One more trip down memory lane: the Biscayne Bayfront in the 1930s and 1940s

Mailed in 1938, a pre-development view from the old Venetian Hotel.

We found a couple more old postcards that show The Miami Herald property before The Herald built its bayfront headquarters in the early 1960s, so we thought we’d add them to the blog and create a gallery that shows different views in different years.

Your BelleIsleBlog is guilty of not being able to get enough of this….we admit it. But with The Herald leaving last week it’s 50-year headquarters last week, and portions of The Miami Herald sign coming down on Friday, and the prospect of Genting tearing the building down between now and year end, well…

So let’s look closer at what it looked like before the Knight brothers built Florida’s largest commercial building, which is what One Herald Plaza was upon completion in 1963.

Between the Venetian and County causeways (MacArthur wasn’t a hero yet)

Here’s the tightest view we’ve seen of the Venetian Hotel, as well as the Boulevard Shops (now a historic landmark on the site) and some other small structures. Click on it to check out the detail. The postcard back describes non-stop traffic on the causeways.

And here’s a look at the rest of the postcards we’ve found with the same general view.

Residences and the Venetian Hotel, undated.

More of a step back view, mailed in 1930.

1939 view of Biscayne coast, from east to west.

Contractor picked for Venetian Causeway conversion to SunPass; expect change in Fall 2014

Miami-Dade County has finally hired a firm to handle the software conversion of the Venetian and Rickenbacker causeway toll systems to SunPass, but the change won’t be in place before fall 2014.

The change will convert the causeway to SunPass or toll-by-plate payment, residents were told in a Wednesday night gathering put together by the Venetian Way Alliance, the Venetian Island Homeowner Association and the Belle Isle Residents Association.

In other words: no cash, no toll takers, no toll arms that sometimes don’t go up, and no need for a special C-Pass lane for island residents.

It’s expected to reduce backups, but many island residents worried that greater efficiency will lure more traffic to a residential roadway.

Island property owners will still be able to pass through the causeway with a $24-a-year residents’ rate; their SunPass will have to be programmed for it.

The fall 2014 target is another delay in the conversion, which at one point had been planned for Fall 2012.  But no one at Wednesday’s meeting bemoaned the delay.  Most residents expressed concern that while the switch will make the toll booth easier to pass through, it will lure more traffic.

The Miami-Dade County representatives — Mike Bauman, the chief of the causeway division at Public Works; Tony Cotarela, the interim county engineer, and Chris Rose, deputy director of administration for Miami-Dade County — repeatedly heard from residents worried about traffic increases.

Bauman said that Miami-Dade has no choice but the make this change. The old system is failing from a technical standpoint, and state law requires that any new toll system be SunPass compatible.

“We contracted with a company that has done it in other places,” Bauman said.. “The contract is to install equipment…There will not longer be cash accepted in any way. It is our plan to remove toll gates and have free flowing traffic through the toll gates.”

The contractor is Transcore LP, a company headquartered in Pennsylvania, according to Public Works spokeswoman Gayle Love. The five-year contract cost is $4 million; if the county decides to renew the four five-year  options, the total contract cost would be $12 million.

Rose said the county is considering a 25 cent increase in the $1.50 one-way causeway toll for the budget year that begns Oct. 1; residents asked for even greater toll increases to discourage additional traffic and create more revenue.

Ultimately, toll rates will be decided by the Miami-Dade Commission Rose said, not county staff or Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Other nuggets that emerged during nearly 90 minutes of discussion:

– The county expects to need to spend an estimated $110 million in 10 years to rebuild the dozen bridges that make up the causeway. Much of the money will need to come from toll revenue. So higher tolls are likely, and increased traffic volume times higher tolls (and less expense with automatic toll collection) helps pay the bill.

– The county is opening to future toll increases, and even the notion of variable tolls, like on the Interstate 95 express lanes. With variable tolls, it would cost more to cross the causeway when traffic is greater. SunPass can do that, Bauman said, adding “we would consider congestion pricing.”

