Tropical Architecture of Virginia Key Lauded in Miami Architecture, AIA Guide

Virginia Key’s iconic structures, including the Ralph Middleton Munroe Miami Marine Stadium (its official name) are featured in the new AIA Guide, Miami Architecture (University of Florida Press, $29.95).

The guide imagines the area as a tropical playground - with the Marine Stadium as the centerpiece of a “necklace of public amenities” in the Biscayne Bay corridor.

The playground begins with the Rickenbacker Causeway itself -- in reality a linear park -- which was designed to include areas for fishing, bathing and boat launching along the way. Today, the scenic road is also a major attraction for bicyclists and pedestrians who enjoy the scenic views.

The Rickenbacker was designed by landscape architect WIlliam Lyman Phillips, the preeminent architect of the 1930s and 40s. Phillips’ commissions included some of our most beautiful parks and gardens, including Crandon and Virginia Key Beach Parks, Matheson Hammock, and Fairchild Tropical Garden.

Miami Seaquarium’s 1950s vintage look may strike some as quaint today, but when it was completed it was considered “a technological feat of marine architecture and showmanship,” according to the guidebook. The 55-acre site design is based on World’s Fair models before World War II, which is reinforced by the later addition of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic Golden Dome.

Other guidebook entries include the University of Miami Rosensteil School and NOAA Building, National Marine Fisheries Service Center.

Miami Architecture was co-written by Miami architect Allan T. Shulman, landscpae architect and planner Randall C. Robinson, Jr. , co-author of MiMo: Miami Modern Revealed and James F. Donnelly, former chair of the City of Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board.

The precursor to the guide was the Miami Architecture Project, a community-based group that organized local forums on architecture and community revitalization.

There will be book signing and discussion beginning at 7:30 p.m., Thurs., June 10, 2010 at the Wolfsonian-FIU Museum, 1001 Washington Ave., Miami Beach. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120804544604561&ref=mf

Resources:

University of Florida Press http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DONNES08

Miami 21 "zoning" of Virginia Key allows urban uses

Miami 21 isn’t just about dictating development in the urban grid. Virginia Key, the urban island with the heart of a wilderness, has also been zoned.

Some areas are designated preservation zones (T-1), others have civic zone designations (CI) which may be developed with urban public uses or commercial uses, with urban infrastructure, including parking garages and roadways. Other areas are zoned "urban core," some of the highest urban center designations (T6-8).

A Miami Dade County planning report states that Virginia Key’s “valuable and protected” areas – mangroves, wetlands, dunes, and hammocks and cultural resources, including the historically-designated Miami Marine Stadium – could be threatened if future land uses permitted under Miami 21, the City of Miami’s new land use and zoning code that will take effect May 20, don’t take into account the long-term management requirements of these areas.


County planners analyzed Miami 21’s impact on Virginia Key as part of the biological evaluation prepared by the Dade Environmental Resources Management department for the purpose of identifying areas that could be acquired by the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program. The report stated:

Regardless of whether some Virginia Key properties are ultimately acquired by the EEL program, it is important that any future land uses on Virginia Key be carefully planned and permitted such that they do not impact the sensitive and valuable habitats there. The management of restored and protected land on Virginia Key should be not inhibited by adjacent future land uses. The historic places and structures on the key should be maintained and fully incorporated into all future land use plans.

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Miami 21 took effect May 20, 2010 although City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado has called it a “work in progress” and will give residents, including Miami Neighborhoods United (MNU), commissioners and others, the opportunity to express concerns and possibly amend the code in the future. A special City Commission session on Miami 21 will be held at 9 a.m., Wednesday, June 2, 2010.

Resources: www.miami21.org

Gulf Oil Crisis Response: Beach Rally, Photo Project

If the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were to enter the Gulf “loop current” Virginia Key, with its vast expanse of wetlands, marshes and mangrove forests and sea-turtle nesting beaches, would be severely impacted.

Though the oil is now more than 80 miles away from the Gulf loop current, changes in wind and weather patterns could bring the oil to the Florida Keys and around to Miami Dade's beaches and barrier islands. The oil rig site is discharging approximately 210,000 gallons a day for a total estimated output of 3.5 million gallons already spilled into the Gulf. Fishing grounds throughout the region have been closed.

Everglades and Biscayne National Parks are bracing for the impact, already documenting conditions pre-oil spill.

Average citizens are also taking action in the wake of this unprecedented environmental catastrophe. Some are documenting current conditions through photos of shorelines and beaches. Others are holding events calling for an end to off-shore oil drilling.

THINGS TO DO NOW:
Rally: Miami-Dade County Says “No to Off Shore Drilling” Rally took place May 11 on Miami Beach where several hundred participated.

Photo Project: Tropical Seike is collecting photos of shorelines to document existing conditions. The photo-baseline project will collect images of our beaches, estauries, and harbors before and after the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil/tar arrives. Include the name of the specific site and date. The project site is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tropical-Selkie-gathering-the-ocean-tribes/231034041891?ref=mf

Resources:
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/environment/sea_grant_oilspill.shtml
http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/oilspill/

Mother's Day is About Lolita

Today, Mother’s Day, there will be a protest -- as there has been for many years -- in front of Miami Seaquarium by supporters of Lolita (Tokitae), the captive killer whale and star attraction of the marine exhibition park on Virginia Key.

According to the Orca Network, Lolita was captured off Whidbey Island, Washington State in 1970. Lolita was believed to be 2-6 years old and was separated from her mother, along with other orcas who were also captured for sale to marine parks.

Researchers believe they have identified Lolita’s mother, identified at “L-25,” “Ocean Sun,” a member of the Southern Resident community of Orca’s off Washington State’s coast.

On this Mother’s Day, supporters of Lolita plan to come out to raise awareness about the capture and separation and promote Lolita’s retirement into a baypen “where she would be able to interact with and if she chooses to do so, rejoin her pod including her mother."

The Miami Seaquarium has responded in the past that Lolita, which has been hand-fed for the past 39 years, could not survive on her own in the ocean and would "continue to be an ambassador for her species from her home at Miami Seaquarium," according to statements previously released to the press.

The 38-acre Miami Seaquarium on Virginia Key, which opened in 1955, is the longest operating “oceanarium” in the United States. From 1963 through 1967, 88 television episodes and two movies starring Flipper were filmed at Miami Seaquarium, according to the park’s website.

Photo: Killer whales in the wild, San Juan Islands. Courtesy of http://sanjuanupdate.com

Resources:
http://www.orcanetwork.org
http://www.miamiseaquarium.com/visitor_info/history.asp
http://www.islandcam.com/orca_page.html