HomeMy WebLinkAboutM-82-0665r-fT'- ;,F htlA".11. rl_ORIi7A
!NTrR-OFFICE ME1%,?ORANDUM
To
F F C'`d
Howard V. Gary July 20, 1982 F'LF
City Manager
Pertinent Information Regarding the
Bayfront Park Redevelopment Project
John E. Gilchrist I `F'`'" `"`.
Project Director Letter re: Feasibilitv of
Moving Library Building_
BACKGROUND
The initial conceptual plans, program, and preliminary schematic design
for this project were prepared and submitted by Isamu Noguchi to the
City Commission on July 24, 1980 and approved by Motion No. 80-547. On
October 30, 1980, by Resolution No. 80-751 the City Commission again
approved the plans and authorized the Manager to begin implementation.
Following the guidelines of the State Competitive Negotiations Act, the
City selected Fuller & Sadao on September 24, 1981, as professional
consultants and entered into an agreement with the same consultants on
January 19, 1982, for the professional and technical services required
for the design and construction of the Bayfront Redevelopment project.
Running parallel to this effort, the Corps of Engineer has engaged a
team of architectural, engineering and landscape architecture consultants
headed by Joseph Middlebrooks to provide construction documents for the
Baywalk portion of the project.
In January, 1982, by Resolution No. 82-78, the Commission expanded the
re -development area of Bayfront Park and engaged Noguchi to provide
additional design services which caused revisions to the preliminary
design. This final schematic design was presented to the Commission
during the meeting of May 11, 1982. These plans are currently being
prepared for contract documents by the professional consultants under
contract to the City and the Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with
the designer.
Attached are charts which explain the park redevelopment and associated
costs by phases, as well as information on consultant fees. Analysis
of funding to date is as follows:
National Endowment for the Arts, 1979
$ 50,000
Parks for People bond funds, 1979
54,300
Capital Improvements Funds, FY 1981
325,000
Community Development, 1981
100,000
Holywell Corporation-Bandshell Rental, 1981-82
75,000
Virginia Key Landfill Sale, 1982
200,000
State FRDAP Grant, 1982
200,000 1
Fund Balance, FY 1981
50,000
FPL Franchise Revenue, FY 82
150,000
$1,204,300
FUNDS ENCUMBERED AND/OR SPENT TO DATE:
$ 946,000
17
Howard V. Gary
July 20, 1982
Page Two
PUBLIC HEARING ITEM
The City Commission by Motion No. 80-753, on October 30, 1980, determined
that:
"UPON TOTAL VACATION OF THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS
THE MIAMI PUBLIC LIBRARY, LOCATED IN BAYFRONT
PARK, THAT IT IS THE FULL INTENTION OF THE
CITY COMMISSION TO TRY TO REMOVE THE LIBRARY
FROM THE PARK; AND FURTHER STIPULATING THAT
ONCE PERSONNEL FROM METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY
VACATES THE BUILDING, THAT IT WILL NOT BE
UTILIZED BY ANYBODY EVEN ON A TEMPORARY BASIS."
The 64,000 square foot building was constructed in 1949-50 for the
approximate cost of $1,000,000 in 1950 dollars. Current operating and
maintenance costs (1981) are $250,000 annually. Replacement value today
for an equivalent 64,000 square foot floor area, enclosed in a sub-
stantially similar construction and materials is estimated to be
$3-$4,000,000.
We have been advised by professional building movers that it is feasible
to move the vacated structure for an estimated cost of up to $1,450,000.
This estimate is predicated upon moving the facility to the F.E.C.Bayside
Property. If a public purpose organization is desirous of utilizing
the structure in this new location, the Commission could offer its use
with the condition that moving costs are incurred by the organization
and that the funds be in hand to accomplish this task within the next
twelve months.
The following is a summary of relevant issues regarding the Redevelopment
of Bayfront Park:
. Revitalized Bayfront Park was promised in 1969 in
Parks for People Bond Issue.
. Noguchi, design consultant to the City since 1979,
has worked in good faith with the understanding
that the park design would not include the old
library building.
. City Commission has voted previously on library
issue; this Motion is still in effect and is so
worded to accommodate demolition or relocation of
the library building to another site.
Construction can begin this year on the Baywalk and
other phases if consultants proceed with work on
construction documents, based upon Noguchi's final
schematic design.
1"y
Howard V. Gary
July 20, 1982
Page Three
Visitation to the new park is estimated to be
9,000,000 a year. This usage by the general
populus, tourists, and Downtown daily population,
including events and festivals, greatly out-
numbers visitation figures for any new use of
the building, such as an executive fitness center.
The greatest public benefit is served by a new park.
The totally new park is critical to the "Bayside
Specialty Center" proposed for the Miamarina area.
The underlying purpose for acquisition and development
of the 100 acre Bayfront Park System was to keep the
bayscape free, open, accessible, and usable as a
legacy to all future generations of Miamians while
creating a positive urbane image of the city for all
visitors.
The City of Miami has invested almost $40 million in
the acquisition and development of its Downtown
Bayfront. Redevelopment of Bayfront Park is a giant
step forward in realizing a positive return on that
investment, a return which will re -initiate development
of the whole 100 acres. This in turn will also act as
a catalyst in encouraging additional private investment
Downtown just as the Conference/Convention Center
encouraged new hotels.
Since the initiation of the project in 1979, the City
Commission has taken more than a dozen formal actions
required to implement the project.
"I
CONSULTANT FEES
Preliminary Schematic Design, 1979-1980
Final Schematic Design, 1982
Design Development, Construction
Documents, Bids, Construction
Supervision, 1982-1985
Design Development, Construction
Documents for Baywalk, 1982
Special Consultants, 1982-1983
Noguchi
Noguchi
Fuller b Sadao
Pancoast Albaisa
Seymour, Henderson,
Rosenberg E Scully
De Zarraga & Donnell, Inc.
David Volkert b Associates
Joseph Middlebrooks
Siddiq Khan b Associates
Laura Llerena & Associates
Fountain: William Hobbs, Ltd.
Restaurant: Ludemann Associates
Renderings: Archigraphics
Acoustics: Jaffe Acoustics, Inc.
' Lighting: Fisher/Marantz
$100,000
$100 ,000
$541 ,000*
(5i % based on
$11,000,000 project
costs)
$128,000
(Corps of Engineers)
$25,000**
Continuing Design Consultation, 1982-1985 Noguchi $30,000
r
CONSULTANT FEES TO DATE City of Miami = $796,000
Corps of Engineers = $128,000
$924,000• Tota l
.t Commission has authorized commencement of 50%
of contract ($270,500); add.phases of contract
and work to be enacted by future Commission
action.
`t Estimated $53,000 required for additional
services by special consultants
P,
WA
r
PHASE ONE
Construction estimated to begin 1982
A 1620 foot 8aywalk and promenade
running the entire eastern edge of the
Park, including the 2.6 acre fill area.
irrprovcmcnts to consist of new bulkheading,
rip -rap installation, benches, landscaping,
lighting, paving, three piers and fountain
plaza walkway area.
Major fountain feature at bayside, intersecting
with 8aywalk, on axis with Flagler Street
'Element by Chopin Plaza which includes a small
performance area and resting spot, a water
feature, small food service, storage and
service areas.
PHASE TWO
Construction to begin 1983
FUNDING SOURCE
Corps of Engineers
(City land as cash match)
Private Donor
(to be identified)
Private Donor
(Holywell Corporation
letter of confirmation
pending to construct element)
"Light Tower" element which includes a kinetic
Private Donor
light shoe: attraction, food service, park security (seeking
privatetentative
devel perto commitment
assist
office, storage and service areas. City in constructing element by
donating materials and labor)
To be funded and constructed
Rock Garden and Restaurant. Revitalized b selected private operator
existing Rock Garden feature and informal Y
out -door cafe.
Children's Play Area includes specially
designed play equipment, lighting, seating,etc. City Matching r$ Funds($o50,000)
IMPROVEMENT COST
$6,000,000
$1,250,000
$1-$1,500,000
(estimate being
revised)
$750,000
$1,000,000
$350,000
PHASE THREE FUNDING SOURCE
An out -door amphitheater to accommodate To Be Determined
10,000 persons for all types of performances
and com,murity events, including a service
area.
Remaining site work including landscaping,
walkways, street furniture, lighting, signage,
utilities, etc.
Improvement costs are estimated for
budgeting purposes based upon
final schematic design.
U
Anticipated funding by others:
Anticipated funding by City:
Total Improvement Costs:
4
$7,050,000
$10,700,000
$ 7,200,000,
$17,900,000*
i
_.N
162
Advance Moving Contractors, Inc.
P.O. BOX 50
WEST CHICAGO. ILL. 60185
•
312/ WAX!33XI
293-1607
July 19, 1982
Downtown Development Authority
2099 One Biscayne Tower
Miami, Florida 33131
Attn: John Gilchrist
Re: Moving of Library Building
Dear Sirs:
This date I visited the Miami Library Building to determine the feasability
of moving it from its present site to a new site at a parking lot approximately
one half mile north.
There is a choice of methods or ways by which the building could be moved.
I recommend to you a choice of these:
1. Move on dollies in one piece.
2. Move on rails and rollers in one piece.
3. Move on dollies in three pieces.
Method number 1 is desirable as far as the integrity of the building is concerned.
There would be a minimum of repair and a maximum of publicity for both City and
Mover.
There are however, some considerable problems using this method. The fore-
most problem being availability of dollies to get enough dollies to meet per axle
load requirements. Some of the dollies available carry as much as 70,000 pounds
per axle. Change of direction is a time consuming problem. It would take more
than a day to change direction with a building of this size. Estimated time that
building would be on the road is 4 to 5 days if only two changes of direction would
occur (one onto the road and one off).
The dolly system that we use is capable of following a variation of contour
of road bed up to one foot. Any variation greater than one foot would have to
be levelled with sand and then matted. All obstacles along the route would have
to be removed to accomodate the building's width. Our price to move by this
method at the present time if the dollies can be rented is $1,450,000.00,
_ The rail and roller method was used by movers in the past. The equipment
needed is available. This method has most of the requirements of the dolly method
plus it consumes enormous amounts of time. To change direction would take 4 to 5
days.
Dollies are available for method 3. It would take only 2 days to clear the
road with each section. Trees and utilities would be but a minor problem. The
cost of moving by this method at the present time if the building is cut apart
Downtown Development Authority con't. Page 2
and repaired by others is $950000.00.
Trusting the above information meets your needs at this time, I am
Sincerely yours,
ADVANCE MOVING CONTRACTORS, INC.
Peter D. Friesen
President
the Aiami 3M=nn's Club
MORTM �ATSMORE ORIVE AT 17TM TrARACE
Miami, $lorii►rt 33132
July 12, 1982
Hon. Mquri cat- Ferre ,
Mayor of the City of Miami
Migmi City Hqll,
Coconut Grove, Floridg 33133
DP�r Mayor Ferre t
The A11ami Womgn's Club, org"nnizPd in 1900, has
been closely gssociatpd with the City of MIq.mi
and Lade County it the growth and development
of this area. The club is the "Mother" of the
Minmi Public Library and Dade County Library
System.
Our club's interest in library service began
when the club wqs orggn i zed on the front porch
of Julia M. Tuttle's home in old Lnllas Park
Area. It wqs then called. "The Married Lqdies
Afternoon Club." The members pg.id 15¢ weekly
to buy books for a readIrg exchgnge program.
From this modest bPgIrnina, the Flagler Memorial
Library came into being. The club housed and
opergtPd this for ,years.
When the library building was considered for
Bgvfro•,it Park, The MIgmi Womgn's Club opposed
Its location for several obvious regsons. Fsthet-
ieglly, its location wns undesirable. It blocked
the Flqgler Street view of the bqy, which had
been enjoyed by citizens qnd tourists. There was
limited parking gva.ilgble on Biscgyne Boulevard
and pedestrigns were forced to cross that busy
street. Also, it wqs feared that it would provide
gregs for derelicts to hide gnd frequent.
WA qre plen.sed thgt the library will be transferred
to A new location and earnestly endorse the
Downtown Development's plan to remove the build-
ing from its present location and return the area
to the public. The years must have shown the city
officials thgt this q.req should be A beautifully
lAndscaped public park. You Anticipate thousands
Pe Ainmi Votnatt's Club
140RTM SAT.MOAF OPIVE AT 17TM Tca*AcE
Miami. Nivribn 33132
—2—
of people living in the downtown area. We urge
you to remove the library and return the park
to the people.
Sincerely ,yours,
Murial M. Rash, President
( Mrs. iiarold H. Ra.sh)
Copy to$
Downtown Development Corp.
Commissioners c
Miller Dawkins
Joe CA rolls
Demetrio Perez
J. L. Plummer
.Ehc Ailittilli Pumttn's Club
LOOT" dIYtMOMt Dnpvt •♦ 17TH TERO&Ct
31nriiln 33132
,nt.L��liemi,
July 12, 1982
ty
'axis
Hon, Mquri ee Ferre ,
Mgyor of the City of Minmi
Migmi City Hqll,
Coconut Grove, Floridq 33133
DPAr Mayor Ferre i
The Migmi Womgn's Club, organized in 1900, has
been closely AssocigtPd with the City of Miami
gnd Dade County in the growth rand development
of this are+t. The club is the "mother" of the
M1Aml Public Library and Dade County Library
System.
our club's interest in library service began
when the club wns organized on the front porch
of Julia M. Tuttle's home in old Da11as Pnrk
+area. It was then called "The Pinrried LQdies
Afternoon Club." The members paid 150 weekly
.to buy books for q rending, exchnnve pros*ram.
From this modest beginning, the Flggler Memorinl
Library came into being. The club housed and
operated this for years.
When the library building wns considered for
Bnvfront Pnrk, The Minmi Womnn's Club opposed
Its loention for several obvious rensons. F.sthet-
icQlly, its locntlon wns undesirable. It blocked
the Flap;ler Street view of the bay, which had
been enjoyed by citizens And tourists. There was
limited parking Available on Biscayne Boulevard
gnd pedestrians were forced to cross that busy
street. Also, it wqs fPnred thgt it would provide
nreas for derelicts to hide and frequent.
WP qre pleased that the library will be transferred
to a new locgtion gnd earnestly endorse the
Downtown Development's plan to remove the build-
ing from its present loention And return the areA
to the public. The years must have shown the city
officials thgt this Area should be n benutifully
lAndscaped public park. You Anticipate thousAnds
h". Sa-,�Zf2F�; &��
.. in
�EIC `�illMllt! �O1ttM11t6 (��12�1 i ' nt
No*?*. BA..MpMt [1RIVt AT 17TM TORRAct
Aiiemi, liorida 33332
ty
2' •bl��S
of people living in the downtown nreq. We urge
you to remove the library Rnd return the pRrk
to the people.
Sincerely
yours,
/)1�/tom
Muri*31 M.
Hnsh, President
( Mrs, iigrold H. Hgsh)
Copy to 1
Downtown Development Corp.
Commissioners:
Miller Dgwkins
Joe Cq rollq
Demetrio Perez
J. L. Plummer
.Ehc Ailittilli Pumttn's Club
LOOT" dIYtMOMt Dnpvt •♦ 17TH TERO&Ct
31nriiln 33132
,nt.L��liemi,
July 12, 1982
ty
'axis
Hon, Mquri ee Ferre ,
Mgyor of the City of Minmi
Migmi City Hqll,
Coconut Grove, Floridq 33133
DPAr Mayor Ferre i
The Migmi Womgn's Club, organized in 1900, has
been closely AssocigtPd with the City of Miami
gnd Dade County in the growth rand development
of this are+t. The club is the "mother" of the
M1Aml Public Library and Dade County Library
System.
our club's interest in library service began
when the club wns organized on the front porch
of Julia M. Tuttle's home in old Da11as Pnrk
+area. It was then called "The Pinrried LQdies
Afternoon Club." The members paid 150 weekly
.to buy books for q rending, exchnnve pros*ram.
From this modest beginning, the Flggler Memorinl
Library came into being. The club housed and
operated this for years.
When the library building wns considered for
Bnvfront Pnrk, The Minmi Womnn's Club opposed
Its loention for several obvious rensons. F.sthet-
icQlly, its locntlon wns undesirable. It blocked
the Flap;ler Street view of the bay, which had
been enjoyed by citizens And tourists. There was
limited parking Available on Biscayne Boulevard
gnd pedestrians were forced to cross that busy
street. Also, it wqs fPnred thgt it would provide
nreas for derelicts to hide and frequent.
