

So what is the best use of the Stadium and the acres of land around it?

In a series of public meetings and charettes, hundreds of interested citizens weighed in: refurbish the stadium. Even make it the official visitor’s center to Virginia Key island. Bring back boat races, concerts, public events.

As for the area around it -- acres of defunct parking lots -- the consensus was to return it to public uses - boat and bike rentals, parks, a waterfront promenade. Make it accessible. And keep it free of commercial intrusions.

@All rights reserved.

On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Miami Marine Stadium: beauty amid the horror

The World Monuments Fund has just announced that a new engineering study of the Commodore Ralph Munroe Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key shows the concrete restoration of the shuttered stadium could cost between $5.5 - $8.5 million - less than the City of Miami’s earlier predictions of $15 million.

That doesn’t include renovations of seats, bathrooms, ticket booths and everything else vandals ripped up or damaged since the City of Miami closed the stadium after Hurricane Andrew.

But it’s still good news and a first step in restoring the public uses of the island.

On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the President of the World Monuments Fund, Bonnie Burnham, will tour the site with City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado. It will be her first look at the stadium. And it’s encouraging and truly amazing that a City of Miami official has taken an interest.

Regalado has in fact, gone as far as calling it “one of the Magic City’s crown jewels” and vowed to make restoration of the stadium one of his administration’s priorities.

Not too long ago - say during the City of Miami’s last go round on developing a “master plan” for Virginia Key - the iconic structure wasn’t even in the game plan, having been wiped off the map of Virginia Key by the master plan consultants. Thanks to a public outcry (how come the previous city administration didn’t see that coming?), the stadium later appeared in the proposed master plan.

Now the hard part begins. How to fund the restoration and how to restore the public’s use to all the land around it?

What will the dignitaries see on their tour Tuesday? The stadium sits abandoned and vandalized, locked behind a decrepit chain-linked fence in a sea of asphalt. The setting has reached a ‘World without Us’ stage - small cracks have turned to large fissures and weeds transformed to trees. Faded ‘No Trespassing’ signs give the area a creepy, horror movie feel.

And yet, there is beauty. The shoreline here is rich with new plant life and the view of the Miami skyline is sublime.

Across the blue basin lies the mysterious Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Refuge, where flocks of birds come to roost in the comforting darkness of mangrove forests and manatees spawn and are nurtured in its folds. What an amazing place. And what poor stewards we have been.

Until now. Maybe the tide has turned.
After all, the Mayor has joined the fight to save the stadium and Virginia Key.



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Why restore the Marine Stadium? The World Monuments Funds answers:
“For the citizens of Miami, the stadium represents the modernity of a growing city and the international cultural influences that helped shape it. Miami Marine Stadium defined a significant shift in American architectural style from staid civic buildings to exuberant structures reflecting changing tastes and a desire to project the city as a forward-looking place.”

More info:
http://www.wmf.org/project/miami-marine-stadium