Based upon action taken at the most recent meeting of the Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association, the following letter and Resolution was sent to the Mayor and Commissioners of the City of Miami Beach:
Dear Mayor and City Commissioners:
At its meeting of April 1, 2013, the Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association returned to the matter of the naming of the Tennis Center in Flamingo Park. Following substantial review and discussion, by motion properly made and seconded, the attached Resolution was unanimously adopted, calling for the following:
The Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association hereby request that the Neighborhoods Committee consider our proposal for naming/renaming the new publicly funded tennis center in Flamingo Park as “The Flamingo Park Tennis Center” at its next available committee meeting, per City Code Section 802-503 (a)2.
We also request, to avoid any public embarrassment over this naming process to the Holtz Family or any other individuals that Staff please refrain from installing any new “name” signage on the tennis center until the City Commission has approved of and ratified a name for the new facility, per the procedures outlined in our City Code.
Attached:
Adopted Resolution
Naming -- Timeline
Additional Background Information:
In early 2012, this matter was brought to our attention by Gayle Durham and then by Aaron Sugarman. It was fully discussed at our January 2012 meeting when we adopted and forwarded the following position to the Mayor and City Commissioners:
Dear Mayor and City Commissioners:Denis Russ -- 305-672-4782 -- Denis@MiamiBeachCDC.org
At its meeting on January 9, 2012, the Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association unanimously voted in support of a proposal, pursuant to City Code section 82-503, to name the new Flamingo Park Tennis Center "The Flamingo Park Tennis Center". We request that the Neighborhood's Committee add this proposal to their agenda at their earliest convenience, pursuant to city code section 82-503 (2).
Background:
It came to the attention of FPNA that a sign was posted outside of the existing tennis center with a rendering of the new tennis center that reads Future Home of Flamingo Park Holtz Tennis Center. We feel that it is inappropriate to both re-name the tennis center without following a public process, and to move the Holtz name from the demolished stadium to a new tennis center funded wholly with public monies (not Holtz money).
City Code Section 82-503 states that "public facilities and plazas should not be named, or renamed, for living persons unless such persons are over 100 years of age unless the naming or renaming is in exchange for a monetary donation pursuant to Section 82-505."
Since the existing Flamingo Park Tennis Center was not named for Holtz in prior years, and since the new Tennis Center has not been funded by Holtz, it seems inappropriate if not in violation of the City Code to name our new tennis Center after Holtz. It may be appropriate to post a photo of the former Holtz Stadium within the tennis center on a wall, or affix a plaque to a bench on the site of the former stadium bearing his name, if the Commission wishes to continue to honor the Capital Bank funding of the original Stadium.
Miami Beach Community Development Corporation
Since 1981 -- Building & Sustaining Community -- Unique, Vibrant, Diverse
1 comments:
Neighbors may be aware of the irony of the new tennis center's placement in close proximity to the sewage pumping station on 11th Street, which spews particulate matter across Flamingo Park, the tennis center, and the surrounding neighborhood.
Post a Comment