2000 Fall Preservation Today News

Dade Heritage Trust

PRESERVATION TODAY NEWS Fall 2000

Volume I. Issue III

2000-2001Officen President Jeanette 1 Poole Fint Vice President

Holiday Party at Parker-designed Estate

By Dolly MacIntyre

William Murphy

Second Vice President Richard Heisenbottle Treasurer Thorn Grafton Secretary Judith Pruitt At Large Penny Lambeth George T. Neary Past President Enid C. Pinkney Trustees Antonio Alonso Patricia A. Ford Bertram l "Chico" Goldsmith John A. Hinson

Tina Lane Don MacCullough Dolly MacIntyre

Blanca Mesa Margaret Pelton Rachel Perkins Parsons Luis Penelas Neil Robertson Marie C. Stiefel Joan Thompson GeneTinnie Advison Gay Bondurant Sharon Clark Gary Held Adolfo Henriques Ruth Jacobs Sallye Jude Nancy Liebman Leslie Pantin ArvaMooreParks Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk

Janice Pryor M. Anthalie Range Norah Schaefer Don Slesnick Herb Sosa Executive Director Becky Roper Matkov

This holiday season Dade Heritage Trust will hold its annual celebration and fundraiser on December 2nd at the magnificent waterfront estate of Bunny Bastian in Gables Estates. The designer of the home, Alfred Browning Parker, will be the Guest of Honor as DHT salutes him for his work over a fifty-four year period in Florida. There will be a still photography exhibition and a continuous slide show of Mr. Parker's work, as well as a short "This Is Your Life" style presentation by owners and builders of Parker homes.

The party will begin at 7 p.m. on the grounds at 140 Arvida Parkway with a cocktail buffet with food and beverages supplied by the Board of Trustees and the generosity of Underwriters, piano and choral music, and an auction of art, antiques, travel opportunities and mystery gifts. Each member attending the party is asked to bring a handsomely wrapped mystery gift of something antique or related to historic preservation with a minimum value of $50 to be auctioned by our special guest auctioneer.

Among t he items to be auctioned are a week in a luxury apartment in Key West, a mystery dinner

party for eight, and a stay in a fantastic villa in MexICO.

The lead sponsor of the event is Northern Trust Bank with additional support from J . Poole Associates Inc. , Realtors, and The Ocean Club Key Biscayne.

This special event is $75 per person with all proceeds to be used to continue the organization's work in the preservation of architectural, cultural and environmental resources in Miami-Dade County. Volunteers are needed to help with the auction and with setting up and taking down the party on December 2nd. For information and reservations, contact Dade Heritage Trust at 305-3589572.

Miami's Historic Neighborhoods At Press Dade Heritage Trust's exciting new book, M~

ami's Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community, is "at the publisher's" at last. The book includes more than 250 beautiful pictures that have been collected from public archives and private collections exclusively for chapters wriiten by distinguished local writers and historians.

The book boasts de-

tailed historical and contemporary information on unusual local areas and resources. Edited by DHT Executive Director Becky Roper Matkov, chapters include an overview by Arva Moore Parks, The Miami River by Robert S. Carr, Spring Garden by James Broton, Overtown by Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Calle Ocho by Leslie Pantin, Coral Gables by Ellen Uguccioni, Kendall by Paul

George, Key Biscayne by Joan Gill Blank, Miami Beach by Howard Kleinberg, and many others.

Order your hardcover "coffee table" style book by calling our office, 305-3589572. ($49.95, $5.00 extra to ship.) Also, look forward to a catered book-signing party during the first weeks of Dade Heritage Days. More details and exact dates of book mailings and signing to follow.

We're on the web! VISit 118 at www,dadeheritogetrusLorg

PAGE 2

VOLUME I. ISSUE III

PRESERVATION TODAY NEWS

·................................... .

Heritage Tours Miami ·:

By Judith Pruitt A recent letter to the editor in The Miami Herald lamented that tour guides in Miami should know the facts first and listed questionable information given on tours. Dade Heritage Trust addresses that concern with its recent program called Heritage Tours Miami.

