Culture Is Good: And the New MAM Will
Give Miami Lots of It
Dear Editor:
In response to Rebecca Wakefield’s column of May 17,
“Activists Can Be Annoying, But They Often Do Have a
Point,” I am pleased that she is in favor of the Museum
Park project overall, supporting the plan to take
neglected Bicentennial Park and transform it into a
useful, developed and planned park space with museums
[Wakefield, “The People Under the Park”]. Her
comments, such as calling the plans “marvelous,” are
gratifying because they show she has done her homework
and is not swayed by activists’ rhetoric.
It is ironic that the opponents of Museum Park claim
costs as a reason to delay or stop this project, citing
financial problems of other recently built projects,
while delay is what actually created the cost overruns
of those projects. Every month of delay reduces the
effective value of the public contribution by hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
Detractors of the museum also try to discredit the
artistic integrity of MAM and its collection, despite
the fact that the museum is growing the collection at a
record rate, with more than 180 pieces being added
within the last year alone.
Demonstrating MAM’s strength in the national arts
community, the New York Times recently reviewed two
different exhibitions that were on view at MAM (one of
which was organized by MAM), and the Washington Post
just ran a story on its current exhibition, “Power of
Ten.” This reflects a far from “middling-at-best”
performance.
There are many reasons why Museum Park is such an
essential piece of Miami’s future, continually serving
the people of the community. With an ongoing outreach to
schools and families, Miami Art Museum provides
educational artistic experiences now to more than 12,000
Miami-Dade children per year, many from underserved
areas, and that number will grow as the community grows
and the museum moves into its new and better-equipped
facility in Museum Park.
We all know that arts and culture are an integral part
of any major city, and these new museums in Museum Park
will be part of creating this legacy for the entire
Miami community. To quote Ms. Wakefield: “I’m
pro-culture — the more, the better.”
Michael McLane, assistant director for communications
Miami Art Museum
Park Space Is Good: And Stop Killing Our Spirit
Rebecca,
While I am appreciative that you wrote an article that
brought to light the complicated issues surrounding our
small pocket of public land, Bicentennial Park, I was
disheartened by your approach
[Wakefield, “The People Under the Park” published
May 17].
In this city, the force of cynical and aggressive energy
that is put forth by Miami citizens and visitors toward
people like us “annoying activists” is unparalleled.
While you have done well by raising awareness to the
issue, the overall tone was negative, and for those
ready to bash those adverse to Miami’s building orgy,
you just gave them a free hit.
I understand that you are trying to be witty and engage
people by playing both sides of the field, but be
sensitive. People like Steve Hagen, while maybe
overzealous, truly care about these issues that no one
else does. By bashing him in a well-respected paper,
didn’t it occur to you that you might dampen his spirit?
I consider myself to be an activist, and oftentimes
speaking up is a very difficult, nearly impossible thing
to do. That is why so few people do it. So for the sake
of inspiring potential future “annoying activists” and
truly getting across the facts of the situation without
blighted inference, I suggest you write an apology for
the ugly remarks you have made public in your article.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Carr Balfe
Miami
Park Space Is Good: But That Fact Is Lost on Miami’s
Officials
Hi Rebecca,
Enjoyed reading your column: “The People Under the
Park.” Having been a parks activist in this fight to
Save the Park, the saddest thing I have observed is the
lack of a true parks advocate on the city of Miami
Commission.
Imagine a city of Miami’s size with the least park space
per capita in the country and then witness the city give
away its premier waterfront park space to two museums.
These museums just happened to have stacked the city’s
charrette with participants so that each charrette table
had at least two advocates at it. The Marlins tried to
do the same, but their activists foolishly sat at one
table.
How can the city continue to give away prime park real
estate without replacing it with similar land? Clearly
the land at Bicentennial Park is irreplaceable, as
similar land does not exist at an affordable price. Only
developers can afford the asking price of Miami’s
waterfront property.
The museums have grand plans and deserve land somewhere,
but why must it be on the water in Bicentennial Park?
The original claims were that no one would go to the
park because there were not enough residents downtown.
Why, I ask, does Coconut Grove deserve a beautiful park
like David Kennedy Park and Overtown gets Bicentennial
Park? Could it be the constituents of Overtown have
smaller checking accounts to contribute to commission
and mayoral campaigns?
Well, the building boom has brought a whole new expanse
of residential building on the west side of Biscayne
Boulevard, so the people needing a place to walk their
dogs or commune with nature will explode in population.
Could it be that the park will finally have a new
constituency? Could be. New York City and Chicago have
invested millions of dollars on their waterfront parks,
and what has Miami done? Miami has figured out how to
give (sometimes rent) land away to museums making a land
grab, to professional sports teams and to developers of
shopping malls, e.g., Bayside.
I suggest the city develop a REAL master plan for parks,
public waterways and cultural destinations. Enough is
enough! Making these decisions about parks and public
lands with little regard for our need for more park
space and better park space is ridiculous. Miami’s
elected leaders MUST do better.
