Cutler Bay’s first mayor honored by street naming

Cutler Bay’s first mayor honored by street naming
Cutler Bay’s first mayor honored by street naming
Pictured (l-r) are Cutler Bay Mayor Ed MacDougall, John Cosgrove’s daughter Colleen, Miami- Dade County District 8 Commissioner Lynda Bell, Cutler Bay Vice Mayor Ernie Sochin, andCutler Bay Councilmember Peggy Bell.

Cutler Bay’s first mayor, the late John Cosgrove, has been honored by the town with the co-designation of a street in his name. The formal ceremony took place on July 4 during the Whispering Pines Independence Day Parade and Picnic.

Eureka Drive (SW 184th Street) between Old Cutler Road and South Dixie Highway now also will be known as “John F. Cosgrove Way.” It was formerly co-designated “Burger King Way.” The project was initiated because current Mayor Ed MacDougall, whose business office is located on Eureka Drive, thought the town’s first mayor deserved the added recognition.

The Cutler Bay Town Council unanimously passed a resolution on Nov. 20, 2013 requesting the Miami-Dade County Commission officially change the name. Because SW 184th Street is a county road, the commission’s approval was needed.

“We put in a request to the county to see if we could get that renamed John Cosgrove Way,” Mayor MacDougall said. “We had to work with Palmetto Bay because 184th Street is the dividing line, but they had no difficulty with that at all. We contacted Lynda Bell’s office staff since she’s our county commissioner.”

Bell sponsored a resolution based on the Cutler Bay resolution which highlighted Cosgrove’s 20 years in the Florida Legislature, his position on many nonprofit and advisory boards, his serving as the town’s first mayor until his death in 2006, and his work spearheading legislation that kept private insurers from pulling out of the area after Hurricane Andrew. The county commission unanimously passed the resolution on Mar. 18 of this year.

“We worked very closely with the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation for about six months to get the name changed,” MacDougall said.

The DOT may take awhile to get the new signs up, but the July 4 ceremony, which MacDougall said was mainly for the family, will not be repeated onsite once they are.

Participating in the ceremony were Mayor MacDougall; Vice Mayor Ernie Sochin; Councilmember Peggy Bell; John Cosgrove’s daughter, Colleen, and Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell.

“We presented Colleen with two signs, one that she would take home with her and one for John’s widow, Bernie,” MacDougall said.

At the ceremony Commissioner Lynda Bell said, “John’s service, generosity, and selflessness truly knew no bounds. He was an extraordinary human being who personified the meaning of public service and left a strong and lasting legacy.”

 


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