Good news! We have received the official green light from Miami-Dade County on continuing to the next phase of New Museum design with the release of the next allotment of General Obligation Funding. In this phase, $9.35 million dollars are being released to complete schematic design of the building and begin detailed design development. This funding release was dependent on negotiations with the City of Miami for the long-term lease on the four-acre site in Museum Park (Bicentennial Park) and site remediation agreements being completed. It’s a definite sign of confidence from the County for our project and we are thankful for their invaluable support.
Interestingly enough, as CEO I often hear, “Why’s it taking so long to get agreements finalized and General Obligation Bond cash released? Wasn’t it voted on in 2004?” In short, the answer is, Yes. The GOB was voted on in 2004 and in reality, creating the legal framework for public-private partnerships is a challenge. The private sector is often working in an accelerated manner and sometimes it’s difficult to follow the Public sector’s processes and extended timelines. However, this is a major project for Miami-Dade County, the biggest public-private project of the GOB. Both the County and City continue to be very supportive. This project could certainly take much longer to complete if we did not have their support.
The important thing to note is that we continue to move ahead smoothly with completing the design of our New Museum building. We’re also keeping to our timeline and plans quite nicely. Our New Museum is shaping up to be an example of a “best practice” in energy management and design. This is all very exciting and I’m confident that this project will have a major impact on the redevelopment of Downtown Miami with its unique combination of science, aquaria, planetarium and history.
We should see a lot more progress in the coming months, so please continue to check back to read updates from my staff, design team and myself. We will all keep you abreast of the exciting milestones ahead.
Gillian
