Celebrating a City of Contrasts

It seems we’ve been  locked in the urban gridlock so long, we’ve lost the ability to recognize wild places any longer ---especially when the wilderness is in our midst, as it is on Virginia Key.

In just over 100 years, Miami went from “a city with ‘too much nature’ to one where nature has been marginalized,” according the Miami Parks and Public Spaces Master Plan.  The plan identifies Virginia Key as one of those last wild places. 

The island’s  wilderness doesn’t reveal itself on a drive-by along the Rickenbacker Causeway, though from the peak of the bridge you can glimpse the green heart of the place. But, when 700 of the island’s 1,000 acres is the state-designated Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area, you can bet it’s there. 

It’s also something that should be nurtured and protected, according to the city’s parks masterplan. Here’s why: 

For much of its early history the wilderness surrounding Miami was treated as an obstacle to progress: The Everglades needed to be filled in and tamed as soon as possible so that the city could grow and prosper.....Today, however, Miami may be unique among American cities, with a continuous urban grid surrounded by near-wilderness, the protected Everglades and Biscayne national parks. From the “river of grass” at the west to the shining waters of Biscayne Bay at the east, these dramatic contrasts have always been an important part of the image of Miami, celebrated in postcard views of the skyline from the bay and alligators swimming in the Everglades. It is a theme that can and should be celebrated throughout the park system.”

@2010 All Rights Reserved.
Also on Facebook join "Friends of Virginia Key" 

Trick or Treat on Virginia Key

No tricks here.


There will be a beachside candy pick up at the first annual Trick or Trunk  Saturday, Oct. 30 at the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park. 

This kid and pet friendly event calls for both to come in costume.  

Cars, too, get decked out in Halloween themes while trick and treaters go from trunk to trunk for halloween goodies.

Organizers also promise scary fun on the miniature train and carousel, plus a DJ and other ghoulish fun.

Free and open to the public. Parking fees apply. More info, (305) 960-4600

Trick or Trunk Event

3 p.m. to 8p.m., Saturday, Oct. 30

Historic Virginia Key Beach Park 

4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 

More info on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miami-FL/Historic-Virginia-Key-Beach-Park/131506799049


Photo: View from the train tunnel, Historic Virginia Key Beach Park.

@2010 All Rights Reserved.

Ocean Study Buildings Part of Island's Architectural Heritage

The historically designated Miami Marine Stadium is not the only building of architectural interest on Virginia Key.

Miami Architecture, the new AIA guidebook, reveals the mysteries of institutional buildings than span 16 acres on both sides of the Rickenbacker Causeway.

The area includes the buildings that are part of the University of Miami Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) and NOAA (National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration.

“Taken together with the Seaquarium and Marine Stadium, it represents an impressive infrastructure of marine and aquatic facilities tied to the causeway system,” state the authors of the guide.

On the west side of the Rickenbacker Causeway is University of Miami’s RSMAS, with its focus on the study of oceans. On the east, NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Metereological Laboratory and National Marine Fisheries Service and Southeast Fisheries Science Center.

The oldest University of Miami RSMAS building is the 1952 Alexandrine duPont Collier Building, designed by Marion Manley.

Nearby is the 1966 Doherty Marine Science Center, designed by the firm of Ferendino Grafton Spillis Candela. The building was originally built for NOAA. The Miami Architecture guidebook highlights its most distinctive feature:

(I)ts waterfront facade includes the type of concrete egg-crate window wall the firm popularized in the 1960s, and is similar in spirit to the firm’s contemporary work for Miami -Dade College. Here, the egg crate is broken by a projecting concrete stair.

Along the causeway is the Science Administration building (Abramovitz/Kingland, architects), completed in 1985, and described in the guide as “vaguely nautical.”

Across the Causeway are the two NOAA buildings. Of particular interest to the guidebook authors is the laboratory building, with its detached office wings that lift high above the ground and “fine-grained grid of concrete window frames with deeply recessed glass.”

More on the architectural heritage of Virginia Key can be found in Miami Architecture (University of Florida Press).