– The county is likely to make the far right lane in each direction (now the C-Pass lane) into permanent bike and pedestrian lanes. That would still leave two lanes each way for SunPass, with no toll gates.

– The county will install “speedback signs” at several points on the cause that flash when drivers exceed the speed limit. The engineers believe these signs combined with enforcement do decrease speeding.

– The county said there is no data that suggests the change to automatic tolls will inrease traffic. But Bauman and Rose said the county has not done any kind of study that predicts how the change to automatic tolls will impact traffic.

This was the most contentious subject at the meeting. Residents asked that the county study the impact, and rejected the notion that the change won’t draw more cars.

Changes are coming: Sunpass, Streetscape and Alton updates

Another batch of important projects are moving forward that affect Belle Isle and our Venetian Causeway neighbors, and there are key informational meetings coming up to learn more about them:

– The Venetian Causeway will be changing over to SunPass  by year’s end, and Miami-Dade County’s Causeway Division will explain  the shift and answer questions at a meeting Tuesday, May 21.

The meeting, sponsored by the Belle Isle Residents Association, the Venetian Island Homeowners Association and the Venetian Way Alliance, starts at 7 p.m. at 1000 Venetian Way on Biscayne Island.

Expect to learn about increased security, the possibility of raising tolls for non-residents and the possibility of a lower speed limit.

– The Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition will pitch a lower speed limit for Alton Road at the June 12 Miami Beach Land Use Committee meeting, instead of May 22 as had been planned. The May meeting was canceled. The coalition hopes to make the case for a more bicycle-friendly reconstruction of Alton Road.

– On June 5, the Venetian Isle Homeowner Association has scheduled a meeting at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens so residents can get an overview of the Venetian Streetscape plan from Miami Beach’s capital improvement experts. That work — which includes new sidewalks, lights and landscaping around Rivo Alto, DiLido and San Marino islands — starts in June.

–

A look back at the Miami causeways and shoreline — before The Miami Herald

This 1930s postcard shows residences and a hotel on The Herald property

It’s a nostalgic time on the west end of the Venetian Causeway.

The Miami Herald printed its last newspapers  two weeks ago at 1 Herald Plaza, on the mainland between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways.

1939 view of downtown looking west.

Since then, office and news gathering operations have been moving to the news organization’s new home in Doral.

The final newsroom employees — and few from other departments — are scheduled to finish packing this week and all will be working in Doral by Friday afternoon.

Some time after that — it’s not clear when — property owner Genting plans to tear down The Herald building to make way for its planned resort (no, it won’t be a casino — at least not yet).

The Miami Herald in 2006.

The Herald’s been on the property for 50 some years. BelleIsleBlog has been trolling eBay again, finding old postcards that provide a view at the bayside property between the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways before The Herald built its offices and printing plant in the early 1960s. The Herald moved to One Herald Plaza from a location on South Miami Avenue in April 1963.

Another view of the Causeways, circa 1939.

The postcards show another Miami — when the port was off an undeveloped Watson Island, and the shoreline south of the MacArthur Causeway (then the County Causeway) featured huge oil tanks. Biscayne Island, the first on the way east on the Venetian Causeway, was barren, used as a landing strip.

The postcard above shows the Boulevard Shops (originally the Shrine Building when buit in 1930) on Biscayne Boulevard — and the Trinity Cathedral to the west of the Venetian Causeway entrance. Both remain, dwarfed by the city that grew up in the next 80-plus years.

Circus elephants cross the Venetian Causeway drawbridge, in 1960, with  Herald building property in background.

Construction on The Herald building began in 1961, and finished with the building opening on April 5, 1963.

Get answers to your questions about SunPass and the Venetian Causeway

The folks at Miami-Dade County’s Causeway Division have been talking about converting the toll collection system on the Venetian Causeway to SunPass for two-plus  years now.