WP qre pleased that the library will be transferred
to a new locgtion gnd earnestly endorse the
Downtown Development's plan to remove the build-
ing from its present loention And return the areA
to the public. The years must have shown the city
officials thgt this Area should be n benutifully
lAndscaped public park. You Anticipate thousAnds
h". Sa-,�Zf2F�; &��
.. in
�EIC `�illMllt! �O1ttM11t6 (��12�1 i ' nt
No*?*. BA..MpMt [1RIVt AT 17TM TORRAct
Aiiemi, liorida 33332
ty
2' •bl��S
of people living in the downtown nreq. We urge
you to remove the library Rnd return the pRrk
to the people.
Sincerely
yours,
/)1�/tom
Muri*31 M.
Hnsh, President
( Mrs, iigrold H. Hgsh)
Copy to 1
Downtown Development Corp.
Commissioners:
Miller Dgwkins
Joe Cq rollq
Demetrio Perez
J. L. Plummer
�O� 'downtown
develo ment
�
au�iorfty
nowone arcoynatower .mgmi,no. ssiv -lwsls»-eers
July 16, 1982
Mr. Jim Gall,
Downtown YMCA
7377 N.W. 54th
Miami, Florida
Dear Jim:
Chairman
Board Management
Street
33166
Perhaps you remember my efforts on behalf of the YMCA when I was a member of
your group working to obtain a new building for downtown. Since my name was
purged from your mailing list, I have not had the opportunity to receive your
recent mailings regarding the "save the library movement". However, since
I am involved with the City of Miami in redeveloping Bayfront Park I have
been made aware of your letters to the Charter Members of the Downtown YMCA.
Your letter to the Charter Members dated June 15, 1982 contains several
errors which I believe unfairly compromise the City of Miami's position.
(1) Although you say that, "we are constantly exploring other locations
and a variety of opportunities to co -develop on our present site,"
three years of work have produced no results. The Mayor has
suggested three viable development alternatives which should be
explored in detail. Further, the YMCA has recently declined to
meet with Miami Dade Community College to explore joint develop-
ment. I trust your members know that previous co -development
proposals for your present site made by private developers,
which would have produced a fine new facility at a minimal cost
have been turned down. The present site, of course, remained
vacant for over two and -a -half years producing no income until
it was recently leased for parking.
(2) in your letter you state that "the present Noguchi plan for
Bayfront Park insists that the current library building be
destroyed." This is not true. The plan calls for the
removal of the building not that it,be torn down.
(3) You state in your letter that the previous City Commission
has already decided, "to tear the building down." This is not
true. The previous Commission passed on a 4-1 vote a motion
of intent to "try to remove the library from the park."
Mr. Jim Gall
16 July 1982
Page Two
(4) You state that the library building would allow the YMCA the
opportunity to create a "full -facility fitness center,
Including everything we have planned in our Y, for men and
women." That cannot be done in the present library building
since the ceiling heights will not accommodate the needs
described in the Greenleaf-Telesca report done for the Down-
town Y. Further, a swimming pool could not be included.
Recent statements by Marshall Harris made in front of the
Board of Miami Dade Community College suggested that the
library be used as a "community center" with lockers and
showers. This is a far cry from what we were looking
for when we first started working to build a new YMCA for
Downtown.
Due to the misrepresentation related to the City of Miami's position on removing
the building, Mayor Ferre requested the mailing list of the Charter members of
the Downtown Y. He was informed that the Executive Committee of the YMCA would
not provide the list. Consequently, he contacted Mr. Jim Davis requesting that
the YMCA take the initiative in mailing his letter of 12July 1982 to the Charter
members.
I trust that the YMCA will comply with the Mayor's request. Further, 1 suggest
that you might also correct the error made in your June 15th letter. Many of the
Charter members I have spoken to
building and the Mayor's options
unfortunate that the emotionalism
and set the YMCA on a collision c
efforts. At a point in time when
such divisiveness is regrettable.
talk out the issues, I am sure we
have benefitted everyone.
Sincerely,
Roy F. Kenzie
Executive Director
RFK/t
re unaware of the City's efforts to move the
egarding alternative development. it is
of "saving the library" has clouded the issues
,urse with the City of Miami's redevelopment
the community should be pulling together,
If an effort had been made to sit down and
would have come to a solution which would
cc: Mayor Maurice A. Ferre
Board of Directors, Downtown YMCA
THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITYiMIAMI, FLORIDA+(305)579-6675 JULY 1982
BAYFROM PARK: A VISTA FOR THE FUTURE
Bayfront 1931
In 1924, Bayfront Park was created from land fill along the
eastern edge of Biscayne Boulevard and became at once
Miami's most important and valuable piece of real estate,
changing forever the face of Downtown.
First plans, developed in the "Beaux Arts" tradition,
established a strong physical and visual axis or "view cor-
ridor' running east along Flagler Street to the Bay - bringing
the Bay to the people, making it part of life in Downtown. A
double row of Royal palms, broad walkways and formal cir-
cle remain in part today as remnants of a time when open-
ness and access were employed to help make the park a
"people place." These features were destroyed in 1949
when the Miami Public Library was built in the park at the
front of Flagler Street.
It wasn't that everyone wanted the Library built in the
park, in fact, most people opposed it at the time. The
Chamber of Commerce, Miami's Womens Club, the
Greater Miami Hotel Association, the Library Board of
Trustees, the Miami Pioneers, the Historical Association and
the Board of Realtors all tried to stop construction, but
failed, concluding the first of a continuing series of
controversies.
Bayfront Park Today
Miamians have always had a special love for parks and
open space. In 1969, they passed the "Parks for People"
bond issue which enabled the City to acquire the remain-
ing portions of privately held bayfront land. Bicentennial
and Bayfront Parks and the FEC acquisition have com-
pleted our community's drive to create a great 100-acre
park system that will someday become the heart of our
growing city. Development of our bayfront has been slow
due to lack of funds for development and litigation related
to public acquisition of private lands. The southern portion
of Bayfront Park has remained virtually untouched since
1949.
In 1979, in reaction to concerns about safety, image,
derelicts and wasted resources, the Downtown Develop-
ment Authority (DDA) and the City of Miami began work-
ing together to fulfill the commitment made in the "Parks
for People" bond issue for the redevelopment of Bayfront
Park. The City retained Isamu Noguchi, world famous
sculptor and landscape architect to develop new plans for
the southern end of the park.
The new Bayfront Park plan creates a "people place"
�► / nhnued on back page
77 YEAR OLD SCHOOL
TO CLOSE
The Gesu Catholic School, located on 1.3 acres in
downtown Miami, will be demolished in July and be re-
placed by an interim parking lot, according to a decision
made by a Committee of the Miami Archdioses.
The Gesu Catholic Church, Miami's oldest, is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. However, the rectory
and school building were omitted from the prestigious
designation. The original church was built in 1897, and the
first school opened in 1905. Miami pioneer Henry Flagler
donated the site. The present Mediterranebn-styled church
building was completed in 1922. The rectory and school
followed in 1926,
Several reasons were cited for the closing and demoli-
tion of the school building, including the high cost of
renovation. "Naturally, we are very disappointed that the
school will be one;' said Father Edwards, Pastor of the
Gesu Catholic Church. "However, to justify the expense of
getting the building in shape again, we would have to in-
crease the number of students who attend. There is not
enough space now for the 320 students. There are no
recreation facilities for our physical education program
and the presence of more and more traffic in the area is
disturbing."
Yet, Gesu has a waiting list and enrollment is on the in-
crease, The tuition is moderate: kindergarten class is
$80.00 per month first through eighth grade is $70.00 per
month. Parents from 25 different parrishes throughout
Miami bring their children to the school, some as far away
as Hialeah The Gesu Ch J: _ "'vi`-, ria-v0. t�,
, `
working mothers in downtown.
CHARTER AMENDMENTS
PROPOSED
Miami may soon be joining the ranks of many major cities
that have the legal authority to work in conjunction with
private developers to realize significant mixed -use projects
on publicly owned property.
The Miami City Commission has authorized the City At-
torney to prepare amendments to the City Charter that
currently regulate this sensitive area. They have requested
a total modernization that would permit the City to depart
from conventional sealed bid procedures when other
methods may be more advantageous to the City. Consul-
tant Lester Allen Fettig, a nationally renown government
procurement expert, who assisted Senator Lawton Chiles in
Federal procurements, has been working closely with the
City Attorney on the Charter revision.
The Charter now requires the City to competitively bid or
negotiate each facet of a public improvement. Conse-
quently, developers who feel it necessary to be in control
of all the development and operation phases of a project
to assure its commercial success are discouraged by
Miami's outdated procedures.
The consultants and attorneys are proposing a new ap-
proach at development between the public and private
sector. Referred to as a Unified Development Project, the
change would allow the City greater latitude in selecting
"At first I only felt shock, although I knew this was being
discussed for the past three or four years," explained Sister
Berdine, Principal of Gesu School. Are the children upset?
Some students tried a mediablitz, calling radio and TV sta-
tions to urge attention and reverse the fateful decision
"The eighth graders worked very hard to try to save the
school;" said Sister Berdine. There are, however, no plans to
rebuild the school in downtown. The deadline to vacate is
July 2nd. The Archdiocese has also been meeting with
developers to discuss building plans for the school property.
The property is zoned C-3, which allows for high density
development. Mr. Eugene Chavoustile, real estate broker
and salesman for Florida East Coast Properties has been
working with the Church in the decision to close the school
ft
an entity to develop a municipal project. The developer
could be involved in any and all stages of the project,
including:
• planning and design, construction and leasing; or
• planning and design, leasing and management; or
• planning and design, construction, leasing and
management, or
• planning and design, construction and management.
In the past, major developers have been reluctant to bid
on an initial phase of a multi -million dollar project, where
front-end costs are high, to lose to a competitor when the
construction and management phases come around.
Another significant change in the procurement process
would allow the City to seek developers on projects that
are generally and conceptually defined. Today, the City
must produce feasibility and market studies, and detailed
architectural plans, including cost estimates and specifica-
tions, These documents form the basis for the bid package,
but still exclude lease agreements and management /
operation options.
The charter changes recommended would require a
referendum vote, scheduled for September. They are
already legislative reality in other cities, and standard
operating procedure in Metro -Dade. Many City projects
will be stalled until the Charter amendments are passed by
the voters, including the Sports Arena / Exhibition Hall Com-
plex, the Bayside Specialty Center, the Core Area West
Parking Garage, and Watson Island Theme Park.
PENINSULA FEDERAL
BUILDING PURCHASED
The Peninsula Federal Of-
fice Building, located at 200
S.E. 1st Street in downtown
Miami, was purchased in May
by the R & H Investment
Company. R & H Investment,
a Virginia based company
bought the 12-story building
for $18.4 million.
Originally built as a two-
story building nearly 25 years
ago, ten floors were added in
1970, increasing the size of
the structure to 120,000
square feet of office space.
With an adjoining garage,
the building site occupies
54A30 square feet of prime
downtown land, The five -
story parking garage has 645 spaces, providing the
ratio of spaces per square feet of office space
downtown area.
Peninsula Federal has leased its present offices from the
new owners and will continue to be the buildings' largest
tenant, occupying over 27,000 square feet. The remain-
ing tenants are predominantly attorneys, accountants and
other professionals.
The new owners plan to maintain the buildings' high stan-
dards estoblished by Penins(rin Fec-larnl The building Is
r uetween $18 and
$20 per square'ooi
highest
in the
UP -DATE:
INSURANCE EXCHANGE
The Insurance Exchange of
the Americas will become a
major tenant in a downtown
office building in July. The ,
burgeoning operation will
occupy 20,000 sq. ff. on the
third floor of the Plaza Building
at 245 S.E, 1st Street. The —
building, recently renovated,
is anticipated to be renamed'= ,
the Exchange Building. The"�1 "
suite of offices will house an
underwriting chamber and
ancillary space for staff, syn-
dicates and brokers.
The Exchange will officially open in October. The election
for the Board of Directors will take place in August. To date,
32 syndicates and an excess of 50 brokers have been
pledged, Because of the interest the Exchange has
generated, Florida International University and Exchange
officials have begun discussions on undertaking a training
program for underwriters, brokers, and other insurance
related occupations for area residents.
A i110
® A S fit
On May 27, the City
Commission held a public
hearing on the World
Trade Center Building's
Development Order. The
applicant, Dade Federal
Savings and Loan Associa-
tion, was granted the
Development Order which
is required prior to the Is-
suance of building permits
by the City. Dade Federal
had already satisfied the
State's Development of
Regional Impact re-
quirements for the office
tower project, as well as
the City's Planning Advi-
sory Board,
The World Trade Center
Building, 35 stories with a
gross floor area 598,865 sq.
ff., will be constructed on
air rights over an 11-story
City parking garage at
201-299 S.E. First Avenue.
Construction should begin
in November, 1982 with
occuponcv anticipated
by August, 1983. The
skyscraper, designed by
I,M. Pei, will cost $63.5
million 0981 dollars) and create
the region. The developer
$300,000 a year for air rights
4,567 new jobs within
will pay the City
lease.
The City did attach some conditions to the
development order, most notably, to require the
developers to engage minority firms during construc-
tion and to reimburse the City for street im-
provements in the amount of $416,000. The
developer will also hove to participate in cost -sharing
for the construction of the bifurcated ramp system
which would add $2,000,000 to the project costs.
These funds would be reimbursable at a later date.
Both the South Florida Regional Planning Council
and the Planning Advisory Board had recommended
that the applicant front-end $3.31 million for construc-
tion of the bifurcated ramps. Representatives of Dade
Savings and Loan Association successfully argued
that the $3,31 million figure was based on 30% transit
ridership (SFRPC calculation) even though there is a
DCM station in the garage below the World Trade
Center and that both Southeast Financial Center and
Miami Center II Development Orders were
approved based on 50% transit ridership. Based on
50% transit ridership the World Trade Center
developers would be required to front-end $1.91
million.
With the Development Order approved and all re-
quired zoning variances previously approved, con-
struction of the World Trade Center Office Tower will
begin as soon as the garage presently under con-
struction is completed.
0
E�etee l_q
ZL9Z 'ON N iIN lIWt13d
pled eBaLsod 'S'f1
mine
CUP
Continued from front page
with both active and passive elements. Included are: a
landscaped Baywolk, Children's Play Area, restaurants and
cafes, a Light -House Tower, 10,000 seat open air am-
phitheater for large performances, a small performance
area, renovation of the Rock Garden, three new piers, and
a monumental fountain, plaza and promenade linking the
Park to Flagler Street. The plan calls for removal of the
former Library building because its massive size and loca-
tion blocks access from Flagler Street to the Bay. While
removal of the building enhances the Park, it also saves
taxpayers $250,000 a year in maintenance costs of the
antiquated structure.
Park development plans have been approved by the
City -Commission. Phase I, slated to begin construction this
fall, includes a landscaped baywalk, piers and fountain
plaza.
The $18.7 million new park design responds to the growing
needs for open space Downtown. In 1985, when com-
pleted, it will be a dramatic and beautiful stage for the city,
used in a multiplicity of ways, 365 days and nights a year.
Explains Lester Pancoast, local architect on the project:
"The Park has never been considered as a whole, in-
tegrated entity, Changes have come piece -meal over the
last 58 years. The city's most valuable real estate deserves
better than that. An international city should have a world -
class park. We have a chance to wipe the slate clean, cor-
rect our errors, and start from scratch. If not, we will suffer
the consequences of our short-sightedness."
Metro decided several years ago to build a new library
building. It will open next summer in the Cultural Center on
West Flagler Street. By that time, the City will be ready to
implement the new park plan. "it cost a million dollars thirty-
two years ago and has been amortized by now. The Com-
munity has gotten its use out of the building and the City
should now correct its earlier mistake," says civic activist
Dan Paul. "There is no use for that unsightly structure that
could be as important as opening up the vista to the Bay."
The 40 acre Bayfront Park must be seen in context. Next
year the median strip parking in the middle of Biscayne
Boulevard and Chopin Plaza will be totally re -vamped. The
City will also seek a developer for the "Bayside" Retail
Specialty Center project at the Miamarina site. In July, the
People -Mover will begin construction, with the premier sta-
tion located adjacent to Bayfront Park. In addition, the City
recently spent $23.4 million to acquire the adjoining 33 acre
F.E.C. parcel. Bayfront Park's redevelopment is not just a
cosmetic improvement, but actually the center -piece of
multi -million dollar improvements, which combined, will add
a new dimension and image to Downtown.