The citizens of Miami and this county deserve a great
park in downtown. There is no other land like
Bicentennial Park in this county and the American
Airlines Arena is enough of a tribute to bad uses for
waterfront land. Let’s do the right thing, Miami. I sure
hope it isn’t too late to revise the plan for
Bicentennial Park and Save the Park!
Irene Secada
Miami
Park Space Is Good: And Here’s an Idea That Will
Surely Please Museum Lovers
Dear Mr. Pedro Hernandez:
I would like to suggest an idea for the future of the
Knight Center that would also alleviate some other
current problems the city and the county are facing: the
future use of Bicentennial Park and the funding problems
of the Miami Art Museum.
Many people have spoken out in favor of preserving the
park with landscaping and a people-friendly design. The
Cooper Robertson park design will be very expensive to
implement and maintain and will put in more concrete and
structures than we should into a green park. The plan is
contrived and too formal, without playing fields, enough
benches, picnic areas, shade and other amenities that
people love and expect in public parks. Giving
expensive, precious park land over to an art museum that
already has severe fundraising problems
is short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible.
Could the art museum go into the Knight Center? As you
probably know, I have spent my professional career
working with museums in many countries, and I hope that
you will take this suggestion seriously. The Knight
Center has large rooms with uninterrupted wall space. It
is a grand design with ample stairways and other
physical amenities that would permit such an adaptation.
It is a fairly new and a solidly constructed building,
right next to a good hotel on a rise overlooking Dupont
Plaza. And adapting it for art museum use would be far
less expensive than a new building by an architect whose
fee of more than $9 million could be eliminated by using
local architects and engineers.
The Knight Center is located close to many of the new
condominiums going up, including those of Jorge Perez on
the Miami River at the mouth of Biscayne Bay. It is
close to the major roads and highways Downtown, hotels
and shopping, much closer than is Bicentennial Park. It
would cost far less to insure than would a site on
Bicentennial Park, subject to tidal waves and on
infill that has already (in the hurricane of 1926) been
flooded and remained flooded for decades.
Moreover, as well as evidencing fiscal responsibility on
the part of our city and county governments, which will
soon suffer, along with our citizens, from loss of
property tax revenues, the art museum in the Knight
Center could easily be promoted as a world-class museum,
which seems to be Mayor Manny Diaz and the museum
promoters’ idea. The Knight Center has all the
advantages of the Bicentennial Park site and avoids some
of the disadvantages, and it would cost millions of
dollars less.
I hope that you will consider this suggestion. As has
been indicated in the last few weeks in the media, at
public meetings and in correspondence, there is vehement
opposition to putting the Miami Art Museum into
Bicentennial Park. I speak for the Parks and Public
Spaces Committee of Miami Neighborhoods United, which
includes 25 neighborhood organizations and thousands of
residents. We are not “just a few people,” as the
director of the Miami Art Museum has stated. We look
forward to discussing all the alternatives with you.
Thank you and sincerely,
Judith Hancock Sandoval, co-chair, Parks and Public
Spaces Committee
Miami Neighborhoods United
The Wheels of Justice: Quite Generous to Miami
Officials
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
Hello Bonnie:
I saw the article yesterday. It was great
[“White Men Suck,” published May 17]. Thank you for
making me a part of the article and I hope that I was
helpful.
Just one correction: The Lincoln Road march last month
was organized by the Miami Beach Commission on the
Status of Women, not the Miami-Dade County Commission
for Women. These are two separate entities; one was
created by the city of Miami Beach and the other by
Miami-Dade County. The Miami Beach Commission on the
Status of Women has been organizing this march for the
past few years and they deserve all the credit in the
world.
Thanks,
Laura Morilla
Executive Director, Miami-Dade County Commission for
Women
Claiming Credit Where Credit Is Owed
Please note that the march on Lincoln Road to call
attention to pay inequity was organized by the MIAMI
BEACH COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN, not the
Miami-Dade County Commission for Women, as stated in the
article. Please print the correction. Thank you.
Jane D. Gross
Miami Beach
Is Mr. Price out of His Zoning Mind? Or Just Being
Deceitful?
Dear Vice Mayor Howard Weinberg:
We are the owners of 9572 Abbott Ave., one of the homes
proposed by Mr. Stanley Price to be rezoned for public
assembly usage
[News Briefs, “Religious Zoning,” published May 17].
I thank you and respect you for the position you have
taken in regards to opposing further intrusion into the
residential areas of Surfside. Likewise I agree with
Town Attorney Lynn M. Dannheisser that Mr. Price’s
accusations were offensive, especially in the light of
the extremely accommodating concessions Surfside has
made.
Mr. Price’s statement is very transparent and totally
insincere, making it not only offensive but also
arrogant. He is under the mistaken impression that this
will lead to achieving his clients’ goals.
Again, thank you for seeing Mr. Price’s statement in the
proper light.
Sincerely,
Pieter and Shirley Bakker
Surfside