And for just as long, residents from Belle Isle to Biscayne Island have worried that the system — though more efficient — will mean more cars and higher speed on the residential causeway that serves as a haven to runners, cyclists and residents.

In using SunPass instead of the current C-Pass transponders, island residents still would buy a $24 annual pass for the causeway, with a SunPass coded for the use. Other drivers would not longer have to pay by cash.

The most recent prediction from causeway chief Mike Bauman in January was the conversion — once anticipated in fall 2012, will happen at the end of this year.

On Tuesday, May 21, at 7 p.m., county representatives will answer questions at a forum hosted by the Venetian Way Neighborhood Alliance and sponsored jointly with the Belle Island Residents Association and Venetian Island Homeowners Association.

The meeting happens in the community room at 1000 Venetian Way on Biscayne Island, in view of the toll plaza. Among the discussion points on the table:

• Lowering the speed limit on the causeway from 30 miles
• The installation of speed feedback machines along causeway
• Toll lane narrowing
• Maintaining toll “arms”
• Higher tolls for non-residents and/or commuters
• Increased security (cameras, police, etc.)

The city of Miami Beach last week approved tag scanners and cameras for the Miami Beach portion of the causeway. The toll booth is in the city of Miami.

Miami Beach approves auto tag scanners for Venetian Causeway

The city of Miami Beach has decided to buy auto tag readers for police to use on the Venetian Causeway, The Miami Herald’s Christina Veiga reports.

The city also decided to buy a security camera to monitor the drawbridge between Belle Isle and Rivo Alto Island.

It’s something the Venetian Causeway Homeowner Association has been seeking, as Miami Beach police work with the neighborhood to combat home burglaries along the Biscayne Bay islands.

In addition, island residents were concerned about the death of a 65-year-old homeowner  who died after slow emergency response to the islands. At first, an open drawbridge was blamed for the delay, though it was learned the dispatcher took 14 minutes to put through the emergency call.

This week, Veiga reported that the 911 dispatcher who mishandled the call has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Wondering what Miami Beach plans for Memorial Day traffic and security? How to find out

The Miami Beach Police Department has scheduled something  called a “Memorial Day Symposium” to discuss traffic, security and crowd management preparations for the annual Urban Weekend.

The meeting happens at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 8 at the Miami Beach Police Department Community Room, 1100 Washington Ave.

Last year, Miami Beach police had officers on nearly every corner of the Venetian Causeway islands, with signs posted warning drivers the causeways was for locals only.

A traffic control strategy squeezed eastbound traffic from Miami to Miami Beach from three lanes to one at certain times on the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways, and license tag scanners were used to check for drivers with outstanding arrest warrants.

Police used DUI checkpoints as well.

We’ll see if the plan for 2013 is as aggressive.

“The primary goal of the Police Department during this weekend is to maintain public safety for residents and visitors and to proactively address issues….to reduce potential future problems,” according to the city email announcing Wednesday’s meeting.

Planning board considers 17th Street hotel at 5 p.m.; expect a crowd

Rendering of the hotel from the Collins Canal.

The Miami Beach Planning Board has scheduled a 5 p.m.  hearing on the proposed Marriott Residence Inn on 17th Street and West Avenue.

Expect a big crowd and a lengthy discussion.

The Finvarb Group wants to build a 116-room hotel on the property. It’s a sleek five-story hotel designed by architect Kobi Karp, with 66 parking spaces.

The property, owned by the Miami Beach Housing Authority, is tight, tucked between 17th Street and the Collins Canal, west of the apartment building that houses the Vespa store and other retail, and the Boston Market on Alton Road.

A coalition of neighborhood groups — including the Belle Isle Residents Association, the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association, Venetian Causeway Homeowners Association and six more — are asking the Planning Board to delay approval until the city can better study its impact on traffic. They have also suggested the property should be preserved as green space.

They are urging their members to show up at the meeting wearing red.