Heritage Tours Miami seeks to offer residents ·and visitors tales of early Miami through bus, walking, bicycle, and customized tours organized through Dragonfly Expeditions. Guides will be trained by Dade Heritage Trust to provide vivid but factual historical accounts visitors can depend on. Monies from the tours will go toward efforts to preserve and protect South Florida's historic resources_ Among the tours to be offered will be an overview called Miami Magic, a taste of the diversity that makes life in Miami an international experience; Coral Gables, the City Beautiful; Ghosts and Gravestones, which explores the mystery of the Miami Circle and visits the Miami City Cemetery; and the Women's Heritage Trail, which tells the stories of the women who made Miami happen.

If you have the time and commitment and want to be selected for training as a guide, call Dade Heritage Trust at 305-358-9572.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

DHT's Most Endangered Sites List .

• The Miami Circle : Florida Secretary of State Kath• erine Harris will soon appoint an advisory commission : to work on planning for the Circle.

Freedom Tower: The Jorge Mas family has begun : restoration work on the tower and plans to turn the • building into a museum of the Cuban experience.

• Lummus Park: The City of Miami has received a • matching grant of $150,000 from the State Bureau of : Historic Preservation and $150,000 of county funding to • be used for the restoration of the Wagner Homestead : and the historic Ft. Dallas Barracks.

Curtiss Mansion in Miami Springs: This restora: tion project will be partially funded by a Florida state • grant of $300,000. : The Gusman Center: A state grant of $250,000 for • historic preservation has been received by the city to be : used for decorative and historic paint and plaster re• placement and repair for the historic theater. A : $500,000 cultural facilities grant will be used for replac• ing the auditorium ceiling and adding a lighting core .

• Virginia Key: On Nov. 4th the Miami City Commis• sion unanimously approved an ordinance to create a : Trust that will replace the temporarily established Vir• ginia Key Park Civil Rights Task Force. The latter was

•

•

• : : • •

(Continued on page 3) •

Party at Stiltsville Thanks Donors and Sponsors To thank sponsors and major donors for their support, Dade Heritage Trust was delighted to be given an opportunity to have a party at Stiltsville. The Miami Springs Powerboat Club and Stiltsville owners graciously agreed to host a tour and reception at their houses on the 18th of November.

The event included travel by private boat from Matheson Hammock Park Marina for tours, discussion,

and a reception on the decks of the watery community.

Dade Heritage Trust has worked with Stiltsville owners Mike Jenks, Tom CaldweJ!, aQd board member "Chico" Goldsmith as an advocate for the preservation of the seven remaining Stiltsville structures for the benefit of Miami-Dade County.

The National Park Service plans to evict the owners on December 1, 2000 despite pleas by the owners

for an extension of their leases.

Dade Heritage Trust notes that original Stiltsville structures dated from the 1930's. The former village of bait, gambling, and night club shacks remains a valuable landmark for boaters, a venue for historic tours, and an intriguing piece of Miami-Dade County's cultural history_

Rotary Club's "Gables Promenade" to Benefit DHT Save the evening of Saturday, April 21st , 2001, for a fabulous gala event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Coral Ga bles to benefit DHT. The Gables Promenade, an evening event with progressive dinner, will tour the historic waterways of Coral Gables this year. Attendees will embark

from Matheson Hammock Marina to have dinner and a tour of a glorious historic Gables home followed by a concert in the lovely Fairchild Tropical Gardens. Artists under consideration for this year's concert include Count Basie's Orchestra, Cleo Laine, Duke Ellington or Shirley Bassey.

The Promenade is the Rotary Club's eleventh annual signat ure fundraising event. Each year a not for-profit organization is selected to benefit from the event's proceeds.

Contact DHT for fur ther information and to purchase your tickets in advance, (305) 358-9572.

VOLUME I. ISSUE III

Miami City Cemetery Restoration Success

By Penny Lambeth Many people do not know that right in downtown is the actual "old" Miami: The Miami City Cemetery at 1800 N. E. Second Avenue. The headstones and ornate crypts date back to 1896 when Miami's pioneers settled in the hardwood hammocks. The city's historically diverse community is reflected throughout the grounds. Even though the city had maintained the grounds on a basic level, the neighborhood's decline had left its mark on the cemetery. Restoration work began with Enid Pinkney and the African American Committee's Dade Heritage Trust Commemorative Service at the cemetery and evolved into the Miami City Cemetery Task Force chaired by Penny Lambeth.

