Happy Birthday Jimbo!

Jimbo's on Virginia Key invites everyone to help celebrate his 83rd birthday party today, Sunday, April 11th. Beer, barbecue and smoked fish plus the chance to volunteer to clean up and restore colorful shacks used in filming.

Famous and infamous films and videos shot at Jimbo's, according to City of Miami's Film Office director Harry Gottlieb include: Island Claws, Blood and Wine, Wild Things, Porky's II, Ace Ventura, True Lies, 2 Fast 2 Furious TV: Flipper, Gentle Ben, Miami Vice, Glades, Going To California, Karen Sisco, CSI Miami, Burn Notice Videos: Ziggy Marley, JayLo, Who Let The Dogs Out, Sugar Ray Photos: Maria Carey's first album cover, Jisel, Heidi Klum, Naomi Campbell.


Resources and more info:
http://www.jimbosplace.com/
-Miami Herald story:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/10/1573567/jimbos-legendary-watering-hole.html
-New Times interview with Robert Burr - Jimbo's "unofficial" spokeman: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/04/party_to_save_jimbos_place_thi.php

Virginia Key's Wheel of (Mis)fortune

Spin the wheel and land on yet another development proposal for Virginia Key.

Airport. Freight port. Blimp base. World’s Fair. Hotel. Sports stadium. Trade-mart. And shopping centers - marine-themed or otherwise. Lots of marine industrial stuff, from mega boat-storage stacks to marinas.

A lot of things didn’t happen over the years because of public outcry. Some things happened in spite of it.

Here’s the story so far: two public beach parks, marinas, restaurants, a sewage station, a garbage dump, a historic Marine Stadium and a whole lot of wilderness. In fact, 700 of the roughly 1000-acre island is comprised of the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area, which contains the island’s largest amount of unaltered, submerged land and unaltered mangrove forest. It is also the cradle of wildlife seen in the area by air or sea- from rare hawks to manatees.

What’s next for Virginia Key?

On Saturday, March 27, the Urban Environment League will host a Public Design Workshop on Virginia Key from 8:30 am. to 11:30 a.m. at the Rusty Pelican restaurant, 3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key. Hopefully the public will get a say on the island’s future.

Up for grabs: the historic Miami Marine Stadium and surrounding public lands and commercial areas, the lagoon, the City of Miami landfill site, Northpoint, Jimbo's,  and all natural areas, including the Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area and the Tropical Hammock and restored dunes.  

University of Miami architecture students, who have been working for months under the guidance of UM Professor and Friends of Marine Stadium Co-Founder Jorge Hernandez, and Hilario Candela, architect of the Stadium, and the watchful eyes of City of Miami planning department officials, will present their plans, too.

The public will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposals presented and offer up their own ideas. There will also be information on a recently released biological evaluation of the island and a proposal for a Biscayne National Park Visitor’s Center on Virginia Key. 

Those who can’t attend the UEL Virginia Key Design Workshop and still want to offer feedback can send comments to the Urban Environment League at www.urbanenvironmentleague.blogspot.com or uel@bellsouth.net.

And the big wheel keeps on spinning...

Jimbo's

The future of Jimbo’s fish shack on Virginia Key was not in doubt Friday afternoon, judging from the throngs of patrons hanging out, buying beers and enjoying the sunshine on weathered picnic tables overlooking the lagoon.

This, despite the City of Miami’s ominous warnings to clean up or get out and that the electricity was cut off after a fire erupted. Plus, there’s the matter of the $5 “parking fee- no exceptions” that was reinstated at the toll booth entrance to Virginia Key.

“We’re still in business,” said the gentlemen dispensing beers, a fistful of dollars in his hands collected from a group of construction workers who had stopped in after work.

The place is ramshackle and some like it that way. There’s no admission price. There’s no dress code. And there’s no one asking where you came from nor when you’re leaving. Hell, there’s not even a roof to the place. Most people just hang out on whatever piece of furniture they can find. Others are just happy to mingle around, taking pictures, admiring the cats and the found art.

Jimbo’s has been called “the last refuge from urban sprawl,” (http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/jimbos-place-flipper-tv-location/

Yes, Jimbo’s is still hanging on. And apparently thriving. So come out this weekend. And enjoy.

For directions and a map: www.jimbosplace.com


See also: Jimbo's Faces Uncertain Future, Miami Herald.
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/1402504.html