A totally new Bayfront Park is as critical to Downtown's
revitalization as the People Mover, Conference/Conven-
tion Center, Cultural Center and other public im-
provements. Removal of the former library structure is
essential to the redevelopment of the Park Progress brings
some tough choices, but the Citv Commission decided in
1980 to remove the structure. Morn rkc.e tt,at they stand
by their original decision at the scheduled
for July 22nd, so that the enf,re once
again enjoy its Baytront f o!k
July 19, 1982
Maurice Ferre
Mayor - City of Miami
Pan American Drive
3500 Dinner Key
Miami, Florida 33133
Dear Mayor:
I would like this letter to serve as documentation of my opinion
regarding the issue on "Save The Library Building". Listed below
are a couple of my reasons:
1) A waste of tax payers dollars by tearing down a
perfectly good building.
2) I feel that the property is large enough that
other plans could be incorporated without dis-
turbing the library building, a building that
could be used for community use.
The Library Building should be saved!
Si ereIy,
Fred Fowler
470 W. 53rd Street
Hialeah, FL 33012
cc: Joe Carollo
J.L. Plummer
Miller Dawkins
Demetrio Perez
July 39, 39E2
The Honorable Maurice A. Ferre
Mayor of the City of 'liami
City Nall - Dinner Frey
P.O. Box 330708
Miami, Florida 33133
Dear N,ayor" Ferre:
I feel it would be a terrible mistake to tear down the beautiful
library building in Bayfront Park. Surely, with the size of the
park, the plans can be modified to include the building.
That building could house such services as child-care and adult
fitness that all downtown workers could enjoy daily. It would
bring the park to life with children and joggers everyday.
I am afraid without this type of supervised activity, Bayfront
Park will only be used for special events when adequate police
protection is provided.
SAVE THE LIBRARY BUILDING!
Singefye1y, �/.
Gray o 1er
100 lst Avenue
Miami, FL 33132
cc:
Joe Carollo
J.L. Plummer
Miller Dawkins
Demetrio Perez
JhA A 11
AOL
Editorial
Taxes are going up .... Metrorail is going up.... the downtown
qovernment center is going up.... but they want to tear down
O
the library. A perfectly good building in Bayfront Park...
p
a multi -million dollar community asset. They want to tear
it down to make more room in the park for the wino's and
bums. With only minor modification, this building could be
•
utilized as some sort of community center. Something to
D
attract people to the park. It's been suggested that it
3
could be used as a child-care center for children of working
downtown parents or a physical fitness center for men and
A
women. There are probably many other ways this buildinq
o
could be used to serve the people. Tearinq it down would
serve no one, except the architect who says it interferes
with his park design. A good architect could include the
•
building in his design and make everybody happy. Tearinq
_
down a perfectly good building because it interferes with
�
%a
the flow of a park makes about as much sense as killing
w
2,000 deer for their own benefit.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That's WIOD/WAIA's Vice President and General Manaqer, Bill
Viands, with today's editorial. Contrasting views by responsible
spokespersons are welcome.
BROADCAST: Friday, July 16, 1982
m "A"I MOTORSPORTS,
10113 SW 72nd Street • In Loftwood Village 6 Miami, Florida 33173
305.595-RACE (7223)
JULY 16, 1989
AIR. ROY KENZIE, DIRECTOR
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT- AUMORITY :
ONE BISCAVNE TOWER
MIAMI, FLORIDA 33131
GEAR ROY:
I WANT TO TAKE: THIS OPPORTUNITY TO LET Y0q XNOW THAT
MIAMI MOTORSPO S, INC. FULLY SUPPORTS THE"OA'S PLANS
REGARDING SAYFRONT PARK AND THE MOVING OF T,HE LIBRARY.
WE FEEL THAT THE PROPOSAL BEST SERVES THE BUSINESS AND
RECREATIONAL !NEEDS OF THE DOWNT!►WN AREA.
WE WILL DU AT E CAN TO ASSIST YOU IN THIS ENDEAVOR.
SAFE LV
1
PAS PH . "S CHEZ
PRE DENT
RS•SCT
CC: MAURICE FERRE ✓'
CC: JOE COROLLO
CC: J. L. PLU%iER, JR.
CC. MILLER J. DAWKINS
CC: DEMETRIO PEREZ
Maribb Richey,
3412 Franklin Are.,
Miami' F1a.33133.
j Hon.Maurite Ferre and Hon. Members of the City Commission,
s City Hall,
Dinner Key,.
P.O•Box 3307089
Mihsi, F1a.33133. July 20,1982,
Dear Mayor Ferro and Members of the City Commission,
It is with
great concern I have viewed recent efforts to save the library
building which sits in Sayfront Park. From the first time I saw
the building many years ago I was aware that it obstructed an
otherwise splendid, open view and as we seem to be on the verge
of becoming a very large city with taller buildings being added
daily it would be appropriate to remove this most unattractive
edifice.
At the same time I would like -to add my wholehearted
approval to the -proposed new design for the park by Isamu Noguchi,
the clean, functional beauty of his work is world reknowned and
blends very Moil with the international flavor of our City•
Respectfully yours,
G
7
Marion Richey.
ecultural executives co uncil, inc.
c/o Vizcaya, 3251 South Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida 33129
July 15, 1982
The Honorable Maurice A. Ferre
Mayor of the City of Miami
City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, Florida 33133
Dear Mayor Ferre:
I am writing to report on an action taken by the Cultural Executives Council, Inc., at
its monthly meeting on July 14.
At my request, a presentation was made to our organization on the new Noguchi plan for
Bayfront Park. The Council had gone on record as endorsing the original scheme some
two years ago, and this update was very enlightening and rewarding for everyone present.
As you know, the C.E.C. is made up of the professional directors of the 27 major art
organizations in Dade County including the performing and visual arts and sciences.
While every member was struck by the magnificent scale, subtle aesthetics and superbly
thought-out functional aspects of the new scheme, the directors of the performing arts
organizations, as the primary potential users of the outdoor theatre areas, were
especially excited about it.
The absolute necessity of the demolition of the old library was discussed once again,
and as before, there was not a single voice of opposition to it. (Speaking personally
as a historian of architecture and city planning, I see this as one of the most positive
aspects of the plan. It is rare indeed that a great city has the opportunity to undo a
tragic bricks -and -mortar mistake of another recent generation!)
In short, the Council voted unanimously and enthusiastically to endorse the new Noguchi
Bayfront Park plan and all of its attendant ramifications.
It will perhaps be the most vital step in the progress toward Miami's becoming a truly
great city, and you deserve the gratitude and commendation of every citizen for your
unwavering personal support of the project. It is sometimes hard for an emerging city
to learn to think big, and you have clearly shown us the way.
CJW:mw
cc: Board of City Commissioners
Yours sincerely,
%
Carl'J. Weinhardt, Jr.,.'
Presi ent
Cultural Executives Council, Inc.
�Z -GAG
Serving Dade County and the Greater Miami Area
Membership is Composed of the Professional Directors of the Following Cultural Institutions
Ballet Concerto Company
Fusion Dance Company. Inc
mismf•Dade Community College/
Pied Piper Players
Bass Mluse„m of Art
Greater Miami Opera Association
The Gallery North Campus
Planet Ocean
Center for the Fine Ans
Grove House. Inc
Miami -Dade Community College/
Players State Theatre
Dance ►d,am,
Historical Association of Southern Florida
South Campus Art Gallery
Ring Theafre.'University of Miami
Fairchild Tropical Garden
Lowe An Museum/University of Miami
Model Cities Center for the Cultural Ans
Vizcaya Museum 6 Gardens
Theatre Department
Metropolitan Museum 6 An Centers
Museum of Science. Inc
WLRN-FM•Public Radio
Florida International University
Miami Beach Symphony
Performing Ans for Community and Education
Zoological Society of Florida
Florida Pnimarmonic Inc
Miami Choral Society. Inc
IF A C E 1
P
i1h'LATIN eU I LDI; RS ASSOCIATION, I N C
5101 S. W. 8 St. • MIAMI, FLA. 33134 PHONE: (305) 446.5989
July 14, 1982
The Honorable Maurice Ferre
Mayor, City of Miami
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, F1 33133
Dear Mayor:
This letter is to inform you that the Board of Directors of the
Latin Builders Association in its meeting of July 13, 1982, voted
_ unanimously to recommend to the City Commission that the unused
Library Building impeding the development of the Bay Front Park
be removed.
Sincerely yours,
LatirflBuilder:V Association
Jul,--3
Pre ident
JCJ/eg '
CC:
City Commis Toners:
Joseph P1 er
Joe Carollo
Demetrio Perez
Miller Dawkins
0
METROPC'_jTAN DADE COUNTY F_CRiDA
METRO- "
July 12, 1982
Mr. Dan Paul
1300 Southeast Bank Bldg.
Miami, FL. 33131
Dear Mr. Paul:
OFFICE OF THE COUN i TANAGER
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
90 S V-' RTH STRE&
SITE 309
17 '� % V IA%'I, FL,R-DA 33130
(i"'5) 579-2553
., r
�r
In response to your phone conversation with Ivan Rodriguez. Ivan asked
that I write you. Enclosed is a copy of the ordinance with the proposc:,
amendments, as you requested. With regard to redrafting the ariendment
to exclude the library in Bayfront Park, I'm at loss as to how that %..ould
be accomplished without specifically citing the building in th,; 3riendment.
However, it should also be pointed out that if the amendment were adopted,
as is, it would be almost impossible for the Preservation Hoard to desig-
nate the building due to the Guidelines for Designation which were adopted
by the County Commission in September, 1981. These guidelines state tnat
"the designation of properties as individual sites...wiII be based primarily
on the findings of the Historic Survey." The library building in Bayfront
Park is not included in the Historic Survey. Therefore, any effort to des-
ignate the building would have to clearly show, beyond a doubt, that the
architectural or historical significance of the building warranted desig-
nation. Also, because the building is less than fifty years old, which is
one criteria for designation, its designation would have to be considered
as an exceptional building, again requirinq any designation effort to prove
that the building's significance is unquestionable.
I hope this letter answers some of the questions you talked about with
Ivan Rodriguez. Should you need any further information, please do not
hesitate to call either Ivan or myself.
Sincerely,
F. Bo a Wallin
Assistant Director
Historic Preservation Division
Eoclosuri:s
B'oVint t
HOLYVVILL COR* --ATION
100 CHOPIN PLA. �1 '
MIAMI, FLORIDA 33131
HOLYWELL
July 20, 1982
Honorable Mayor Maurice Ferre
CITY CO1= NilMl
3500 Pan American Drive
P. O. Box 330708
Miami, Florida 33133
Re: BAYFRCNtC IMK
Dear 'klayor Ferre:
I have recently reviewed the most current Noguchi design for
Bayfront Park and, in general, agree with the overall plans,
including the moving or removal of the existing library building.
This letter is to inform you that I am prepared to provide
the materials and to construct that portion of the Noguchi design
adjacent to Chopin Plaza in the south end of the park. However,
this commitment to provide the materials and construction is
contingent upon the City moving forward with its plans to
redevelop Bayfront Park and some modifications to the performance
Plaza at the south end of the Park, which modifications would be
subject to our mutual agreement and approval.
Sincerely,
7
eodore B. Gould
President
TBG/gah
xc: Joe Carollo - Vice Mayor
Commissioner Derietrio Perez
Commissioner J. L. PlLrwer
Commissioner Miller Dawkins
Roy F. Kenzie - Downtown Development Authority
4i�
Charles
Whited
4I.W.
L
t New park plan
makes librar
Y ;'
overdue to go
I've had mixed feelings about that build-
ing.
It always seemed in the wrong place,
somehow, squatting there in the middle of
Bayfront Park at the foot of Flagler Street.
• But to my family, the Miami library was I
a personal thing. We took out library cards
there after arriving 20 years ago. I've spent
• wonderful hours browsing in its book
stacks.
When the latest hassle developed over
the fate of the building when the library
moves to a new home next year, my senti-
M is were on the side of preservation and
frii ' Iity.
Nis with such "Save the Library" at.
tivistss as lawyer Marshall Harris and mar-
keting man John F. Veir, tended .to rein-_,
force this, even though it put me at odds
with some of my own editors.
As Weir puts it: "Can Miami, with press-
ing social needs and limited financial re-
sources, afford to demolish a well-ma!n-
t.ained, relatively new building containing
60,000 square feet of usable space?" '
' I was ready to holler, "Hell no!" and
sign the petition.
The issue comes up for airing this week
by the City Commission. So Tuesday I took
a hard look at the reason for removing the
.old library building, sculptor Isamu Nogu-
chi's redesign of Bayfront Park.
_T hen I took a walk in the park, con-
scious of the dramatic transition now ,
going on in downtown Miami be-
tween yesterday and tomorrow.
The park today Is overshadowed by
towering new hotel and office buildings
rising at adjoining Ball Point, the forerunn-
ners of enormous megastructures to be
built in Dupont Plaza.
The resurgence of this city's heart will
bring 5,800 new or refurbished hotel
rooms, huge office complexes, condomini-
ums, townhouse units, an urban people
mover that will be one of the most sophis-
ticated inner-city transportation systems in
the nation, and more.
And these futuristic splendors will be
fronted by a park commanding a bayview
rivaling any waterfront panorama on
earth.
Downtown Miami Is in amazing rebirth.
The Noguchi plan for the park, more-
over — his third rendering in a sincere ef-
fort to work out the kinks and be sensitive
to critics -- is splendid.
` I had to admit, all things considered, that
the old library building does not belong
there. Even Marshall Harris' persuasive ar-
gument that it be used as a community
center and even a kind of bayfront "Y" an-
choring a vita exercise course Isn't enough.
It's difficult to describe, in a few words.
a plan for a park. In Noguchi's view, as
outlined to me by Kitty Roedel of the
Downtown Development Authority, it is a
concept: a very open, visually dramatic.
people park. a centerpiece for the future.
Noguchl has created such innovative
i ideas as a 10,000-seat grassy amphitheater
` to bring to downtown outdoor festivals,
concerts, special events.
The plan has a sweeping, 1,620-foot Bay
Walk fronted by boulder riprap spilling
into the water, a tower of lights, an open-
air restaurant by the Rock Garden, play
areas, a pier. Noguchl places a fountain in
the midst of a huge piazza, its surging wa-
ters computer -programmed for half a
dozen configurations. -
r Financing for the $18.7•million "project `f
would come from private as well as feder- '
'al, state and local fugds. The Army Corps
of Engineers, for example, will be tapped
for $6 million worth of Bay Walk con-
struction. Developer Ted Gould reportedly
bas agreed to build an outdoor theater
complex on the southern end of the park.
It is estimated that the new Noguchl
park ultimately will attract nine million.
people visits per year. Future megastruc- .
tures of downtown will draw 75,000 daily
to work. "Downtown will only be success-.
ful, ' a Noguchl advocate says, "if It is fun,
viable and alive." • . , c.; .
" I walked around the old library Tuesday
.and had to admit~
It never did belong there. It doesn't be.
long there tomorrow, either.
1
0
a
n
s
r
qic
m1
pn
I
u
as•
do
10
tt '
CL
-41
pf
V
ix:
in
lie
I
41
01
'au .
C
1244 The
Improve ciWs parks
along bay and beyond
How incongruous It is for the City of Miami to contemplate
an $18.7 million park beautification project at its front door when
the city can't find sufficient funds to staff and maintain the parks
located in its backyard and which are used by most of its people.
But incongruity is just another word for priority, and
emphasis, and attitude. And in Miami in 1982, it is in vogue to to
down library buildings and give designers carte blanche to •
reshape the waterfront in a manner costly enough to fund the
city's annual, but inadequate, $2 million recreation budget for
almost 10 years. That's right, 10 years.
Incongruity is as much a part of Miami as palm trees and '
palmetto bugs, or killing hundreds of deer in order to save them.
Everyone is forced to live with such inconsistencies, although we
may not like them, and persistent attempts should be made to ,
diminish the disparity and the inequity.
The question, however, in deciding what to do about sculptor
Isamu Noguchi's elaborate plan for Bayfront Park downtown is
not whether that plan should be rejected because other city parks
and recreation programs are neglected.
It is possible, even desirable, for the city to create downtown
a.showplace park of unusual vitality and activity while improving
the playgrounds that serve most Miamians: The two are not and
should not be mutually exclusive, although it's a clear and ,
unfortunate statement of priorities that so far the Noguchl plan-. ;
has received all the attention expected to be showered on visiting
royalty while the city's parks are viewed as peasants from the
other side of the railroad tracks.