UPDATE INFO ON PRESENTATION: The guidebook's authors Allan Shulman, Randall Robinson and Jeff Donnelly will discuss their new book "Miami Architecture: An AIA Guide Featuring Downtown, the Beaches, and Coconut Grove at this year's Miami Book Fair International, which takes place Nov. 14-21.

Photo: Virginia Key Signing. In 1948, the University of Miami signed a long-term lease with Dade County for land on Virginia Key to house the Marine Institute (now RSMAS). Seated second from right is County Commissioner Charles Crandon and to his left, President Ashe. Courtesy: University of Miami library.

@All Rights Reserved 2010

Also on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Getting the Island Park You Deserve

Do the residents of Miami have the parks they deserve?

Given the low parks to people ratio, the answer is no.

One way to begin remedying this inequity is speaking up at the upcoming City of Miami planning meetings regarding the state-mandated Evaluation and Appraisal Report 2012.

City officials want to learn what major issues are facing neighborhoods, which clearly include the need for more and better parks.

“It may be worthwhile to create a city-wide parks committee,” said Steve Hagan, a long-time public parks advocate and activist with Miami Neighborhoods United, a civic group.

Hagan is calling on the City to increase the number of park acres - from the current 1.3 per thousand residents to 3.1 acres and adjusting impact fees for parks to accommodate the purchase of new park land and improve existing parks with trees, landscaping and playing fields.

These meetings are a great opportunity to speak up for Virginia Key.

Ask the City to get going on the biking and hiking trails that should interlace the island, the boat rental facilities where the general public can rent canoes and kayaks, the waterfront walkways with park benches and a host of other things that bring public uses back to the public lands.

The meetings start this week. For Virginia Key, in particular, make sure to attend the Oct. 25 meeting concerning needs in District 2 (Commissioner Marc Sarnoff), which is the district that includes Virginia Key.

Here’s the list of all the meetings throughout the City of Miami:
October 18
District 5 - Commissioner Richard P. Dunn II
Charles Hadley Park
1350 N.W. 50th Street
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Related Documents

October 19
District 3 - Commissioner Frank Carollo
José Marti Park
434 S.W. 3rd Avenue
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

October 21
District 4 - Commissioner Francis Suarez
Our Lady of Lebanon
2055 Coral Way
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

October 25
District 2 - Commissioner Marc D. Sarnoff
Miami City Hall
3500 Pan American Drive
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

October 26
District 1 - Commissioner Willy Gort
Allapattah Community Action Center
2257 NW North River Drive
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.


Can’t attend or public hearings aren’t your thing? You can leave comments via the planning department's website.


@2010 All Rights Reserved

"Aquatic Army" To Rally on Virginia Key Sunday

An “Aquatic Army” will descend on Virginia Key Sunday, Oct. 17 at the “Rally for Lolita’s Retirement.”

The event is being organized in part by Oceanic Defense, a non-profit ocean education and advocacy group that seeks to raise awareness about everyone’s responsibility to protect the world’s oceans. This week the group hosted a series of events and community forums in Miami.

The Rally takes place from 12 to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010 outside the Miami Seaquarium, 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key.

Guest speakers include Captain Pete Bethune, captain of Earthrace, the wave-piercer that set a world record for the fastest global circumnavigation; Trevor, a nine year old boy from Washington State who started the Let Lolita Live Campaign; and Cynthia Aguilar, a record-setting endurance paddle boarder and South Beach Ocean Lifeguard, subject of an upcoming documentary about her challenge to solo paddle from Cuba-to-Key West.

Lolita (Tokitae) is a 44-year old captive orca living at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, Florida. She was captured off Whidbey Island, Washington State in 1970. In response to previous requests to retire Lolita, the Miami Seaquarium has responded that the killer whale has been hand-fed for the past 39 years and could not survive on her own in the ocean.

Resources:
www.oceanicdefense.org
http://www.miamiseaquarium.com

Photo courtesy of Oceanic Defense.

@2010 All Rights Reserved

Virginia Key on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Study, Part 2: How Virginia Key fits into Biscayne National Park’s “Story”

A good visitor center tells a story.

In the case of Biscayne National Park -- which is considering placing a northern visitor center in the Virginia Key area -- it would be the story of its inception.