Lambeth contacted area businesses and worked with city police and the NET office for months to clean up surrounding properties and prevent vandalism in the

cemetery. In September of 1997, more than one hundred volunteers armed with shovels joined Lambeth in the project.

Volunteers included attorney Steve Pearson, chairman of the Miami Beautification Committee, and representatives from the Flowering Tree Society, Trees for Dade, and Hands on Miami. Instead of digging graves, volunteers dug holes - for 1~O species of native and flowering trees.

Several people participated in monthly plant maintenance. Dedicated volunteers make periodic stops to care for the plants.

Task Force committee members continue this project with the Parks Department.

The Task Force, working with the city, lobbied for and received HUD funding ($110,000) for the construction of a new eight-foot steel picket fence, which is now installed. The city has also installed attractive lighting for security purposes.

In the past two years, there have been

DHT Produces Television Series Yvonne Moyer and DHT Executive Director Becky Roper Matkov labored to plan and co-host a series of twelve shows on DHT's Endangered Historic Sites that aired this summer on WRLN-Cable-Tap television.

Each of the twelve sites are considered valuable to the Miami-Dade community and regretably remained overlooked or neglected by many.

The 12 half-hour shows were aired during the months of June, July, and August and featured on-site filming,

·

• (Continuedfrom page 2)

: • : • : • : • : • • : • : • :

created to confront the threat of private development of the site for an "eco-campground" that would deprive citizens of public access to a significant portion of the area . The area has historic significance as a onetime segregated "Colored Beach ." A 1916 map shows a "Negro Dancing Pavilion" at the site and in the 1930's the site 10cally called "Bear Cut" was known as an African American recreational area.

Buildings now pockmarked by bullets during Police S.W.AT. Team training sessions have steadily deteriorated since the park's ownership was transferred from Dade County to the City of

PAGE 3

PRESERVATION TODAY NEWS

background information, and the current status delivered after much research. DHT would like to thank Yvonne for the time she spent organizing and planning for the series. The well-received shows are reportedly still occasionally seen on the public broqdcasting station.

But, if you ha~e missed them, the tapes are at DHT headquarters.

Stop by our office to see them and curl up for a good show!

The Task Force secured a $12,500 : Historic Preservation grant from the : State of Florida, matched by the City, which will provide for the application process to place Virginia Key on the National Register of His- : toric Places and for an archaeological. survey. Initial studies and estimates: have also begun for the stabilization • and restoration of the historic struc- : tures at the .site. Hopefully , the new· Trust will establish a more focused • mission and will carry forward the work of the former task Force and other community groups which have. devoted much time and energy to the· p~ect.

•

six major clean-up days and three more plantings. In December, 1999, Eagle Scouts scrubbed 535 veterans' markers, painted plot location markers throughout the cemetery, replaced all the water fixtures and installed bird baths. A second Eagle Scout project took place and a structure was painted, all of the trees fertilized and mulched and additional trees and bushes added. One of our wonderful committee members, Mike Mitchell, has repaired more than 60 gravestones, working mostly by himself He continues the project of repairing markers that have split and sunken through the years.

We have all worked hard and are proud that The Miami City Cemetery is becoming a treasure in our beautiful, sub-tropic city. The group continues to work with Albert 0 Ruder and the City of Miami Parks Department. This partnership between volunteers and the City of Miami is an example of cooperation and commitment toward a shared goal. Please join this effort by calling 305-358-9572.

WLRN-CABLE-TAP TV SERIES '7Javid vs. Goliath"- featuring DHT's fight to preserve historic sites.

"The Mysterious Miami Circle-What's In Its Future?"

"Protecting Our Public Parks: Can They

Be Sold?"

"The Miami River: Heritage Walks, Rel£taurants, Nightlife!"

"The Miami News/Freedom Tower: Our Newest Museum" 'Virginia Key and the Marine Stadium: Historic Site or Commercial Development?"