If the city goes ahead with the Noguchl plan, it should be
part of a comprehensive redevelopment of the entire downtown
waterfront area, not the equivalent of one flower bed in what
should be a large garden. The reshaping of Bayfront Park should
be blended in with a design for the FEC property, located
between Bayfront and already developed Bicentennial parks, with
fashionable new shops at the Miamarina and with a sensible
proposal for Watson Island, which seems ripe as a site fora
theater of the performing arts.
Debate on the Noguchi plan in recent days has centered on
the fate of the main building of the public library which is located
iri Bayfront Park and which Noguchi himself has said must be
torn down or he will take his project and go home. The discussion
has degenerated Into an either/or proposition: Either the building
should stay in place and be converted into a YMCA -operated
gymnasium, thereby jeopardizing the Noguchl plan, or it should
be torn down.
In fact, there is ample room for a compromise. one suggested
by Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, and one which he should stand
by at tomorrow's city commission meeting. The library building
should be saved, and relocated. perhaps in a corner of the FEC
property where it could be used for, among other things. a badly
needed tourist center.
Although library headquarters will be shifted to a new
building in the downtown cultural center. the existing main ,
library building in Bayfront Park is valuable, useful and relatively
new. It would cost far less to move that building than to try to
build a comparable one anywhere else, and to tear down the
structure would be a waste in every sense.
Sadly, there are few opportunities left downtown to create
beautiful and functional open spaces that link the bay, the land
and the people. The one area where that opportunity exists Is
along the waterfront. While it is important to enhance Miami's
natural assets downtown, it is just as important, perhaps more so,
to improve the existing parks and recreation programs that are
supposed to nourish the bodies and souls of thousands of -
` Miamians. A6 _ er1 462
Civil rights on trial
. qi d�i.v��£?�i_=�`�oce�,�� � WhiteA����. " � ._ •,'
MIAMI'S BAYFRONT
Needed is an urban design study that unifies waterfront, city edge
The waterfront
marketplace / IL
Noguchi's park plan is
right for Miami / 7L
By HAROLD LEWIS MALT
Miami's Downtown Park Plans at a Glance
Miami's Downtown Development Authority (DDA),
at the request of the Miami Commission, is preparing a
master plan for the future development of 100 acres of
downtown park land and for Watson Island.
A progress report on the plan, which is still in a
"11 b ted t th C mission
Soon the City of Miami will be
conceptual stage, wi a presen
Thursday.
deciding whether or not to approve
new facilities on the bayfront. Com-
Thus far, the DDA has laid out
missioners will be looking at a pro-
that agency planners say will provi
velopme the bayside park syste
posal for retail shops, a maritime
museum and a parking garage lo-
Amain goal of planners is to at
i g
cated in the area of the port access.
Parks. To that end, the constructio
rants and public• facilities such as a
road {Dodge Island). I think the
wrong topic will be on the agenda.
are being considered.
First priority now should be an
At the same time, the DDA wa
large areas of open space. that provi
urban design study that shapes and
unifies the entire waterfront and
a view of the bay.
city edge. I am talking about a
In order to achieve both ends, p
three-dimensional concept that
would integrate all elements: the
. erior cultural facilities, symbolize
bayfront, the port access. Biscayne
the international importance of the
Boulevard and adjacent buildings,
Downtown People Mover station
port, city and county. This concept
would be the product This
a team:
locations, performing arts facility,
urban designers, representatives of
pedestrian access, others.
Such a comprehensive approach
city, county. private interests. it
would go beyond satisfying only
-
would respond to zoning revisions
stow being made by the Miami Plan -
downtown busmdss'" interests.
Area -wide objectives would be ad-
ning Department. The concept
would be developed and presented
dressed: unsnarl traffic. promote
' in the form of models and perspec-
pedestrian access to the water, pro-
vide residents and tourists with su-
tives. Guidelines for development
o e om
a series of concepts
de the basis for de-
n.
tract people to the
n of shops, restau-
maritime museum
to preserve the
de downtown with
tanners have sug-
gested that new construction in the parks be located
near already built-up areas.
The major elements of the bayside plan are:
• Rebuilding Bayfront Park according to a design ,
by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. The S19-million project
calls for demolishing of the public library building now
in the park to make way for a promenade that would
extend from Flagler Street to the water.
e The creation of a bayside mail at Miamarina.
modeled after Baltimore s Harbor Place. The mail
would house specialty shops and restaurants.
• Building a maritime museum on the site of the
Florida East Coast Railway deep water cut. • '
• Choosing from several options for Watson Is-
land, Including the theme park proposal backed by
Mayor Maurice Ferre, the building of a performing arts
center on the island, or marina development. .
would be drawn. if the Miami Com-
enacted Ordinance No. 526. which
mission approved. then an ordi-
established rules, regulations and'
nance could serve as the legal in-
standards for a 30-block district to
strument that guides private/public
Please turn to BAYFRONT/5E
detailed design and development.
Such comprehensive, large-scale
-
Huroid Lewis Mult is a professor
urban design approaches have been
of architecture and planning at the
successful in enhancing waterfronts"-f/ntverstty -of Miami'and a national
across the country: New York, Bal-
consultant to cities, public agencies
timore, Chicago, Cincinnati, San
and corporations in urban planning
Francisco. Even Fernandina Beach.
and design. He wrote this article for
Fla. In that community the council
The Herald.
I]
"m'*tat*
ng
will bring
no' acclaim
SAYFRONT/From 1E
preserve the distinctive character of
the area near the water for the pub-
lic benefit.
Let me explain. Historically,
Miami has preferred a fragmented
approach tb the built environment.
This ad hocism is attractive in that
it gets rid of worrying about tomor-
row. Today's solutions may become
tomorrow's problems, and another
layer of ad hoc solutions may multi-
ply the problems further for the day
after. Ad Hoc Opportunism is anti -
planning. It is project-, not proc-
ess -oriented. This method does not
produce outstanding successes, the
kind of concepts that rally the com-
munity and electrify the world.
What is wrong with such a piece-
meal approach? Specifically? OK, a
few examples:
Isamu Noguchi presented a de-
sign for lower Bayfront Park. It
was out of context with the city,
adjacent parkland, the bay, Ball
Point. All fountains are scenic but
some are more popular than others.
The active Lawrence Halprin model
Is a water participatory experience,
which allows the user to walk on
stones and boulders of varying sizes
and between and among waterfalls;
the passive Noguchl model does not
offer any such experience. Further,
based on my study of 64 parks in 16
'cities (for HUD, Washington), it is
clear that the more sterile this type
of setting, the least used by citizens
and the most frequented by unde-
sirables. Perhaps this accounts for
the resistance of County Manager
Stierheim, architect Charles Pawley
and others to tearing down the li-
brary building. Simply put, we
don't see anything better. i
Next, consider the recent propos-
als for getting truck traffic on and
off Dodge Island. The county port
authority and its consultants are
solving its problem. There will be a
high-level bridge. But then what?
Who is Integrating the Impact of
this new connector into the city
edge and parkland?
Back to the agenda proposal for
upper Bayfront Park and the Flori-
da East Coast Railway (FEC) prop-
erty. As presently conceived, the
centerpiece of the scheme features
i two or three pavilions labeled "Har•
borpiace" and containing retail
1 shops. The original harborplace is
} In the City of Baltimore, long recog-
i nized for its quality of city planning
and urban design. Recently I pro-
duced a National Street Furniture
Design Competition funded by the
National Endowment for the Arts.
Two of the top five prizes were
awarded by jury to Baltimore city
employes. Imitating a leader may
i bring Miami some rewards, but
hardly national acclaim.
As for Bicentennial Park, no new
activities or exploitation of the po-
tential of its connection to the re-
cently available FEC slip Save been
imaginatively presented. \
Of Biscayne Boulevard and the
dty's edge, nothing. No new'vistas.
No substantial pedestrian a6resss.
Not even Park West, the Dowq
town Development Authority's own
project, has been integrated by way
of its open space into the adjacent
FEC property.
Enough. Why not learn from pos-
itive situations? Not to copy but to
understand the urban design proc-
ess that produces concepts that en-
hance the quality of waterfront de-
velopment.
Example: Toronto. In many ways
this city is the northern counterpart
to Dade County. It is ethnically di-
verse. It pioneered the Metro form
of government in 1953. Although
more mature, it too is experiencing
extensive development. It too has a
new rapid transit system. However,
most residents want and share a
concern for environmental quality.
City planning agencies seem more
accepted and respected than agen-
cies here. Civic design involves
widespread private participation.
This has helped enable a compre-
hensive approach to the waterfront
resulting in the new "Harborfront."
This project is a private enterprise
project for housing, shops and res-
toration of the old Industrial ware-
houses on 92 acres abutting the
shore of Lake Ontario. The pro-
ceeds will be used to finance public
activities and open -space uses on 40
acres.
Recently students In -my Urban
Design Studio at the University of
Miami studied the Miami bayfront
area. They produced imaginative
designs for a maritime museum and
performing arts complex located on
the 32-acre FEC property. In their
view the students thought: " ... It
is in the public interest to treat the
park development as a system rath-
er than piecemeal so that all plans
will be well integrated with one an-
other...
"Biscayne Boulevard could be.
come the common factor that uni.
fies these areas rather than the
physical and psychological barrier
to park and bay usage that it is
today...
"Because the waterfront is a
major asset in Miami, access to it,
both physical and visual, must be
considered a vital Issue ...
"The issue of commercial build-
ings within the park needs to be
Considered in the context of bring-
ing equal open space into the dense
urban fabric."
The students were excited by the
action of the Miami Commission in
acquiring the FEC property, the
m1ssing link in the waterfront park
system. They perceived that now
the city edge, which Includes the
boulevard and adjacent buildings,
could be the most spectacular in the
world. They also realized that
achievement of the goal would re-
quire a larger vision than has pre-
vailed. To which I add, the Miami
Commission now has that opportu.
nity.
The Miami Herald Viewpoint 5E
Sunday, July 18, 1982 t
Let's save all'the
By'HELEN MMR
In the heat of the summer of '82
the cry goes up: "Save the Library!"
I'll drink to that, but let's expand
the toast. How about "Save All the
Libr S!"
Ti,s".rproar, the petitions to sign,
the community voices are in pursuit
of "saving" and putting to use the
building that now houses the
Miami -Dade main library, sched-
uled to vacate the premises some-
time next year.
More immediate is the need to
"save" the 24 libraries giving ser-
vices to the residents of Dade Coun-
ty at this very moment, because this
coming September, when the Metro
Commission holds budget hearings,
there is every reason to believe the
budget axe will fall on libraries.
Ever since construction began on
the new downtown main library —
designed by Philip Johnson ,and
placed In what is being called the
Culn -41 Center near the courthouse
— t f'.rst thing people have been
asking is. "What's going to haooen
Helen Muir is former chairman
and a member of the Miami -Dade
Public Library Adtrisory Board. She
organized the Friends of Miami -
Dade Public Library eight years ago
and is its president and also serves
as president of the Coconut Grove
Library Association. She wrote this
article for The Herald.
DIV View i
My View is a colltmn designed to
give South Floridians engaged in the
front lines of current issues an op-
portunity to expressi their views.
to the old building?`
Over and over it has been ex-
plained that this building belongs to
the City of Miami and the City of
Miand has been out of the library
business for a decadle. ,
Miami, planning sweeping
changes in Bayfront Park in order
to provide a view for future travel-
ers on the People Mover as it roils
along Biscayne Boulevard, has pro-
posed removing the building from
the scene altogether. Hence the pe-
titions, the citizen participation, all
commendable.
Only let's not ovierlook a library
crisis of large proportions facing
Dade citizens.
Hardly anybody wanted the main
library placed in Bayfront Park in
the first place (and, whisper, hardly
anybody had a say to the location of
the new downtown main library,
either).
That's the way of it.
But the people of Dade did have a
lot to say about the creation of the
present library system. We voted to
create it in the Decade of Progress
bond issue.
libraries
Now we are going to have to
make ourselves heard if we hope to
keep the doors open, buy the books
and materials, staff the libraries,
continue those highly successful
reading programs for children.
Because, odd as it seems, at the
same time new libraries are being
built — and even before some are
opened to the public — the funds
for operating them are being cur-
tailed.
Is this sound business procedure?
I wouldn't think so.
This is why we don't want you to
lose sight of saving all the libraries.
the ones you visit on a regular
basis, the ones serving you.
The time for protesting library
budget cuts is now, because in the
heat of September the Metro Com-
mission will be hammering out the
budget and it will be too late for re-
monstrance.
The prospects for slashing the li-
brary budget are downright scary.
Nobody questions the seriousness
of the budget problem and the eco-
nomic pinch. Cutting the budget is
painful for everyone and commis-
sioners are not Immune. Nor are
county managers.
The public has grown to expect
public libraries to be free and acces-
sible. It's an old American custom.
Well, it's time to start memorizing a
whole new set of hours for all of
Dade's libraries and going without
some of the services we have
grown to accept casually.
There is a lot at stake for those
who appreciate libraries — and for
the children learning to appreciate
them.
Here are some of the facts and
figures to consider when you are
making up your mind about wheth-
er you care to speak up for li-
braries:
What followed the cut of $1.7
million last August was a 10 per
cent reduction In library hours. Ex-
actly 79 hours were cut from 790
hours each week.
In the 1982.83 budget the library
faces a book budget cut of 25 per
cent. Considering the cost of books,
considering inflation, this amounts
to a 35 per cent cut.
Bookmobiles will be cut 40 per
cent — which means fewer stops
and some stops eliminated entirely
There are people who pay the coun-
ty tax who depend entirely on
bookmobiles.
There will be more cuts In serv-
ice hours In the year ahead if the
budget Is cut. Cutting librarian
working hours from two shifts to
one shift presents real problems. Do
they cut morning hours, used large-
ly by young mothers and school-
children. or evening hours, used by
working people and older students?
Either choice limits library access.
All at 88 positions will be "lost"
In the 1982-83 budget. Seventy po.
sitions "frozen temporarily" In
1981 by the Metro Commission are
now lost permanently.
The library has requested 18 staff
members for the grand opening of
the new main library in 1983. The
library won't get them. The trick
will be in finding money to buy fur-
niture. How do you open a big new
library, the culmination of a lot of
advance notice and hoopla, without
a staff? The library obviously needs
to hire a staff well In advance of the
opening -
These are a few library problems.
Think about them in connection
with your own personal needs —
and then the needs of the communi-
ty-
An interesting point was made
recently about the terrible destruc-
tion of the 1980 riots: Not one li-
brary was touched or defaced dur•
ing that ghastly period.
The time is now to speak up for
libraries.
___1 M. 1+* 7 ho-L / f
Lost in the Park
ISAMU Noguchi's third and latest de-
sign for the transformation of Bay -
front Park into the waterfront show-
case that Miami sorely needs is his best
yet.
The effect of his latest revision is to
de-emphasize the cold formality of his
original concept and replace it with a
park that is more casually inviting, free.
diverse, and lively. He eliminated his
proposal to focus the park around a cold
stone central amphitheater. He knocked
down his proposed earthen berms at Bis-
cayne Boulevard.
Mr. Noguchi's new design features a
more -relaxed grass amphitheater, the
kind that invites families to picnic by the
bay as they await an evening perform-
ance. Its visual focus would be a piazza
leading directly from Flagler Street, the
city's spine, through the park to the
waterfront. A spouting fountain at wa-
ter's edge would punctuate the park's
fundamental statement, that this park is
the gateway linking the people of a trop-
Ical city to their most glamorous, unify-
ing natural resource — Biscayne Bay.
Clearly Mr. Noguchl and his patrons
on the Miami City Commission are head-
ing In the right direction, but they
haven't arrived quite yet. As Herold ar-
chitecture writer Beth Dunlop observed
in a detailed critique of Mr. Noguchi's
plan last Sunday, a harmonious park
plan is great "but then, there must be
reasons to go there as well. The park
.won't work without music, entertainers,
vendors, tables, chairs, umbrellas. All of
these give this park or any park its vi-
brancy, its sense of life, its sense of secu-
rity."
The city plans W provide some of the
necessary people -attracting amenities at
an expanded Miamarina complex to be
called Bayside. Done properly, with
tasteful and appropriate design enforced
by zoning controls, this might be just the
people magnet that the park needs. But
details of just what Bayside Is to entail
remain unclear.