In a letter to Planning Board members, BIRA President Scott Diffenderfer said the impact of the planned West Avenue bridge, which will form the west boundary of the hotel property, needs to be considered in the plan, along with the expansion of the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Planning Board members also will hear from supporters of the project, many of whom posted comments during the weekend on BelleIsleBlog. Several praised the design and said a hotel like a Residence Inn — which caters to business travelers and longer stays — would be an amenity to residents who have friends and family visiting. They also argue that the hotel would have less impact on traffic than other businesses that could be built on the property, like a fast food restaurant or a drug store.

In its analysis of the proposal, city of Miami Beach planners recommended approving it, subject to many conditions. The on-site restaurant must be for hotel guests only. The roof-top pool must close by 11 p.m. The hotel has to provide a shuttle for employees who park off-site. And more.

The project still must be scrutinized by the Miami Beach Design Review Board.

Belle Isle leaders push for green space for 17th Street, not proposed Marriott hotel

Rendering of proposed Marriott hotel

The Belle Isle Residents Association asked 10 other neighborhood associations to join them in urging Miami Beach to use Housing Authority land north of 17th Street at West Avenue for green space, rather than sell most of it to a hotel developer.

Proposed Residence Inn site north of 17th Street

The Housing Authority has an agreement to sell about 25,000 square feet of land east of West Avenue between 17th Street and the Collins Canal to the Finvarb Group, which owns and operates several Marriott properties. Finvarb plans to build a 116-room Residence Inn on the property, and the proposal is scheduled to be heard by the Miami Beach Planning Board on April 30.

The Belle Isle Association letter, signed by BIRA president Scott Diffenderfer, argues the property is too small the accommodate the development and is too awkwardly places amid intersections on Alton Road, 17th Street, Dade Boulevard and West Avenue and therefore will result in added traffic congestion.

“Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods need to write to the Planning Board Members and City Commissioners,” Diffenderfer wrote.  “Please circulate the attached “Green Spaces-Not Traffic” document to the residents you represent and ask those who wish to support this position to do so now before the April 30 Planning Board meeting.”

The purchase of the Housing Authority land is contingent on city approval of the hotel.

On March 13, the Miami Beach City Commission relaxed parking requirements for small hotels in the city’s historic district, and added the 17th Street parking to the the more generous rules. That decision was opposed by the Belle Isle Residents Association and the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association.

So far, four neighborhood associations have signed on to the Belle Isle association initiative, according to Belle Isle board member Herb Frank: the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association, the Venetian Island Homeowner Association, Sunset Island homeowners and the Sunset Island 3 and 4 homeowners group.

Interestingly, one member of the Planning Board,  real estate analyst Charles Urstadt, is a Belle Isle association board member, and a second, architecture professor Jean-Francois LeJeune, was on the board until he resigned in March. A third, Frank Kruszewski, is the former manager of the Costa Brava condominium on Belle Isle and  lives in Sunset Harbour. (Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Kruszewski is currently the manager at Costa Brava; he no longer is).

Another Venetian curiosity: Ruby Foo’s on the Causeway

We think Ruby Foo’s closed back in the 1960s.

We know Ruby Foo’s — the Times Square Chinese restaurant and sushi bar at 49th and Broadway. It’s a Midtown landmark.

The matchbook cover.

But only recently did we learn that there used to be a Ruby Foo on the Beach — right off the Venetian Causeway, where it meets Dade Boulevard east of  Belle Isle.

First, Nine Island resident Josh Fisher turned up the old black and white photo. And then we found this matchbook cover on eBay — with the old style phone number without area code and location — at Miami Beach and the Venetian Causeway.

According to historian Seth Bramson’s 2005 book, Miami Beach, Ruby Foo’s “was a favorite for Chinese food before Thai, Indian and Vietnamese became popular. Some Beachites vaguely recall the eatery relocating to 41st Street, but in any location it is a happy memory….’