Biscayne National Park was created in 1968 to protect “a rare combination of terrestrial, marine and amphibious life in a tropical setting of great natural beauty.”

What makes it special is the “interplay of the mainland, Biscayne Bay, keys, reefs and the Florida Straits...The land is filled to overflowing with unusual trees, ferns, vines, fowers, and shrubs,” according to the National Park Service brochure.

Biscayne Bay, which is within the park’s boundaries, is home to brilliantly colorful tropical fish; its shallow waters filling with light.

These are, of course, characteristics it shares with Virginia Key and the surrounding waters of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve.

Two locations on Virginia Key -- one near the Miami Seaquarium and the other next to the Miami Marine Stadium -- were recently examined by Bernadette Rabb, a graduate of Florida Atlantic University’s Urban Planning Department, as possible sites for a Biscayne National Park Visitor center.

According to her report, these are some of the reasons either site on Virginia Key would be an attractive location for a National Park Visitor Center:

(Virginia Key) has many similarities to Biscayne National Park’s protected areas in that it is an ecological land flourishing with vegetation and life...The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve is the bay area around the island..that eventually meets up with the waters of the protected areas of Biscayne National Park.

Virginia Key is a place that has history and ecological significance. Most of the properties located on the island have cultural, historical or ecological significance and environmentalists argue that these areas and the rest of the island should be preserved. On the island there already exists a 700-acre state-designated Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area...Virginia Key Beach Park, once an African-American beach, is now listed in The National Register of Historic Places....

The report also comments on the historic Miami Marine Stadium, an icon of modern architecture that is part of Miami’s mid-century architectural heritage. The siting of a visitor center near the stadium would not create much additional environmental impact since this land has already been developed. In addition, its waterfront location with an adjacent marina would provide ideal access for marine tours.

In conclusion, the report states: “The island that is already appreciated by nature lovers seems like a good place to represent Biscayne National Park.”

Study: Looking into a National Park Visitor Center on Virginia Key.

With Biscayne National Park’s boundaries just outside Virginia Key, the National Park has long been eyeing the island and surrounding areas as locations for a new northern visitor center.

Sites that could be considered include the Miami Marine Stadium parking lot area, an area near Miami Seaquarium and Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.

Bernadette Rabb, a graduate of the Florida Atlantic University’s College for Design and Social Inquiry in the Urban and Regional Planning Department, took on the issue in a recent planning project that explored the significance of this unique, (mostly underwater) 173,000-acre national park in our community and the challenges and opportunities of proposed sites in the Virginia Key area.

Rabb’s study has been shared with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the nonprofit National Parks advocacy group. The following multi-part series are excerpts from her paper:

An additional visitor’s center at the northern end of the park would benefit people in the Miami Dade area, including those who live in or visit the City of Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and other surrounding communities. It would also attract those coming from Palm Beach and Broward County who would not consider driving down to the existing facility in Homestead.

Biscayne National Park is one of 392 national parks in our country. What makes it unique is that it contains 173,000 acres of mostly aquatic life with 96 percent of the park being water and the other 4 percent land. It is the largest marine park in the United States... It has an extensive mainland mangrove shoreline, is part of Biscayne Bay, and it contains the northernmost chain of coral keys in the United States with 20 miles of submerged coral reefs.

The issue at hand in 2010 is that the park encompassing a large area from just below Key Biscayne at the north end to Key Largo at the southernmost point has one visitor’s center located in Homestead, Florida. This location is 30 miles south of Miami. With the majority of the population and visitors being close to the Miami area, approximately 2 million people, it makes sense to have another access point to the park at the northern end.

This visitor’s center would provide a place of civic engagement, public education and general outreach to the public. Its purpose would be both informational and educational. It would also serve as a source of protection for the park’s many cultural, historical and natural resources by having a physical place for law enforcement. This structure would give enormous support to the proper management of Biscayne National Park.

Next in the series: what makes a good visitor’s center and what is offered at various sites under consideration.

Photo: Angelfish in Biscayne National Park waters. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey.
Resources:
Biscayne National Park: http://www.nps.gov/bisc
National Parks Conservation Association: http://www.npca.org/southflorida/

@All Rights Reserved 2010



Also on Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key