This absence of detailed planning is
troubling. Plenty of appealing ideas are
batted about, and some not so appealing,
but the city has not yet set forth a com-
prehensive, detailed plan for the park
system from Bayfront to Bicentennial
Park. How are all the component parts
to fit together? How is parking to be ac-
commodated? How are pedestrians going
to get past the transportation blockades
created by Biscayne Boulevard and the
expanded Port Boulevard? Until a cohe-
sive plan is offered, approval of any sin-
gle subdivision of the park system's re-
formation would be premature.
With one exception. Whatever final
plan for the park system emerges, it
should have no place for the old library
building that now obstructs Bayfront
Park. If the building can be moved in a
way both physically and financially fea-
sible, move it. If not, tear it down. .
The potential short-range usefulness
of the undistinguished building is far
outweighed by the eventual metamor-
phosis of the bayfront into Miami's ex-
citing and long-awaited focal point.
OIARIO LAS AMERICAS
Convenience of Carrying Out
the Bavfront Park Proiect in Full
As everyone knows this Thursday the Miami City
Commission will discuss the removal of the public
library building to Bayfront Park, which many
Spanish-speaking people know as "park of the
doves". That building will not be used by the library
after it moves to a new home in the downtown cultural
center that will be ready In a few months. So, the
present facilities of the library will be empty and, if
there did not exist plans to use that space as a fun-
damental part of the beautiful park whose con-
struction has been approved, it would have to be used
for something else.
The Miami City Commission must decide whether
or not the building Is to be demolished so that the
plans for the redesigned Bayfront Park can be
carried out in full. if the removal of that building Is
not approved, the new park, which has been con-
ceived by a world-famous architect and park expert,
Isamu Noguchi, would lose most of its beauty and
great part of its usefulness as a place of recreation for
the permanent and floating population of Miami. Not
carrying out in full the plans for this huge and ex-
ceptionally attractive park would - be very
detrimental for the City of Miami and for
Metropolitan Dade County where, undoutediy, there
is need for a park with the characteristics of the
proposed one..
The financial loss represented by the demolition of
the building that the Miami Public Library wHI
vacate can not be compared with the many benefits
represented by the park without this structure in its
midst. Much more will be gained than what will be
lost. Surely within a short time it will be proved bow
useful this park will be for the Miami metropolitan
area, not only for the city of Miami. The park will
command immediate national prestige and wtU
facilitate, as a gigantic outdoors stage, so to speak,
many events events and activities of International
scope that will benefit the whole community.
The construction of the new park will give ex.
traordinary impulse to Miami, making what is known
as downtown an extremely attractive place for
residents and tourists alike. And this will not only
project on the field of beauty and of spiritual en.
joyment, but it will also have positive vibrations on
the economic life of Dade County in general and of
Miami in particular.
MIAMI, f LA., IUEYES 22 Of JULIO It IN2
La Conveniencia de Ejecutar
Todo el Provecto de Bavfront Park
Como es del dominio p6blico, este joeves se deba-
tiri en el servo de Is Comisi6n Municipal de Miami el
proyecto correspondiente a la demoliclon del actual
edtficto de la bibltoteca 96blica de Miami abicado on
el "Bayfront Park", conocldo por ona graa cantid&d
de personas de habla espahola Como "parque de las
palomas . Ese edificio no seguUi slendo par& is
bibltoteca despuds que ista sea trasladada at nuevo
centro cultural que estari en servicio dentro de poco
tiempo. Es dectr, la actual plants donde fonclons esta
bibltoteca quedari vacis y, de no existir el proyeeto
de user ese es aclo pare formar parte fundamental
del bello parque cuya construccl6n ha sido aprobads,
habria que darle otro uso.
La Comisl6n Municipal de Miami tiene que decidir
st se aprueba o no el proyeeto de demoler este edificio
para que se pueds reallsar, a plenitod, la construccion
del parque dise8ado y ya aprobado en el sugar donde
hoy esti el "Bayfront Park". St no se apraeba la de•
molict6n de ese edUiclo, es evidente que el nuevo par-
que, que ha sido concebido por on arquitecto y espe•
ctallsta de Tama mundial, Isamu Noguchi, perderis
cast toda su belleza y gran park de to atWdad como
lugar de esparelmlento para Is poblacl6d permanente
y flotante de Miami. Y no ejecutar plenamente los
proyectos de ese Inmenso y excepci6nalmente atrac-
tivo parque, seria ocasionarle an gran perjuiclo a Co-
da la cludad de Miami y a la misma trey metropolita-
na del Condado de Dade, en donde bate falls, sin Lu-
gar a dudas, un parque de las caracteristicas del que
se tiene proyeetado.
Lo que representa econ6micamente la p6rdlda del
actual edtficlo que dejari vacante la bibltoteca p6bli-
ca de Miami, no puede compararse con lox mocha
beneficlos que representari el pargoe xie eta
construcci6n. Es mucho mis to que at gaw que 10 que
se pierde. Seguramente, con ei correr de porn tiempo,
se podri comprobar cuan 6ti1 serf► para el ire&
metropolitana de Miami, no solamente para is cludad
de Miami, ese parque que adqutriri de inwediaM
prestigio naclonal y que factUtari, como gigantesco
eseenarlo, por ass deeirlo, muchos eventos y activida-
des de tipo internaclonal que beneficlarin a toda to
comunidad.
La construcel6n del nuevo parque le dart un lm-
pulso extraordinarto a la ciudad de Miami, con-
vtrtiendo to que se conoce con el nombre del centro
(downtown), en un lugar samamente atractivo par&
los residentes y para los turistas. Y eso no s6lo se
reflejari en el campo de Is belieza y del recreo esphl.
tual, sino que tamblkn se proyectari positivameute
en la vide econ6mica del Condado de Dade en general
y de la cludad de Miami en particular.
14 7iZi /VZ
Charles.
Whited�0,170
Big Fight about
library site is
•
nothing new
Students design a park / 4B
,.he beauty of Miami's single greut purk
would be forever marred.
Editorial, The Miami Herald,
Nov. 29, 1949
A community battle royal over Miami's
library -in -the -park is nothing new. The
thing was born in contention.
As the City Commission girds for anoth-
er public debate today, this time over pro-
posals to tear the library down. I'm im-
pressed by the irony of history repeating
itself, in reverse.
One can almost hear the voice of 1949
Manor William Wolfarth, who was elected
that year as a stop -the -building candidate.
warning: "It may cost us something to
move it, but it's going to cost us more if we
leave it where it is."
THe fight over where to build a down-
town library took five years, from 1944 to
1949. The new facility opened in mid-1951.
Community battle lines were drawn as
never before. So thorny was the issue that
no fewer than 10 sites were studied and
debated. The entire matter was sprinkled
with "ifs."
If a local florist had not signed a new
lease on his shop two weeks before his
building was recommended as a site, and
protested heatedly, the library might have
been huilt at NE: First Avenue and Second
Street.
If then -Commissioner R.C. Gardner, the
man who proposed Bayfront Park after
two years of indecision, hadn't been so
tight-fisted with city money, it might have
gone into Dupont Plaza.
f one city commissioner hadn't missed a
crucial meeting, causing a tie vote, it
might have landed at SW First Avenue
and First Street.
It neighbors who used Lummus Park
near the Miami River hadn't raised so
much hell, it could have been built there. In
fact, the final structure was designed for
Lummus Park.
In addition to these sites, beleaguered
commissioners and the Library Board also
eyed such likely spots as the Civic Center,
the old Royal Palm Park, the YWCA's
downtown property, the Miami Country
Club and a whole block of SE Second
Street downtown.
Bayfront Park never was popular for a
library. Toe Library Board didn't like the
idea. Neither did the Planning Board.
Twice, public outcry against cluttering the
park with a building forced city commis-
sioners to back down.
Three times, the Library Board urged
the city to condemn and buy the block on
SE Second Street, between First and Sec-
ond avenues, a site now filled largely with
expressway ramps.
Miami could have bought half a block of
Dupont Plaza for $224,000. a steal by to-
day's standards. This was rejected as too
expensive.
Money, or lack of it, was the heart of the
conflict. Taxpayers paid few taxes M those
days; smart politicians tried to keep it that
way. Only city -owned land would suffice.
So sulphurous and prolonged was the
dispute, however, that several years
later student Sylvia G. Gill researched
it for her master's thesis in library science
at Western Reserve University. It's from
Gill's work that I draw most of this mate-
rial.
"To put it mildly," she noted, "everyone
In Miami had his ideas on the subject and
did not hesitate to make himself heard."
The issue finally was decided by the City
Commission unanimously in September of
1949. People were worn out, objectors
were strangely silent. Even the Library
Board capitulated.
But when workmen started driving pil-
ings in the park, things flared again. Angry
letter -writers besieged the newspapers.
Hue and cry swirled afresh into City Hall.
It amounted, editorialized The Herald, to
"civic revulsion."
But the die was cast. Besides, grumbled
builder Fred Howland, "no matter where
we put it, somebody will say it's in the
wrong place."
,�? -Co aj-
r11-(o 1�� '/1
7/s=./82 M-N.
Visit spurs students to redesign park
&V -
By BETH DUNLOP
Herold .stoft wrifrr
On their field trip to Bayfront
Park, the students who spent sum-
mer vacation studying downtown
Miami architecture were attacked
by hordes of mosquitos. Nonethe-
less, they noticed that, except for
injects, the park was empty -- and
uninteresting.
Their assignment: Redo the park
and make it better, a timely under-
taking. The Miami City Commission
will discuss the same issue at a pub-
lic hearing at 2:30 p.m. today.
i'he 27 students, ages seven to 17
and enrolled in a University of
Miami architecture program. set
forth their ideas in the form of a 20-
b,L- 40-foot scale model.
First, they renamed it Rainbow
Park (-a more inviting name") and
designed an elegant, coral -colored
archway at the foot of Flagler
Street — "to make people feel they
are welcome," said Adam Stern, 8.
ironically. the young designers'
bright Rainbow Park package bears
an uncanny resemblance in layout
and organization to the Bayfront
Park plan of a more practiced archi-
tect,lsamu Noguchi.
And when the students learned of
the debate over the fate of the Main
Library building in the park's fu-
ture, they unanimously chose to
tear it down.
The voungsters found downtown
?%,tiami's architecture intriguing and
its ambience lacking -- too few
trees. hardly a water fountain and
seldom a place to sit. Their model
1=1MOW
BAjTt4 V1:�tv Miami fieraltl Sfeft
University of Miami professors Joanna Lombard and Tom-Sp�
ode!.
' � h
remedied that with a profusion of
trees, fountains, benches and tables.
To keep up their park's rainbow
connection, the students designed
wandering multihued walkways
and even a stream meandering from
Biscayne Boulevard to a fountain by
the bay.
The budding modelers and sha-
pers were taught by assistant pro-
fessor of architecture Joanna Lom-
bard and Tom Spain. an associate
professor of architecture. They di-
vided the class so that the younger
children worked on Bayfront Park
and the older ones developed a pro-
posal for Park West, Miami's plan-
ned downtown residential redevel-
opment project.
The students' ideas are a curious
mix of sophisticated architectural
precepts — careful protection of
vistas and conscientious relation-
ships of buildings and landscaping
— and childlike whimsy. such as an
electronic game room in the park
plan and a Burger King as one of
Park West's prime restaurants.
Earlier. Lombard had taught
them some essential principles of
architecture: hierarchy, balance.
symmetry. It was in that light, that
the library building was found
wanting. "Its got much too muc
base and not enough middle or top;'
they concluded.
They put into their park's play
area an aqua -colored bathhouse and
a bright peach -colored snack bar
and designed as its centerpiece a
marvelously sculptural periwinkle-
,�lue fountain that is also a water -
slide.
The amphitheater in their park is
in a spot almost identical to the lo-
cation of the one proposed by Nogu-
chi in his plan. Theirs, of course. is
for rock concerts, not chamber
music.
lk
Charles I
Whited
New park plan
makes library
overdue to go
I've had mixed feelings about that build-
ing.
It .always seemed in the wrong place,
somehow, squatting there In the middle of
Bayfront Park at the foot of Flagler Street.
But to my family, the Miami library was
a personal thing. We took out library cards
there after arriving 20 years ago. I've spent
wonderful hours browsing In its book
stacks.
When the latest hassle developed over
the Tate of the building when the library
moves to a new home next year, my senti-
ments were on the side of preservation and
frugality.
Talks with such "Save the Library" ac-
tivists as lawyer Marshall Harris and mar-
keting man John F. Weir tended to rein-
force this, even though it put me at odds
with some of my own editors.
As Weir puts it: "Can Miami, with press-
ing social needs and limited financial re-
sources, afford to demolish a well -main-
tained, relatively new building containing
60.000 square feet of usable space?"
I was ready to holler, "Hell no!" and
sign the petition.
The issue comes up for airing this week
by the City Commission. So Tuesday 1 took
a hard look at the reason for removing the
old library building, sculptor Isamu Nogu-
chi's redesign of Bayfront Park.
Then I took a walk in the park. con-
scious of the dramatic transition now
going on in downtown Miami be-
tween yesterday and tomorrow.
The park today is overshadowed by
towering new hotel and office buildings
rising at adjoining Ball Point, the forerunn-
ners of enormous megastructures to be
built in Dupont Plaza.
The resurgence of this city's heart will
bring 5,800 new or refurbished hotel
rooms. huge office complexes, condomini-
ums, townhouse units, an urban people
mover that will be one of the most sophis-
ticated inner-city transportation systems in
the nation, and more.
And these futuristic splendors will be
fronted by a park commanding a bayview
rivaling any waterfront panorama on
earth. i .
Downtown Miami is in amazing rebirth.
The Noguchi flan for the park, more-
over — his third rendering in a sincere ef-
fort to work out the kinks and be sensitive
to critics — is splendid.
I had to admit, all things considered, that
the old library building does not belong
there. Even Marshall Harris' persuasive ar-
gument that it be used as a community
center and even a kind of bayfront "Y" an-
choring a vita exercise course isn't enough.
It s difficult to describe, in a few words.
a plan for a park. In Noguchi's view, as
outlined to me by Kitty Roidel -of the
Downtown Development Authority, it is a
concept: a very open, visually dramatic,
people park, a centerpiece for the future.
Noguchi has created such innovative
ideas as a 10,000-seat grassy amphitheater
to bring to downtown outdoor festivals,
concerts, special events.
The plan has a sweeping, 1,620-foot Bay
Walk fronted by boulder riprap spilling
Into the water, a tower of lights, an open-
air restaurant by the Rock Garden, play
areas, a pier. Noguchi places a fountain in
the midst of a huge piazza, its surging wa-
ters computer -programmed for half it
dozen configurations.
Financing for the $18.7-million project
would come from private as well as feder-
al, state and local funds. The Army Corps
of Engineers, for example, will be tapped
for $6 million worth of Bay Walk con-
struction. Developer Ted Gould reportedly
has agreed to build an outdoor theater
complex on the southern end of the park.
It is estimated that the new Noguchl
park ultimately will attract nine million
people visits per year. Future megastruc-
tures of downtown will draw 75.000 daily
to work. "Downtown will only be success-
ful," a Noguchi advocate says, "if it is fun,
viable and alive."
i walked around the old library Tuesday
and had to admit:
It never did belong there. It doesn't be-
long there tomorrow, either.
improve city`s parks
along bay and beyond
r
Now incongruous ' is for the City of Miami to contemplate
an S 18.7 million park beautification project at -its front door when
the city can't find sufficient funds to staffil and maintain the parks
located in its backyard and which are used by most of its people.
But incongruity is just another word for priority, and
emphasis, and attitude. And in Miami in 1982- it is in vogue to tear
down library buildings and give designers carte blanche to
reshape the waterfront in a manner costly enough to fund the
city's annual, but inadequate. $2 million recreation budget for
almost 10 years. That's right, 10 years.
Incongruity is as much a part of Miami as palm trees and
palmetto bugs, or killing hundreds of deer In order to save them.
Everyone Is forced to live with such inconsistencies, although we
may not like them and persistent attempts should be made to
diminish the disparity and the inequity.
The question, however, in deciding what to do about sculptor
Isamu Noguchi's elaborate plan for Bayfront Park downtown is
not whether that plan should be rejected because other city parks
and recreation programs are neglected.
it is possible. even desirable, for the city to create downtown
a showplace park of unusual vitality and activity while improving
the playgrounds that serve most Miamians: The two are not and
should not be mutually exclusive, although it's a clear and
unfortunate statement of priorities that so far the Noguchi plan
has received all the attention expected to be showered on visiting
royalty while the city's parks are viewed as peasants from the
other side of the railroad tracks.