"Homestead and the Redland: Fumes or Farms?"

"The Gusman Cultural Center: Downtown's Neglected Jewel" "MIMO, Miami Modem Hotels: Are They Worth Saving?"

"The Lummus Park Neighborlwod: History or High-Rise?"

"The Curtiss Mansion in Miami Springs: Aviator Glenn Curtiss ' Legacy"

"South Florida's Early Bungalows" Are They Doomed to Destruction?"

VOlUME

PRESERVATION TODAY NEWS

PAGE <4

ISSUE III

Welcome to New Board Members

A Preservationist's Calendar

DID would like to welcome its new board members and wish them all the extra time in the world to devote to our projects. Patricia A. Ford brings with her the valuable experience of grant writing with the City of Miami and is currently a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Change Program at The Fielding Institute.

Antonio Alonso is Chairman of the Board and President ofHernisphere National Bank and has served on many community boards.

John A. Hinson, a longtime DID supporter, serves as President and Managing Partner of the Ocean Club Development Company and the Key Biscayne Ocean Club, Inc. Joan Thompson, an interior designer and Junior League member, chaired our DID Building Bridges Gala last spring and is chairing DID efforts with the Rotary Club on the Gables Promenade event. Chico Goldsmith, a Downtown Mainstreet property owner, Luis Penelas, a preservationist in Buena Vista, and Coral Gables resident and civic leader Marie Stiefel are other wonderful new additions to our board this year.

Dec. 2 Dade Heritage Trust Holiday Party/ Tribute to Alfred Browning Parker. Call 305·358· 9572.

Dec. 8 Villagers' Holiday House Tour : Jan . 19·21 Art Deco Weekend Feb. 8 Workshop: "When Disaster Strikes: Making a Plan"; Fort Myers, Sponsor: Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. Call 850 2248128 for details.

Feb. 24·26 Florida Trust's Insider's Tour of Delray Beach. Call 850 224 8128 for details.

March 3 Villagers' Historic Hunt and Auction March 16-May 13 Dade Heritage Days 2001 Mar.21·22 Historic Preservation Days, Tallahassee April 7 Miami Riverday April 21 Gables Promenade benefiting Dade Heritage Trust May 17·19 Florida Trust Annual Meeting, Jacksonville. Call 850 224 8128 for details.

The Doctor's CIwir is I" We would like to thank Ms. Martha Dotson for her generous donations of cut glass, antiques, and a podiatrist's chair. Please stop by and try the chair for size before our December 2nd auction. We would also like to thank John Hinson of The Ocean Club for his donation of photographer Marilyn Brown' s lovely wood framed print of the Cape Florida Lighthouse. These items will be available for auction during our Holiday Party. As a non-profit organization with no endowment, DID greatly appreciates donations of antiques, real estate, art, and bequests.

Indude yourself in Dade Heritage Days 200 I , March 16· May 13: help create an event, volunteer, attend and bring your friends!

Please remember to bring a gift to the Holiday Party for auctioning!

Office News Dade Heritage Trust has two new staff members this year who have replaced Jon Neely, who moved to Cleveland, and Deborah Tackett who is doing graduate work at Columbia University. Luis Gonzalez, Office Manager, brings management experience from the Coconut Grove Playhouse and has attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Katie P. Halloran, Special Events Coordinator, arrives with local'" knowledge as a Key West "Conch" and is a graduate of the University of Florida with degrees in Political Science and Latin American Studies.

The office is alive with new ideas and energy! The staff is always happy to hear from members and welcomes suggestions and comments.

~

Memorilll.

1--

We are saddened by the loss of John Ward Clark who was president ofDHT in 1985-86 and who was a great friend of historic preservation. Mr. Clark graced Dade Heritage Days 1999 with his Hacker' mahogany speedboat and contributed significantly to Dade Heritage Trust. We have received several gracious memorial donations and gifts in his honor and would like to thank his family and friends for remembering him and helping DID in this way. We offer our sincere condolences to his loved ones.

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION USPOSTAGE PAID MIAMI,FL PERMIT NO. 6022