A few days back we took a trip to visit one of our clients listings which is for rent at 900 Biscayne and we snapped a few updated photos of what is turning into a very wonderful green space with already active Perez Art Museum and soon to open Science Museum. What started with a ground breaking ceremony back in mid to late 2009 is finally starting to blossom into the great public space that we had all hoped for the Museum Park area to become.
We updated some of the photos so that you can see how things have progressed to date.
It is official, Musuem Park Miami in downtown is scheduled to break ground as early as November of this year! A ceremonial "Green Breaking" is set for October 21 per Terence Riley, Director of Miami Art Museum. In this first phase the park will undergo environmental remediation prior to any foundation or footing being put in place.
Plans and drawings for the Herzog & de Meuron plans which are to be a model in environmental sustainability and openness. The Science Museum is also working away on their plans and both museums expect to be breaking ground sometime next year after environmental completions are done. The Museum Park Miami will truly be a world class complex.
The Historical Museum of Southern Florida will all be housed within the MAM complex.
A few days back articles were presented by both the Herald and Miami Today News regarding the continued forward push of Museum Park in Downtown Miami. What marks these articles as important and in contrast to, for instance, the Virginia Key revitalization project is that the planning council listened and delivered on its revised plans for the currently prime but derelict waterfront park. Not only did the commission get a greener and more useable community centerpiece but it also will come in at a significant cost savings over the last proposal. Originally there were also some height restrictions in place but those were also resolved giving the Museum of Science the added vertical height it will need for its structure. The two projects will be situated on about eight acres of the 30 acre park directly adjacent to the Miami Metro-mover station that will be put back in service for this project.
If you are curious here is a link that takes you to the city planning department and the PDF presentation from March of 2008 showing all the changes that were discussed.
Finally, we are getting closer to seeing some shovels hit the ground. This new park and art center will tie together the downtown Miami waterfront into a seamless web of parks, amphitheatres, shopping, Arena, Museums (Museum of Science, Historical Museum and Miami Art Museum), more park and the Arsht Center for the Performing arts.
Don't forget that right across the water on Watson Island you have the Miami Children's Museum and Parrot Jungle Island. Also, the old Chalks Airline facility and what will soon be the Shangri-La hotel, residences and Mega Marina by Flagstone Group.
Times are tough, but we keep moving forward.