If the city goes ahead with the NogueM plan, it should be
part of a comprehensive redevelopment of the entire downtown
waterfront area not the equivalent of one flower bad in hha ttid
should be a large garden. The reshaping of Bayfront
be blended in with a design for the FEC property, located
between Bayfront and already developed Bicentennial parks, with
fashionable new shops at the Miamarina and with a sensible
proposal for Watson island, which seems ripe as a site for a
theater of the performing arts.
Debate on the Noguchi plan in recent days has centered on
the fate of the main building of the public library which is located
in Bayfront Park and which Noguchi himself has said must be
torn down or he will take his project and go bome. The discussion
has degenerated into an either or proposition: Either the building
should stay in place and be converted Into a YMCA -operated
gymnasium, thereby jeopardizing the Noguchi plan, or it should
be torn down.
In fact, there is ample room for a compromise one suggested
by Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, and one which he should stand
by at tomorrow's city commission meeting. The library building
should be saved, and relocated, perhaps in a corner of the FEC
property where it could be used for, among other things, a badly
needed tourist center.
Although library headquarters will be shifted to a new
building in the downtown cultural center, the existing main s
library building in Bayfront Park is valuable, useful and relative
new. it would cost far less to move that building than to try to
build a comparable one anywhere else, and to tear down the
structure would be a waste in every sense.
Sadly, there are few opportunities left downtown tocreate
beautiful and functional open spaces that link the bay, the land
and the people. The one area where that opportunity exists is
along the waterfront. While it is important to enhance Miami's
natural assets downtown. It is just as important, perhaps more 3%
to improve the existing parks and recreation programs that are
supposed to nourish the bodies and souls of thousands of
Miamians.
MONDAY? JULY 19, 1982
16 THE NEW YORK TIMES AR i S i ffAINM
EW
UacDo well Medal to Noguchi for a Life
rw"%W,
Isamu Noguchl, left, the sculptor, at gathering yesterday in Peterboro, N.N. Others are. from left, Kate Lanig:
sculptor; Henry Chapin, writer and poet; Lael Wertenbaker, a writer and director of the MaeDowell Cry
BY MICHAEL BRENSON
Isamu Noguchi, the 77-year-old
Japanese -American sculptor whose
mysterious, seemingly animate
blocks of stone have helped sustain a
faith in the sacred role of art through,,
the post -World War I1 era, was
awarded the Edward MacDowell
Medal yesterday for outstanding life-
long contribution to the arts.
The medal, named after the com-
poser whose dream of an artistic com-
munity led to the foundation of Ameri-
ca's first artistic colony 75 years ago,
was presented at the MacDowell Colo-
ny, in Peterborough, N. H. • Mr.
Noguchl joins a distinguished list of
Previous medal winners that includes
Georgia O'Keeffe, Alexander Calder.
Aaron Copland, Robert Frost and last
year's winner, John Updike.
The presentation was made by Wil.
liam S. Lieberman, curator of 20th-
century art at the Metropolitan Mu-
seum of Art. In front of a crowd esti-
mated at 5,000 persons, Mr. Lieber-
man said, "Noguchi gives meaning
not only to place but to void." He
spoke of the sculptor's work as "a con-
stantly evolving ritual."
Mr. Noguchi, who is one of the best-
known living Artists, gave a short
speech of acceptance. His deceptively
simple, nonfigurative sculptures, with
their broad range of textures, Sites
and shapes, are in museum collec-
tions around the world. There are
Noguchi sculpture gardens, where
stone and earth call attention to each
other and to the surrounding environ-
ment, in Asia, North Africa. Europe
and throughout America. He has de-
signed stage sets for Martha Graham.
George Balanchine and Merce Cun-
ningham. Noguchi lamps and tables.
which evolved from his biomorphic
sculptural shapes and interest in light,
are now so much a part of daily life
that people have probably grown up
with them without knowing who con-
ceived them.
Spent Childhood in Japan
Mr. Noguchi was born in Los An-
geles in 1904. His mother was Ameri-
can, his father Japanese. He spent his
childhood in Japan, returning to the
United States when he was 13.
Mr. Noguchi has always lived in
both cultures. For some years, he has
divided his time between America and
Japan. When he is in Japan, he works
in a roofless outdoor studio he de-
signed in a "stone working village,"
on the island of Shikoku. There, he
said in his New York studio last week,
he is close to nature and concentrates
on sculpture, primarily of stone.
When he is in the United States, he
expands the lessons he learned pri-
vately in Japan into the public world.
From his studio base in Long Island
City, Queens, he oversees his commis-
sions, visiting the sites. planning the
projects, closely supervising when he
is not actually making the sculpture.
In America, he said, it "is more an or-
chestrated thing, having to call on di-
verse sorts of abilities you might have
in order to cope with" what has to be
done.
Although Mr. Noguchi tries, as he
always has, to bring the personal and
the social together, what he does pri-
vately in Japan remains his point of
orientation. "I turn down much more
than what I take." he said. "What I
take on has to be an extension of what
I do for myself ."
California Sculpture Garden
The commission most recently com-
pleted was a sculpture garden for the
South Coast Plaza Town Center in
i
Costa Mesa, Calif. Mr. Noguchi is now
involved with another California
project, a plaza for the Japanese
American Cultural enter in Los An-
geles, roughly a mile from his birth-
place in floyte Heights -
Although his link with Japan has
grown stronger with time, the way he
talks about it suggests ice must have
sensed almost from the beginning that
it was his teal homeland. When he
went to the East for the first time as
an adult, in 1930.31, he was hoping, he
said, to "find nature's reasons." It
was a return to basics, which, like his
trip to Paris and his contact with
13rancusi in 1927, would help him un-
learn "all the tricks" he had learned
from Onorio Ruotolo, the academic
sculptor with whom he studied at the
Leonardo da Vinci School in New
York.
in Japan, Mr. Noguchi made con-
tact with the earth. He studied with
the celebrated potter Uno Jinniatsp,
feeling an exhilaration in his work not.
unlike that experienced by Mir6 when
he began to make pottery with his
Spanish soil. He also became fasci-
nated with the gardens in Kyoto,
where stone and earth are insepara-
ble.
Show at Modern Helped Him
During the 1930's, when he was often
short of money, and the 40's when he
was voluntarily interned, for a year,
at a relocation camp for Japanese -
Americans in Arizona, Mr. Noguchi
began to establish a reputation. His
nonfigurative stone sculptures, with
titles like "Leda," "Cronos," "Lunar
Landscape" and "Woman," which
suggested his need for the elemental,
were exhibited in a group show at the
Museum of Modern Art and in an im-
portant one-man show at the Charles
Egan Gallery, also in New York.
With money from the Bollingen
Foundation to write a book on leisure,
Mr. Noguchi took an extended voyage
in 1950-51. He went away in part be-
cause he had begun to be successful.
Mr. Noguchi has always protected his
independence ("1'm not a joiner").
Mainly, however, he left New York be-
cause he was asking himself questions
that could not be answered in a city
where art and life remain, to him,
fragmented and artificial. He could
not answer the basic question about
sculpture, "What causes sculpture to
happen in the first place?" because
sculpture in New York was in mu-
seums, where it was, he believed, turn
out of context.
Answers in Japanese gardens
He traveled to Japan in 1949-50, and
that was a turning point. In Japanese
gardens, he found the answer to his
question about sculpture. When he
found that, he found his answer to the
larger questions. In Japanese gar-
dens, earth and stone and plants and
trees work together. Mr. Noguchi had
always loved stone. Now he under-
stood why. "Stone is the fundament of
the earth, of the universe," he said.
"It is not old or new but a primordial
element. Stone is the primary medi-
um, and nature is where it is, and na-
ture is where we have to go to experi-
ence life."
Stone, Mr. Noguchi found, is time.
"Stone breathes within nature's time
cycle. It doesn't resist entropy but is
within it. It begins before you and con-
tinues through you and goes on. Work-
ing with stone is not resisting time but
touchingit."
With Mr. Noguchi, as with Michel-
angelo, stone speaks. Direct carving
is "a process of listening," he said.
"When I'm with the stone, there is not
one second when I'm not working. I'm
so involved in doing the right thing."
He found stone his friend and his
guide. "You du what you are permit-
ted to du," he said. "The balance be-
tween yourself and the stone bias to be
almost equal. You can't presume to
overwhelm the stone. That's why I
dislike things that are forced upon the
stone. You haven't even asked the
stone."
Commission for Unesco
After his 1949:.W trip, Mr. Noguchi
began to design sculpture gardens.
His first important commision, in
19W58, was for the Unesco (United
Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization) building in
Paris. Among thi- project% he has real.
ized since are the five -acre dilly Ruse
Sculpture Garden for the Israeli Mu.
seum in Jerusalem, which hovers
over and yet is part of the desert land-
scape, and a roughly I O-acre sculpture
garden in Detroit, visited, it is esti-
mated, byy a million people on the
Fourth oa< Jtotly. .. .'
With what he learned about stone in
Japan, Mr. Nuguchi's sculpture
reached another plateau. Sure that
sculpture "had to do with ritual and
religion, things we're totally unaware
of in the art world," his work became
both more solid and more elusive. "If
i could have contributed sumething to
an awareness of living," he said when
asked if there were anything for which
he would like to be remembered, "an
awareness of this changing and this
continuity."
P3g.4�8 - DIAflI0tA5 AMENIGAS9 �u 14o uuuw
Trata de Neutralizer la'Oposicion a
que se Elimine Edif'ic'jo B'ibl'iotecaroio
Foro Rei-eladora
La foto muestra c6mo el edlficlo actual de la Biblioteca Publlca N6me-
ro Uno, en Biscayne Boulevard, bloquea Is vista de Is bahia de todo el
que est# en In calle Flagler. Con so demolicl6n, se devolverA al
'Downtown' una belleza original, que le foe arrebatada en 1951.
POR LUIS FELIPE
MARSANS
La ellminael6n del edificio
bibiiotecario de Biscayne Boule•
vard, pledra angular de on ambl-
cioso plan de renovacl6n del Area
de parques colindantes a Is bahia,
que Is Ciudad de Miami Inici6 en
1969 a un costo de mis de 40 millo-
nes de d6lares, podria frustrarse
si trlunfara Is propuesta del Ad•
ministrador y Is Comisionada del
Condado de Dade Merrett
Stlerheim y Beverly Phillips, en
el sentido de "convertirlo en ho•
garde Is YMCA y YWCA".
Pero, aunque Is idea ha des•
pertado las naturales preocupa-
clones de funcionarios municipa-
les, no parece que haya ganado
nuevos adeptos, sino fuertes criti-
cas de numerosos sectores, inclu-
yendo 'The Miami Herald', el
principal perl6dico en inglks de Is
cludad.
El prop6sito fundamental de de-
moler Is actual biblioteca, es de•
volverle a Is calle Flagler, arterla
central del 'Downtown', Is vista
de Is bahia, que fue una de sus
principales atracclones de ants-
60. Y esto son6 tan 16gico a todo el
mundo, que Is compar3ia 'Isamu
Noguchi', contratada pars, Is
construccl6n del parque, Is
suscrlbi6 Como requisito In.
dispensable.
"Pero In gente que esti ahora
en contra de que se elimine el edl-
ficio en cuestl6n, alega que vamos
a cerrar Is biblioteca, cuando en
realidad, en el momento que se
hags Is demolici6n, se tratarA so•
lamente de on edificio deshabita•
do, ya que Is biblioteca habrA sido
mudada para so nueva sede, en el
Centro de gobierno que estAn ter•
minando", expres6 a DIAR10
LAS AMERICAS Roy F. Kenzie,
director ejecutivo de Is Agencia
de Desarrollo del Centro de Is
Ciudad: 'Downtown Development
Authority'.
EI process de renovael6n co-
menz6 cuando se sprob6 one eml-
si6n de bones munlcipales, en
1"9, pars adquirir Cods In pro-
pledad que pertenecla a Is 'East
Coast.', en la continusci6n de In
lines del Ilamado 'Bayfront
Park'. frente a Is bahia de Bls-
cayne► haste to que es hoy el Par•
que del Bicentenorlo.
"Quetemos convertir en Is
puerta de enfrente de Miami, to
que he venido siendo Is parte de
atria", expuso Kenzie.
Entre ]as obras de Importancia
que Is compailia'Isamu Noguehi'
he realizado recientemente, esti
ei famoso 'Scenario', de Califor.
nia; y on parque futurists de
Detroit, que acogi6 a on mill6n de
personas, durante las 6ltimas ce.
lebraciones del Dia de Is Indepen•
dencla, el cuatro de Julio.
El proyecto que Is firma ha con-
eebido pars Is bahia Biscayne, en
el que vienen trabajando sus dise.
iladores desde hace tres ailos,
contempla Is edificaci6n de on an.
fiteatro con diez mil butacas,
sobre on monticulo, pars ac.
tuaciones artistleas.
Otro atractivo especial del plan
es un faro de lineas supermoder.
nas, equipado con rayos 'lazer',
que puede ser divisado a una
enorme distancla. En el terreno
contiguo, habri un Area de flores
naturales, y una caida de aqua
sobre rocas decorativas.
Despues que sea derrumbado el
ediftelo de la bibiloteca, el terreno
que ell& scope perteneceri a is
'Plaza Central' —haste Is misms
orills--, que "sera utilized& me•
yormente en festivales dtnicos".
Una fuente luminosa de 60 pies
de allure sera iguaimente coloca-
da en Is plaza, dentro de one Its -
made 'plscina de reflexl6n', al
costo de $200,000 d6lares, otorge-
dos per el goblerno del Estado de
Is Florida, en forma de sub•
vencl6n especial.
A su derecha, se construir[ on
anfiteatro mis pequefto, que ser-
virA de eseenarlo par& conetertos
de grupos populares y orquestas
de cimara. Y desde a ella, one
pasarele conectarA el parque con
el slstema de trinsito rAptdo de•
nominado'Peoples Mover', espe-
cialmente coneebido pars ell.
Downtown', come one adlei6o M
sistema principal.
Pero habrA otres beilas atrse-
ciones en el nuevo 'Bayfront
Park'. Pot ejemplo, su encuentro
con el mar ester& deiimitedo per
nna espeele de malee6n,
construido con ifagotes de seers
vertleales, y adoreado eon roe&B,
que stmulardn ser authatleas.
Per otra parte, ea corloso sells•
lar que el plan Inciaye is mayor
parte de los irboles y to vegets•
cl6n existences. "Estamos ago-
tando today lay posibWdades par&
conseguir nuevot tondos, y
ahorrar to mis posible, porque so•
moo consctentes de Is altusel6n
econ6mlcs actual", agreg6 Ken-
zie.
El subray6 igualmente que
"trabajamos con an cuerpo de In-
genieros federates que van a otor-
garnet dinero del goblerno
central, pars construir ei paseo
de Is bahia, sin que nos eveste".
Per so parte, Is se8orits Katie
L. Miranda, Planifleadora de De.
oarroHo Econ6mico de la misma
organizael6a, destae6 que "gists.
mos procurando con este proyec-
to, encontrar is forma de que is
gente de Miami use ei parque,
porque, realmente, &hors los 6ni.
cos que vienen son los vagabun•
dos y derelletoa".
Ei parque tendri tamblin on
area destined& a lot nilios, con
equlpos especiales pars su juego,
que serin, ademis, ornaments.
lea. Entre ellos, canalet y colum-
pios de espectaculares dise5os.
Realmente, seg6n dljo Kenzie,
Is 6blea contrariedad del plan be
surgido &hors, con to propuesta
de Stlerhelm y Phillips pars evi•
Ur Is demollel6n del edlficlo
bibtlotecarlo, "Vero eso no pole•
mos aceptarlo".
Keatle ofree16 use Berk de re -
tones "pars que sot eposga-
mos":
• 9e abolida el principle de
abrlr naevamente Is cane Plagler
baste IA bible.
• Habris any. organjtsel6a pri.
vada, dentro de an parque p6bH-
co, que debe ser per& lode el
pueblo.
* St el edlflelo se w0ka pars e1
cuidade de lot skies, el toecepto
de belieta r otilidad del parque
atria quebrantedo per cercas es-
peciales y great de eotacions-
miento de autom6viles.
"El Alealde Maurice 6'err6 be
eacrito a lot Interesades, ofre-
clindoles opelones pars reallsar
to que epos plautean, sin toner
qk perjudlear el proyecto",
expre&6 Kenzie; y termin6 diclen-
do:
"Pero el problems que piantea
esta propuesta en In opinl6a p6b11-
ca es que, aunque Merrett
Stlerheim y Beverly Phfts dl-
con que bablan nada mis que co-
me simples cludadanos, epos am,
at final, ei Adminlstrador del Con•
dads de Dade y any de sus Coml-
sionados; y eso pesa'!.
