Miami's Community Newspapers White Logo
More
    Home Blog Page 4891

    Residents’ ‘Green House’ attracting many visitors

    When Albert and Enid Harum-Alvarez set out to build their “Green House,” they decided they wanted something special.

    Now it has become an environmental “first” in its Continental Park neighborhood, attracting hundreds of visitors who want to learn more about “green” building and savings on their power bills. Unique construction features and conservation methods abound at almost every corner, from the home’s rare “cellar” to composting bathroom waste to fertilize fruit trees.

    The two-story, 2,300-square-foot residence overlooks a secluded Florida hammock where SW 98th Terrace reaches a dead-end, a block east of SW 82nd Avenue and only a short distance from the Dice House, Kendall’s first residence, that Harum-Alvarez helped salvage.

    The Green House faces north toward a 1,100-square-foot house, known to Kendall old-timers as the “Smoak Cottage,” where the family has continued to live during the construction of the Green House, including the couple’s three teens — Gabriel, 18, attending Miami Dade College; Giovanna, 16, a junior at Killian High School, and Marjory, 11, attending Kenwood K-8 Center.

    As history buffs, the Harum-Alvarez couple compiled a history of Kenwood Elementary, Kendall’s first school, when its PTSA celebrated the school’s 75th anniversary in 2005, then newly designated as Kenwood K-8 Center.

    Projects like that are second nature to the Harum-Alvarezes, who decided a “second” home in their tropical surroundings should reflect what pioneers discovered when building year-around homes, long before air-conditioning, by using contemporary materials to duplicate what earlier Floridians knew was needed to create cooling interiors and living comfort in a sub-tropic climate.

    “We delayed naming the new home because we wanted special name,” Harum- Alvarez told nearly 50 touring friends, business associates and inquisitive professionals concerned with preservation and “green” construction on May 4. Harum- Alvarez estimates he has hosted as many as 50 informal tours during the past two and a half years).

    “As time went on, we kept calling it the ‘Green House,’ so that became its name,” smiled the former schoolteacher turned businessman who has long treasured original Florida homesteads and their histories.

    Features built-into the Green House will doubtless comprise a book some day, including the unique ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) units creating solid walls “stronger than concrete block that also help to maintain even temperatures from summer through winter,” Harum-Alvarez said. “The interior walls also work to maintain temperatures despite fluctuations outside. We packed interior walls with scrap drywall instead of throwing the scraps out.”

    Reduced electrical costs resulted in March billing of $35 for the Green House, compared to those of typically sized homes averaging in the $200 range, he noted.

    “We re-circulate directly underground, rather than have the return unit above ground where it would be subject to 95- degree air. We recirculate air six feet below ground level where the temperature stays at 73-degrees the year around.”

    He estimated the Green House probably saves about $8,000 a year, between energy savings and windstorm insurance, over a comparable home, even without the added cost of a full solar PV array on the roof. “At a time when families don’t have money to waste, such savings are a godsend.

    That overview also led to preserving a towering 80-foot high oak that dominates the east side of the landscape, towering above a natural pool, because “the tree provides an aesthetic anchor for siting the house itself,” Harum-Alvarez continued. “It’s a vertical accent, viewed from the eastern double-door deck entry, right through the home interior.”

    The philosophy of preserving what is natural to a hammock setting extends to the Green House grounds.

    “That rubberized mulch you walk on will eventually be replaced by whatever naturally takes to the soil,” Harum- Alvarez said. “Right now, we have five different species trying to take hold. The one that wins will become permanent.” Harum-Alvarez often ends his tours by saying, “While it took two years to build the house, it’s taken seven years to get our permits.”

    He will seek Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson’s soon-tobe- vacated District Eight seat, having counted more than a dozen community organizations on which he has served, including a steering committee for Downtown Dadeland, Habitat for Humanity, Kendall Public Space Committee and a transit corridor study group, among several.

    “Miami-Dade has to make it much easier to build new or remodel existing homes,” Harum-Alvarez concluded. “With so much at risk in the face of global climate change, the county should be worldleaders in building strong and efficient housing.”

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Permanent village hall rapidly taking shape

    The new building that will become the permanent village hall for Palmetto Bay is so far along in the construction process that it’s immediately recognizable to anyone who has seen the architect’s renderings.

    Located at 9705 E. Hibiscus, on the site of the former Neighbors Supermarket, the new village hall is expected to be completed by October or November. The roof will soon be completely in place, what they call “topping out” in construction jargon, and the dome over the clock tower will be added shortly.

