A piece of prime bayfront land behind AmericanAirlines Arena is being
eyed as a site for a Bay of Pigs museum -- and perhaps a parking garage.
Posted on Tue, Sep. 04, 2007
BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@MiamiHerald.com
For 11 years, the piece of valuable public bayfront land behind the
AmericanAirlines Arena has been the planning equivalent of a feint left,
a crossover dribble and a drive right -- but no basket.
The so-called Parcel B was to be a public gem: palm-ringed soccer fields
and a baywalk. Or at least that's what voters were promised when they
approved construction of the Miami Heat's basketball palace on public
bayfront land in 1996.
After years of failed development schemes, the promised new green space
on the 4.5-acre parcel seems no closer to reality.
And now plans for Parcel B may be changing again.
Today, the Miami-Dade Commission will consider ordering a feasibility
study for a new museum commemorating the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban exile
experience on the site -- a proposal some fear will lay the groundwork
for a bayfront parking garage for the Heat's arena.
Even some museum plan supporters concede the idea may face substantial
obstacles, especially at a time when a construction boom has meant more
concrete and shrinking open green space on the city's waterfront.
Still, they say it's worth spending public money -- no budget has been
set -- to study the Bay of Pigs idea.
''To tell you the truth, I don't think the Bay of Pigs museum has much
of a chance,'' said Commissioner Joe Martinez, who sponsored the
resolution for the study with Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro. 'This
is just a study. It's just, `Hey, Mr. Manager, look at it and see if
it's feasible.' ''
Barreiro did not return phone calls for comment. County Mayor Carlos
Alvarez supports the study, said his spokeswoman, Victoria Mallette.
Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez said he could not take a position on
the proposed museum without knowing more about it, but he is not opposed
to studying it. City plans for remaking Bicentennial Park -- and siting
various museums in it -- incorporate the soccer field on Parcel B, but
they're not set in stone, Hernandez said.
''The concept in general is appealing,'' Hernandez said. ``However, this
site is extremely important to the city, and you want any use on it to
be equivalent to its significance.''
The museum project is sponsored by Brigade 2506, the organization of
veterans of the failed 1961 invasion of Cuba, which marked a turning
point in the history of Miami and Cuban exiles.
The group operates a small museum in a Little Havana house. It has been
working for years on plans to establish a bigger, more expansive exhibit
space that would encompass not just the invasion but also the history of
the exile experience, from the Freedom Flights of the 1960s to the
Mariel boatlift and the rafter crisis of the 1990s, said Executive
Director William Muir Celorio.
The brigade's project committee approached the county about using Parcel
B with the idea of a long-term lease, he said. The site is appropriate
because of its proximity to the planned new art and science museums in
Bicentennial Park; the location would draw visitors to the Bay of Pigs
museum and cement its prominence, Muir said.
''You can't ask for a better site,'' he said. ``I think it's a
tremendous disservice that it has been sitting so long with everyone
arguing about it. In the meantime, we the citizens are not having the
opportunity to enjoy one of the best sites in this town.''
Muir said the group has not started raising money for the proposed
museum, and it's too early to know how much it would cost to build.
Ideally, Muir said, the museum would open in 2011, the 50th anniversary
of the invasion.
The possibility of putting the museum on Parcel B is already drawing
criticism from the Urban Environment League, a group of activists who
rallied opposition that helped block plans for a baseball stadium at
Bicentennial Park as well as Heat plans to develop Parcel B.
The league notes that Parcel B, which is zoned for a park, is one of the
last remaining opportunities for public open space on the city's bayfront.
''We are not at all against a Bay of Pigs museum,'' said league Vice
President Ernest Martin. ``We're opposed to their siting plan. We had
always supported having that site be public space.''
GARAGE OPPOSED
The environment league is especially opposed to the idea of a parking
garage on the site, which Martin contends is something that has been
pushed by the Miami Heat, whose arena suffers from a parking shortage.
''We understand the Miami Heat wants to build a two-story parking garage
and perch the museum on top,'' Martin said. ``A parking lot on the
waterfront is even more offensive than something like this museum that
would be a worthy project.''
Rob Wilson, a spokesman for the Heat's basketball operations, said
officials from the business side were unavailable Friday.
The draft resolution the County Commission will vote on directs the
manager to consult with Miami Heat Basketball Properties, the club arm
that manages the arena. It lists the possibility of underground parking
of unspecified size among other items to be studied. Those also include
provision of open space and a baywalk.
The study would be completed within 90 days.
County Manager George Burgess said he was unaware of any role by the
Heat in the museum proposal.
SELLING AN IDEA
In 1996, as the Miami Heat tried to sell voters on a controversial new
bayfront arena on public land, it issued renderings showing a waterside
park, all palm trees and green athletic fields, nestled on Parcel B
behind the proposed building.
The basketball club's TV ads, the centerpiece of a $3 million campaign
that helped tip a referendum in the Heat's favor, promised ''a safe new
waterfront park for all our families.'' But the county and the Heat
never made any attempt to build a park. The county conceded it had
failed to require it.
In December 2004, after the county regained control of the land, it held
a public workshop to come up with ideas for a park. County officials
said at the time they would move quickly.
But Burgess said they decided to await the results of the city master
plan. Some workshop participants wondered how much use a soccer field
would get on the hard-to-reach site.
''The question is, what is the best use of that waterfront long-term,
instead of just plopping down a soccer field on it?'' Burgess said.
The city plan contemplates joining Parcel B to Bicentennial Park with a
footbridge over the boat slip separating the two, but nothing has been
finalized.
Today, Parcel B sits behind a padlocked gate and a ''No Trespassing''
sign. It's covered in patchy grass and a few palms, the remnants of a
county landscaping job done for the MTV Video Music Awards at the arena
in 2004.
Miami Herald staff writer Matthew I. Pinzur contributed to this report.
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