Sin embargo, todo el monde co-
noce tamblin et taterAs personal
de Ia Pbtllips en este &Banta, co-
me directors ejecutiva que es de
la YWCA. Y jqub Vasa con el Ad.
mtnistradert Baeno, &1 cabs, El es
empleade de to Pkfts.
1-04,
ODE JUNTO DE 1982
EDITORIAL vt«+e do primer* el
el
como ver at sot salir
como
&
The old
Library
;'&oa
entre las nubes". y con-
el Bettor Fine: "He-
dpi
i
mos logrado adela Bigot- d'
+
h�rrr ICI lr� � ��'�`%�t�
protos
ficativos en cl problems la
de la imagen delictiva que m
ectaba al turismo y los a
etas latinoamericanos d'
In the heart of Downtown Miami, in the large
i n que Miami ha estabi- d'
park besides Biscayne Bay, there is a building that
us problemas".
has outlived its usefulness. it is misplaced, it lacks
(
.1, - a noticias alcntadoras
architectural value and it acts as a screen that
do
i hen cirdo be-
1+ t' U. �irculando
impidcs the beautiful sight of the Bay and the park
�
so-
n fi ' n pare noso-
itself. Tltc building of the old downtown library,
t s Latinoamdrica, don- _
on Biscayne Boulevard at the bcgining*of I-lagler
1 . ' agen de Miami
Street should be razed as soon as the new library
e los atractivos ±`
es unLin
building on Flaglcr St. and 2nd. Avenue opens its
que blas agencias de
turismo,3`turismo que es
doors to the public. This new building will house
importantlaimo pare el de -
the library, and also a museum, gardens, a res-
senvolvimiento comercial y
taurant and a cafeteria.
financiero de nuestra ciu-
in the "new face" that Miami is getting, the old
dad, pero do Europa no .,
library constitutes an "eyesore". When a city is
se ha hecho la misma
propaganda, n8 ha calado en
involved in a large renovating project, buildings
la prensa curolrta la misma
without artistic or historic values shoud be de-
inventive favoraNle a nuestra
molished.
ciudad que atria tpor temo-
When Napoleon was involved in the task of
res, a Jos miles de turistas
europeos, cansadot\de dias
renovating Paris, he ordered a large number of
trios y lluviosos iy des -
buildings to be razed, in spite of some people
lumbrados ante une•`piudad
who Were pointing out the "historic" value of
de playas radiantel, con
some of those buildings. Fortunately, Napoleon
aguas ciilidas, noches estre-
did not pay heed to those voices, and today we
!lades y hoteles llenol de
un confort, aun los
can admire in Paris The Arch of Triumph, the
modestos, que complac�Ii,s
a
twelve avenues that form The "Star", and the
Jos visitantes haciindo s
bridges over the Seine.
sentir "que ha valid 1
In that manner Bayfront Park shoud be beau-
pena el viaje".
lifted according to studies that have been going
Segtn el Herald, la agen-
da noticiosa soviitica TASS,
on for several years.
—que como es natural - cri-
The Bayfront Park auditorium also shoud be
tics todo cuando se haga
razed, along with what is left of the old Amphi-
en Norteamirica, critica du -
theater.
ramente por medio del
Bayfront Park could be changed into the most
articulista soviitico Yuri
beautiful park in Miami.
Kornilov la Conferencia in -
i Let's make it happen!
temacional de Derechos Itu-
manos celebrada en Madrid.
- --Z
Espana, recientemente y en-
1st v loere-
B it io dews
tre otras cows dice que
los d fensores de Josauni-
ut
chos humanos tade
����I� deiss,psi rth4owhr
denser dispcontra i
' alborotadoresea" en Miami
_ __
y sue envian a las guardias
r' _
I&A ` %e1Vliami HeralA IMonday, dune 7,199?;000
!Ube lnmi -fferaO
No,' Mr, Manager
SLOWLY. carefully. plans have
evolved to regenerate Miami's bay -
front -park system Into the show-
case that It should be. The process has
been painstakingly thorough. At times
progress has seemed agonizingly slow.
Yet the project is too important to be
done In haste, for It entails no less than
sculpting a new face for Miami.
As a result of the debate and revision
of plans over several years, at last a vl-
sionary park design Is emerging. Why,
after to much effort and hard-won prog-
ress, Is Dade County Manager Merrett
Stlerhelm trying to ruin the plan?
Mr. Stlerhelm suddenly wants to save
the big ugly building that squats square
in the middle of Bayfront Park. It serves
now as the main branch of the county li-
brary, but the library Is going to move
soon to better quarters in the now cul-
tural complex downtown.
The county manager thinks the build.
ing would make a swell physical -fitness
center for folks, like himself. who work
downtown. He suggests that perhaps the
YMCA and the YWCA might run such a
center.
Mr. Stlerhelm stresses that he speaks
on this subject solely as a private citizen,
not with the authority of his role as
county manager. That's a nice touch, but
It's the job he holds that makes his voice
carry so much further than the average
citizen's.
And one can't help' but note that the
idea of turning the building over to the Y
coincides nicely with the thinking of the
executive director of the YWCA. Bever.
iy Phillips. Ms. Phillips just happens to
be one of Manager Stierheim's -- as dis-
tinct from Citizen Stierheim's — nine
bosses as a member of the Metro Com-
mission. Ms. Phillips thinks the old li.
brary building would be a tine Y-run
physical -fitness center and could offer
day-care services as well.
Phyalcal-fitness and day-care centers
are both worthwhile. But that old li-
brary building should go. Indeed. It
never should have been built there in the
first place. The 31-year-old building acts
as a wall separating Flagler Street, the
spine of downtown Miami. from Bis-
cayne Day. It does not blend at all with
the revised plan to convert Bayfront
Park and its neighboring open spaces
into an integrated, diverse, people -active
park system.
The decision has been made. The
building is to come down, as It should. If
Ms. Phillips wants to preside over a new
day-care center, she can build one. It Mr.
Stlerhelm wants to work out on his
lunch hour. he can join a private gym -
and -sauna club.
Bayfront Park Is destined for higher
things than to surround an old gym.
Commissioner Plummer: Well not necessarily.
Mayor Terre: Further questions?
Commissioner Plummer: That can be negotiated.
Mayor Ferre: Further discussion on this item? If not, call the roll
please.
The following motion was introduced by Commissioner Gibson, who
moved its adoption:
MOTION NO. 80-753
A MOTION OF INTENT OF THE CITY COMMISSI014 THAT
UPON TOTAL VACATION OF THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS THE .•
MIAMI PUBLIC LIBRARY, LOCATED IN BAYFRONT PARK,
THAT IT IS THE FULL IN7ENTI0N OF THE CITY COMMIS-
SION TO TRY TO REMOVE 1HE LIBRARY FROM THE PARK;
AND FURTHER STIPULATING THAT ONCE PERSONNEL FROM
METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY VACATES THE BUILDING,
THAT IT WILL NOT BE UTILIZED BY ANYBODY EVEN ON
A TEMPORARY BASIS.
Upon being seconded by Commissioner Plummer, the motion was
passed and adopted by the following votes.
AYES: Commissioner Gibson, Commissioner Plummer, Vice Mayor
Lacasa,*Mayor Ferre
NOES: Commissioner Carollo
ABSENT: None
ON ROLL CALL
Mayor Ferre: Let me explairmy vote. Most of the major structures
that are the focal points of cities wl.ether it be Saint Patricks Cathedral
or most of the great cathedrals of Europe or the parks or central
focal points in urban America, were built by demolishing other things
that were there. They were built in those particular places, because
those particular places happen to be the focal point of the city. Now,
the focal point of the City of Miami is downtown...of this community
is downtown Miami and the focal point of downtown Miami is where
Flagler Street meets Biscayne Boulevard. That is the center...that is
the spiritual center in a civic sense of our community. For us not to
have the very best indicates that we are a second rate city and a second
rate community. Now, what makes a great city? Great cities are made
because people believe in them and because there is imagination, because
there is courage, because there is an understanding of what makes a
great city. That comes not only with courage, it also comes with money
and it also coaxes with vision and wits, the ability to express that vision
graphically. We have perIpps an opportunity that very few cities have.
We have one of the great artist of thu world that is willing to do
something that will mark this as a major focal point of this community.
Now, let me put it since we live in a materialistic world, and since
we seem to worry about the dollars anti the tax payers which I think is
_ totally appropriate. Let m(• put it iri materialistic terns. If the City
of Miami had not done the Ct.nvention conference Center, Mr. Ted Gould
would not have taken an int(.rest In Miami, and would have not purchased
the property from Ed Bald and Miami Center would not be underway. With
all due respect to my good friend Mr. Bassett, I think he would have
probably taken another year or two to do his building, it this had not
ocurred, because we've been waiting for many years for the resolution
of the terrible traffic problem in the Duponte Plaza area. I've always
been under the opinion that sometimes things have got to worst before they
get better and the solution to the'traffic problem at the Duplonts
Plaza wbich is to get construction underway and the problem would be
solved. I've been telling HUD that I think for 15 years now, and I think
now we are underway. These things have a multiplier, one project influences
the other. The reason why nark Avenue in New York is developed whether it's
Q�
y2GG6
I'►s►:n C. i'►.►r�►:
July 20, 1982
I77K NAY POINT ROAD NAl' POINT N1.\!11. F1.OR11)A :131:19
The Honorable Maurice Ferre
Mayo Mayor, City of Miami
City P.O. Box 330708
Miam Miami, Florida 33133
Dear Dear Maurice,
I am
As one who has lived in Miami for 69 years, and one who
has
its
a considerable
economic, as well as a personal and nostalgic interest
in
our City, I must at this time convey to you my strong opposition
At a
to
the removal of the main library in Bay Front Park.
Bayf
I've attended some of the public (and private) meetings
and
two
the
people seem to be rather aghast at the proposal to demolish
or
As 3
remove
this beautiful building which has become a landmark or a
sort
orgi
of
"centerpiece" for the entire downtown area. It is truly the
kind
of
building that is irreplaceable in this day and time.
Whil
thot
I am very much aware that the downtown development authority
org.
has grandiose plans for Bay Front Park and that the commission engaged
a well known Japanese architact, or land planner, to design a new
espl
Park. However, since the entire park will encompass over 100 acres,
The
and since the library occupies only about one half acre, I strongly
and
urge that a plan be developed around the library, and including this
great building instead of removing or demolishing it.
as
asps
tra
I have heard your argument that the building could be cut in
pieces and removed. I submit that this is a reidiculous and un-
In
feasible solution even though it might be "possible" to do so.
Bay
Many great uses to serve the downtown area have been suggested
It
for this fine building. Nothing could be built downtown or in the
Park that would have a greater public service potential than to
g re
allow the Y.M. and Y.W.C.A. to offer""�people programs'►in the building.
to
to
If the city decides not to use it as a library,
Y y, why not let these
agencies provide services more meaningful and much more needed than
the 100 acres of wide open spaces of the Park have ever provided in
its long history to date.
Res/ tfully yours,
ed C. Flipse
CJ1 FCF:djm
cc cc: Comm. Joe Carolla, Comm. J.L Plummer, Comm. Miller Dawkins,
Y
Comm. Demetr i o Perez J0 2
_.. Mr. Ed Ellis �.
sal let
P,sal P- G ��
cent& kamI
arc
csucn ropica erden lo;v An Mutieum/Univehi fy oT Mid` I 1
7"Pafre Deva^^rent Malropol.tan M„seurrt a An Centers Museum of Sc,enre Inc Wl
t p r�dJ Inte.nal-onal Unnerslty, mem, Beacn Sr -phony Performing Arts lot Community and Education Zoological Society of Florida
F c,rn,la Pn,."al-on,C Inc Msmi Cncrsl Suc,ety Inc IP A C E )
cultural executives council ince
c/o Vizcaya, 3251 South Miami Avenue. Miami. Florida 33129
July 15, 1982
The Honorable Maurice A. Ferre
Mayor of the City of Miami
City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, Florida 33133
Dear Mayor Ferre:
I am writing to report on an action taken by the Cultural Executives Council, Inc., at
its monthly meeting on July 14.
At my request, a presentation was made to our organization on the new Noguchi plan for
Bayfront Park. The Council had gone on record as endorsing the original scheme some
two years ago, and this update was very enlightening and rewarding for everyone present.
As you know, the C.E.C. is made up of the professional directors of the 27 major art
organizations in Dade County including the performing and visual arts and sciences.
While every member was struck by the magnificent scale, subtle aesthetics and superbly
thought-out functional aspects of the new scheme, the directors of the performing arts
organizations, as the primary potential users of the outdoor theatre areas, were
especially excited about it.
The absolute necessity of the demolition of the old library was discussed once again,
and as before, there was not a single voice of opposition to it. (Speaking personally
as a historian of architecture and city planning. I see this as one of the most positive
aspects of the plan. It is rare indeed that a great city has the opportunity to undo a
tragic bricks -and -mortar mistake of another recent generation!)
In short, the Council voted unanimously and enthusiastically to endorse the new Noguchi
Bayfront Park plan and all of its attendant ramifications.
It will perhaps be the most vital step in the progress toward Miami's becoming a truly
great city, and you deserve the gratitude and commendation of every citizen for your
unwavering personal support of the project. It is sometimes hard for an emerging city
to learn to think big, and you have clearly shown us the way.
CJW:mw
cc: Board of City Commissioners
Yours sincerely,
Carl(J. Weinhardt, Jr.�l
Press ent
Cultural Executives Council, Inc.
P?-,/,a.rl P)-GG6
Serving Dade County and the Greater Maim Area
Membership is Composed of the Professional Directors of the Following Cultural Institutions
Ballet Concerto Company
Fusion twos Company Inc
mramr•Dads Community collegial
Pied Piper Players
H rss Musr„rh of Art
Greater Miami Opera Associat-on
The Gallery - North Campus
Planet Ocean
Center for the Fine Arts
Grove House Inc
Miami -Dells Community Collegial
Players State Theatre
ra,f.e M an,.
Hratoneal Association of Southern Florida
South Campus An Gallery
Ring Theatre 'University of Miami
Fairchild Tropical Garden
lows An Museum/University of Miami
Model litres Center for the Cultural Arts
Vizcaya Museum a Gardens
r,,paire Department
Metropolaar Museum A An Comers
Museum of Spence Inc
WLAN-FM-Public pad,o
c.qn� interral�onai um.ersity,
Miami Beach Srmpnony
porforml Ana for Community and Ed�calron
Zoological society of Florida
F.i,r, ja or„ orhon,c Inc
Miami Cncrai S„c.ery Inc
IP ACE 1
t
MIAMI MOTORSPORTS9 INC.
10113 SW 72nd Street • in Loftwood Village + Miami, Florida 33173
305.595-RACE (7223)
1,
JULY 16, 1989
MR. ROY KENZIE, DIRECTOR
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
ONE BISCAYNE TOWER
MIAMI, FLORIDA 33131
GEAR ROY:
I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO LET YOU KNOW THAT
h141I MOTORSPORTS, INC. FULLY SUPPORTS THE ODA'S PLANS
REGARDING BAYFRONT PARK AND THE MOVING OF THE LIBRARY.
WE FEEL THAT THE PROPOSAL BEST SERVES THE BUSINESS AND
RECREATIONAL ,NEEDS OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
WE WJEL
004CHEZ
AN TO ASSIST YOU IN THIS ENDEAVOR.
SIt,fv
PA PH .1SA
PRE DENT
RS : SCT
CC: MAURICE FERRE
CC: JOE COROLLO
CC: J. L. PLUMMER, JR.
CC: MILLER J. DAWKINS
CC: DEMETRIO PEREZ
' LATI N eU I LDI; RS ASSOCIATION, I N C
5101_S. W._8 St. • MIAM1, FLA. 33134 PHONE: (305) 446-5989
July 14, 1982
The Honorable Maurice Ferre
Mayor, City of Miami
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, F1 33133
Dear Mayor:
This letter is to inform you that the Board of Directors of the
Latin Builders Association in its meeting of July 13, 1982, voted
unanimously to recommend to the City Commission that the unused
Library Building impeding the development of the Bay Front Park
be removed.
