The new Senior Center at Prince Field is moving along as demolition is well under way.  You can see the old Senior Center is gone and many of the playground elements have been moved to the street side parking area.

As you’ll recall, the new playground that was installed in 2016 has been removed and will have to be re-installed as the city decided to change the configuration of the tot lot to make room for a new Parking Lot and Senior Center.  The City accepted a bid of $329,217.60 for the removal, storage, re-assembly, and new swings.  (EDITOR’S NOTE:  We hope there’s some kind of discount for the storage of of the items being held on city property.)

PROPOSED LAYOUT
Below, you’ll find the proposed layout of the new Senior Center.  The building takes up the middle of Prince Field park area south of the ball field.  A new parking lot with 13 parking spaces, two entries, and small 2 lane road are added on the east side.

You can compare the picture above with the satellite image below and you’ll immediately notice how the senior center building is no longer on the west side of the lot, but instead it’s in the middle of the property with the new parking lot on the west side.  That’s what forced the tot lot to have to be reconfigured.

MODERN LOOK

As you can see below, the new Senior Center promises to have a more modern design.  Some residents have wanted to see a more Pueblo Revival style look, but the Pueblo Revival style is more expensive to build, thus, nothing the city has recently built (except for the Curtiss Mansion) actually follows a true Pueblo Revival look.

 

As you may remember, three years ago (back in 2016) the City of Miami Springs removed the old tot lot built by the community.  The city paid an estimated $319,000 for the removal of the old wooden playground and for the installation of the new plastic playground we have today.

Now, three years later, the City of Miami Springs agreed to pay Leathers and Associates another $329,217.60 to disassemble, store and then re-assemble the playground in a new configuration to make space for the Senior Center expansion.

The City of Miami Springs also agreed to pay Leathers and Associates another $127,400 for poured in place rubber safety surface.  (EDITOR’S NOTE: We like the addition of the rubber surface to the playground, but would have liked to see some competitive bids to drive the price down.)

So how much will the city spend on the tot lot?

  • 2016 demolition and installation of new tot lot:  $319,000.00
  • 2019 removal, storage, re-assembly + new swings:  $329,217.60
  • 2019 addition of rubber flooring:  $127,400.00

TOTAL TOT LOT COST:  $775,617.60

STATE MONEY

The city has received extra funding from the State of Florida.  State Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. presented a $1,600,000 check at the Senior Center on Tuesday, May 14th for the City of Miami Springs.

According to the City of Miami Springs:

  • $850,000 will be appropriated for the new Senior Center.
  • $750,000 for the South Royal Poinciana median project
    • From East Drive to LeJeune Rd.

In case you weren’t aware, Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed the $750,000 that was slated for the South Royal Poinciana project, but the $850,000 for the Senior Center was approved.

Manny Diaz Jr presents $1.6mm Check

COUNTY MONEY

Last summer, Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa presented the City with a Million Dollars towards the new Senior Center.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  We’re thrilled to get state and county funding for the new senior center.  Frankly, we wish the city would have solicited  funding for the aquatic center to ensure we could retain an 8 lane competition pool.  Nevertheless, the city did a great job in retaining funds from the state and county to support the senior center.  We applaud everyone involved in securing the funding.  That’s still no excuse to spend $775,000 on a tot lot in the span of three years.

We welcome different points of view.  If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, email editor@miamisprings.com.  Thank you.

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