Sincerely yours,
Lati Builder iation
Jul
Pre JCJ/e
CC:
City Commis ioners:
Joseph P1 er
Joe Carollo
Demetrio Perez
Miller Dawkins
A
PA
MCDERMOTT, WILL & EMERY
A PANTNtaSNIP INCLUDING PROrtSSIONAL CORPORATIONS
700 6RICKELL AVENUE
Rts10ENT rltMdtas Or
Tilt rLION10A •AN
Joit►.1 M. rltZ*tNALD
DAVIO P. WOOD, Jill A.
.JO«N T. seNalvta
j. MICNAtL rltfOCRALD
JAIMt$ C. MtDONALD
1, Av1Ea L. SUAREZ
CNANLCS A.INTNIAGO
,I. PATRICK rITZGCRALD
StaON G. /.IATMEWS. JR.
OSMUNOO 0• MARTINC2
Mr. Jim Gall, Chairman
Downtown YMCA Board of
100 N.E. First Avenue,
Miami, Florida 33132
Dear Mr. Gall:
MIAM1, FLORIDA 33131
305/3se-6030
July 13, 1982
Management
Suite 302
u1 WEST MONROE 6TAttt
CHICAGO, ILLINO►S 00602
312 / »2-:000
TWO CENTER PLAZA
•OSTON, ►IASSACMUStTTS CIVIC&
all / 3S7 -0200
rINST NATIONAL SANK SUILOING
SPRINGrIELD, ILLINOIS 6=VOI
Z171622->fod3
1650 K STREET, N. W.
WASNINGTON, O. C. 80006
208/667•&000
Attached unsigned and unused is the petition you sent
me regarding "saving" the downtown library. As a Director
of the Downtown Miami Business Association, a practicing
lawyer and a citizen who wishes to see the bayfront area
of -Miami developed in an intelligent manner, I am strongly
in favor of demolishing the downtown library.
Although I recognize there may be a need for a child
care center for working parents, and it would be desirable
to have a new YMCA facility in downtown Miami, I feel the
library facility is not the place for these activities since
the library occupies a strategic location in the park, pre-
sently cutting off Flagler Street from the park and bay. If
the library were located in a less prominent spot my views
would be different. However, in view of the fact that much
time and effort has been put into the renovation of the water-
front area with a master plan that will certainly enhance
Miami's continued growth, I feel the movement to keep the
library structure is ill-conceived and should be rejected
by the community. One need only to look to cities such as
Boston and Baltimore and others that have developed their
waterfront areas to see that unless a master plan is followed
the result will be an architectural and esthetic disaster
for the community.
Sincerely,
JEM:mlh
Enclosure ClJames'E. McDonald
cc: Eli Feinberg
Ron Kenzie v
The Miami Herald
Hon. Maurice Ferre �L;.. 1 '
Miami City Commissioners
Marshall S. Harris f 2
�1_G6G
10
m
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING SSQ ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILiZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SPLENDOR AND VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
General Manager Hotel
hls,.r j �(i✓
�Z-G'6'
>S 04
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING 6 ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZEDRESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY'STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SPLENDOR AND VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
Ge6&csl-Mesa"r
i
Hotel
0r2'(o6D�
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING G 2 S ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
S R AND VITALITY AN INTEI
34'
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING 1371 ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SB.LENDOR A*�V VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
I
Gene al Manager
Hotel /
r• f .w, r � . .4 _.
A
i
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING 2- 0 0 ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SPLENDOR AND VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
General Manager
I,evon K . Dayton
7/12/82
Marina Park Hotel
Hotel
i
Lo
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING 11...),00 ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW SAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SPLE04OR AND VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
General Mar)Ager
Hotel
.2 Gad
''k
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING ..�G e ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SPLENDOR AND VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
��l ti` h 'r � 1 � � 'r Nn�►���� :1t?�t�ISON'S
General Manag6r Hotel
J ;� �,31311
''WA A�
WE, DOWNTOWN HOTELIERS, REPRESENTING 'W�' ROOMS,
FULLY SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA OF A NEW BAYFRONT PARK
OF THE AMERICAS. THE CURRENT PARK IS A NEGLECTED
AND UNDERUTILIZED RESOURCE IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. IT IS
A HOME TO DERELICTS AND VAGRANTS. OUR HOTEL GUESTS
DO NOT VENTURE INTO THE PARK FOR SECURITY REASONS
AND BECAUSE IT'S IMAGE DOES NOT BECKON THEM. NOW THAT
DOWNTOWN IS BECOMING A CONFERENCE/CONVENTION DESTINATION,
IN ADDITION TO ITS CURRENT RETAIL AND BUSINESS GUESTS,
WE WILL NEED AN ATTRACTIVE AND EXCITING PUBLIC AMENITY
TO WELCOME THESE VISITORS TO OUR GREAT CITY. WE URGE
THE COMMISSION TO EXPEDITE THIS PRIORITY PROJECT, AND TO
IMPLEMENT THE PLANS BY NOGUCHI. WE COMMEND YOU FOR
HAVING THE FORESIGHT TWO YEARS AGO TO VOTE TO REMOVE
THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO HAVE THE NEW PARK.
WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAND FIRM BY THAT EARLIER
COMMITMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MIAMI DESERVES A GRAND
PARK THAT TRULY REPRESENTS THE
SPLENDO"ND VITALITY OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY.
Ge eral Manager Hotel
devel,
a
20" one biicoyne tower • MIGMI, tla. 33131- (305) $79-"75
M E M O R A N D U M
July 22, 1982
TO: The Honorable Members of the City of Miami Commission
FROM: Roy F. Kenzie
Executive Director
This package contains pertinent information for the public hearing item on the
library building and redevelopment of Bayfront Park.
° 2 letters of private commitment: Theodore B. Gould
Martin Margulies
° 9 letters of endorsement: Metro Dade Council of Arts 6 Sciences
Florida South Chapter American Institute of Arch.
Board of Directors Downtown Development Authority
The Miami Woman's Club
Cultural Executives Council, Inc.
Board of Directors Downtown Miami Business Assoc.
Miami Motorsports Inc.
Board of Directors Latin Builder's Association
James E. MacDonald
° 8 letters of endorsement from Downtown Hotels representing 3,154 rooms:
Omni International
Hyatt Regency of Miami
Pavilion
Everglades
Marina Park
Columbus
Howard Johnson's Plaza
Dallas Parc
{ ° 10 press articles on subject
Motion No. 80-753
NOLYWRL COFCPORATION
100 CNOPIN P
MIAMI, FLORIL- . 33131
HOLYWELL
July 20, 1982
Honorable Mayor Maurice Ferre
CITY CI= MIAMI
3500 Pan American Drive
P. O. Box 330708
Miami, Florida 33133
Re : BAYFI VW i'ARK
Dear klayor Ferre:
1 have recently reviewed the most current Noguchi design for
Bayfront Park and, in general, agree with the overall plans,
including the moving or removal of the existing library building.
This letter is to inform you that I am prepared to provide
the materials and to construct that portion of the Noguchi design
adjacent to Chopin Plaza in the south end of the park. However,
this commitment to provide the materials and construction is
contingent upon the City moving forward with its plans to
redevelop Bayfront Park and some modifications to the performance
Plaza at the south end of the Park, which modifications would be
subject to our mutual agreement and approval.
Sincerely,
eodore B. Gould
President
TBG/gah
xe: Joe Carollo - Vice Mayor
Camnissioner Demetrio Perez
Calmissioner J. L. 1'lutrrler
Comissioner Miller Dawkins
Roy F. Kenzie - Dawntown Developmnt Authority
M A R T I N Z. M A R G U L I ES 3 GROVE ISLE DRIVE, COCONUT GROVE, FLORIDA 33133
July 19, 1982
HAND DELIVER
Honorable Maurice A. Ferre
Mayor
The City of Miami
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, Florida
Dear Mayor Ferre:
This letter is to advise you of my intent to assist on
the Light Tower element of the Bayfront Park designed by
Noguchi. I believe it would greatly enhance the City from
local and national levels.
I would be most happy to act as General Contractor with
no charge for overhead nor profit. I have also received
assurances of donations for the reinforcing steel, the plumbing
and the use of a crane. I am working on other materials and
labor, and as soon as the working drawings are completed, I
can give you more definite information.
It is my goal to work with this great artist and see this
project realized.
Sincerely,
fra
L'l,rtin Marguli
MM/df
.ON
METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY FLORIDA
METRO•DADE
July 8, 1982
Mr. Roy F. Kenzie
Executive Director
Downtown Development Authority
One Biscayne Tower, 20th Floor
Miami, Florida 33131
Dear Roy:
COUNCIL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
200 S. MIAMI AVENUE
SUITE 281
MIAMI, FLORIDA 33130
(305) 579-4634
The following resolution was passed at the Dade County Council
of Arts and Sciences meeting held on July 7, 1982:
"In recognition of the need for a "world class" open
space park for our downtown and community; and in
recognition of the necessity for public amenities,
such as the Cultural Center, the Performing Arts
Center, and Bayfront Park's redevelopment, as essen-
tial to the quality of life of the region for visi-
tors and residents alike; and in recognition of the
fact that it is the work of the pre-eminent sculptor
and landscape architect of our times, Isamu Noguchi;
and in recognition that the artist has been working
with the community in good faith for the last three
years for a totally new park; in recognition of these
facts and others, we hereby endorse the Noguchi de-
sign for a new Bayfront Park and respectfully urge
the City Commission to implement the design they have
commissioned and that we had previously endorsed on
October 7, 1980."
Sin ely,
David A. Wollard, Chairman
Dade County Council of Arts and Sciences
DAW:njm
�4�'
aa t l.:-, r Ame ico n I nsti ate of Architect
1150 S. W. 22nd Street • Suite 18 a Miami, Florida 33129
July 15, 1982
City of Miami
Downtown Development Authority
1 Biscayne Tower
Miami, Florida
Attention: Mr. Roy Kenzy
Dear Mr. Kenzy,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for discussing the
present plans for Bayfront Park at our July 6th Board of Director's
Meeting.
A motion was made at that meeting to endorse the removal or demolition
of the old library building in Bayfront Park which would open up the
park area and link downtown to the bay again. The motion was carried
with only one opposition.
We hope you will keep us informed of the progress of the Bayfront Park
plans. If we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Sincerely,
&0
Walter B. Martinez, President
Florida South Chapter/AIA
., �? 115' 6
�• 1
RESOLUTION No. 8 2 - 5 y
A RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE BAYFRONT PARK
REDEVELOPMENT PLANS AND URGING THE CITY
COMMISSION TO TAKE THE NECESSARY ACTIONS
TO IMPLEMENT THE PLANS.
WHEREAS, the Downtown Development Authority initiated efforts to
redevelop Bayfront Park in 1979; and
WHEREAS, the City engaged the services of Isamu Noguchi in July, 1979• to
prepare the redesign of Bayfront Park; and
WHEREAS, the ODA board reviewed and endorsed the Noguchi plans which call
for the removal of the library building at its July 11, 1980, meeting; and
WHEREAS, a modified design prepared by Mr. Noguchi which also calls for
_ the removal of the library building was reviewed by the DDA Board at its
April 9, 1982, meeting; and
WHEREAS, the redevelopment of Bayfront Park is ecS.ential to downtown
revitalization efforts.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA THAT:
1. The current design for the redevelopment of Bayfront Park,
which requires the removal of the library building, is
hereby endorsed.
2. The City Commission is urged to take the necessary actions
to insure that implementation of the park redevelopment plans,
which include the removal of the library building, can
move forward.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 1 :5 day of July, 1982.
ATTEST:
Executive Mcrelvary
(RoV F. K nzie,
f ecutive Director
I.
Mayor Maurice A. Ferre,
Chairman
downtown �
MIOMIA&
business
association
RESOLUTION OF ENDORSEMENT
TO THE CITY OF MIAMI COMMISSION
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE DOWNTOWN MIAMI BUSINESS ASSOCIATION,
WHICH CONSISTS OF 200 MERCHANTS, BUSINESS, AND PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS
OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA WHICH ARE PREDOMINANTLY LOCATED ON OR ADJACENT
TO FLAGLER STREET, BY UNAMIMOUS VOTE AND SUBSEQUENT RESOLUTION AT
ITS BOARD MEETING OF JUNE 29, 1982, ENDORSES THE NOGUCHI DESIGN FOR
THE BAYFRONT PARK REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT AND SUPPORTS THE CITY
COMMISSION IN ITS EARLIER DECISION TO REMOVE THE LIBRARY STRUCTURE,
WHICH WILL SOON SIT EMPTY IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR OPEN SPACE PARK,
IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A WHOLESOME AND PLEASING ATTRACTION FOR DOWNTOWN
SHOPPERS AND VISITORS AND TO BE THE SITE OF DOWNTOWN FESTIVITIES
AND EVENTS THAT ARE SO URGENTLY NEEDED FOR CONTINUED COMMERCIAL
VITALITY.
Eli M. Feinberg, Pres' ent
one biscayne tower • suite 2099 • miami, fla. 33131 • (305) 579-6675
feel/" , l/,/,
July 22, 1982
The Honorable Maurice A. Ferre 4
Mayor of the City of Miami
City Hall - Dinner Key
Post Office Box 330708 '
Miami, Florida 33133
Re: Downtown Library Facility
Dear Mayor Ferre:
I have reviewed with great interest recent corres-
pondence directed to the YMCA -YWCA and others regarding
the Downtown Library building.
One group is in favor of retaining the present library
facility and using it for the best community purpose,
whether it be for a YMCA -YWCA fitness and testing center
and child daycare center, or for other purposes. The
second group is in favor of removing the Downtown Library
Building from the Bayfront Park in order to comply with
the overall Noguchi plan for the development of the Park.
However, it appears that the objective of both groups
is to make the Bayfront Park a "people park" and to develop
the greatest "people use" of the park, and the real question
is how can we best accomplish that result.
In this regard, it is interesting to look at the present
"people use" of the Downtown Bicentennial Park, as compared
to the Coconut Grove Vida Course Park on the Bay.
Honorable Maurice
July 22, 1982
Page Two
A. Ferre
Millions of dollars have been sjbenches,
e Bicentennial
Park; however, it appears that this ttracted many
vagrants who sleep on the grass and nd there has
also been a significant amount of crivity in the
park. In comparison, the oconut Grwhich cost
significantly less money, has ecome a vibrant and dynamic
park with full use of its Vida Course and whole families
visit and picnic in the park to observe, the activities.
It may be that the reason for the success of the Coconut
Grove Park is that it is activity -oriented, as compared to
the Bicentennial Park which is spectator -oriented. In
addition, the fact that the Coconut Grove Park attracts
such a large number of people serves as a natural deterrent
of crime and vagrancy since such activities mainly occur in
areas where there are fewer people.
Complaints have been made against the present Library
facility, in that it attracts vagrants who sleep on the
premises and even sleep at the Library tables. I cannot
conceive of that occurring if this building was converted
to a downtown YMCA -YWCA fitness and testing center and child
care center.
In addition, there is a tremendous community need for
such a facility. Thousands of men and women occupy the
present downtown office buildings and thousands will occupy
the new office buildings being constructed. These people
are within walking distance of a downtown fitness center
and child daycare center. One can imagine the tremendous
use that such a concentration of people can make of such a
downtown center, including use during the morning, noon and
evening hours. Such a center would also be available for
use by the Downtown Junior College, which presently has no
such facilities.
Honorable Maurice A.
July 22, 1982
Page Three
yq9 . � Y017
Ferre
Further, I do not see why the development of such a
downtown fitness and child care center would require the
Noguchi plan for the development of the park to be discarded.
Recent correspondence indicates that the Noguchi plan includes
the construction of restaurants, a Bay walk, and many other
facilities in the park. It would appear that a downtown
fitness and child care center could operate "hand and glove"
with the other projects proposed by Mr. Noguchi and this
would encourage a greater and greater people use of the park.
Some question has been raised as to whether there is
sufficient space in the Library building for paddle ball
courts, which are now so popular. In response, outdoor
paddle ball courts could be constructed on property ad-
joining the Library building. Such outdoor paddle ball
courts are presently being given full use in other parks
in Dade County.
In conclusion, our joint goal should be to develop the
fullest use of the park for the most number of people. The
creation of a Downtown Fitness and Training Center and child
care center in the park should help us achieve that goal in
a dynamic and activity -oriented way.
Very truly yours,
G
Paul A. Carlson
PAC: jlp
cc: Commissioner Joe Carollo
Commissioner J.L. Palmer
Commissioner Miller Dawkins
Commissioner Demetrio Perez