    “Everything is on schedule,” said Mayor Eugene P. Flinn, Jr. when interviewed on Wednesday, May 12. “Because there’s a need for work right now, the construction crews have been able to give this their undivided attention. I think that the only thing that could delay the project at this point is if a product, like windows or something else, isn’t delivered on time, or if we get any hurricanes.”

    Designed as a USBG LEED-certified Platinum building, the new village hall will be the first municipal center of its kind in Florida. The building will use solar cells to produce more than 57 percent of its needed power, will use 98 percent LED lighting and a special new air-conditioning system that is supposed to reduce the cooling load by more than 30 percent, all of which will reduce day-to-day costs.

    The building also will capture rainwater to use for flushing and irrigation purposes, using a 30,000-gallon cistern for storage, one of the largest such systems in South Florida.

    “They’re using special paver stones that allow us to collect the rain water,” Flinn said. “This is going to be a truly ‘green’ and hopefully precedent-setting example of ‘LEEDership.’ Seriously, though, I feel really good about how we’re doing on the project.

    “We’ve got the timing and price — a great price on everything — and we’re going to be doing great things with economically revitalizing that area by having a unique village hall there, and there’s the environmental aspects of the village. We’re going to show that it can be done and done quite efficiently. And the taxpayers are going to get it back in reduced operating expenses in the years ahead.”

    The new village hall, the first Palmetto Bay municipal headquarters that hasn’t borrowed or rented space for its offices, is close to S. Dixie Highway and on Franjo Road, so it’s easily accessible.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Author relishes her first book on hot dog history

    Cutler Bay resident Adrienne Sylver is on top of the world. Her first book, Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog hits the shelves this month.

    “I wrote the book in the fall of 2005. I had heard the story on National Public Radio, talking about how Americans eat two billion hot dogs in the month of July,” Sylver said. “That got me thinking, wow, that’s just a crazy number. I thought about kids and who doesn’t like hot dogs. I started doing some research. It seemed that everything I looked at was more interesting than the last.” Her research even turned up that hot dogs were eaten in space during the Apollo 11 trip, the first time man walked on the moon.

    While researching and writing the book was quick, the road to publication wasn’t. Sylver met an editor from Dutton Children’s Books at a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference a few months later and he told her to send him the book.

    She already had sent out a few queries to publishing companies to gauge interest in the manuscript.

    “There was one very small publishing company that liked it and had it under consideration when I sent it to Mark [McVeigh],” she said. “When I met him and told him about it, he said, ‘wouldn’t you rather publish with a big publishing company.’”

    So she wrote the small company to withdraw it from consideration. There may have been times when she wasn’t sure if she had done the right thing, because the publication process stalled. It took almost a year before the editor came back with a formal offer. The initial editing process was quick, but the search for just the right illustrator was lengthy.

    “I think I’m lucky to be paired with Elwood Smith. His illustrations are fun,” she said. “Every time I flip the page, there is something new every time you look through it.” Just when it seemed all systems were go, the editor left to go to a new publishing house. The result was like starting all over again.

    “I had a new editor who wanted me to make the book much shorter, which I did. Then they said they wanted the book to be longer with more fun facts. I did more research found out more fun little things,” Sylver said. “I broadened the scope a little bit. There is a page I talk about how a hot dog is a staple at a baseball game in America. We went into how if you went to a baseball game, what you would have there. It talks about other countries, other cultures. It adds some more appeal.”

    That appeal has resulted in good reviews across the board, which makes the book viable for schools and libraries. It also can be found in local bookstores and online.

    Sylver will have her first signing at Books and Books, 265 Aragon Ave. in Coral Gables on May 22 at 11 a.m. Naturally hot dogs are on the menu. She also will sign on June 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 12405 N. Kendall Dr.

    Sylver is giving away autographed copies of Hot Diggity Dog on her website at < www.adriennesylver.com >

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Village partners with local firm to put businesses ‘on the map’

    Palmetto Bay is in the early stages of developing the premier edition of a colorful, fold-out village map to be distributed within the municipality and at other strategic points throughout South-Dade in early 2010.

    Business advertisers currently are being invited to participate as only about 35 preferential display-ad slots are available per year.

    This program is the cornerstone of the village’s promotion of businesses and attractions in Palmetto Bay, thereby literally putting Palmetto Bay “on the map” for use by local residents and visitors to South Florida.

    By partnering with a firm called Miami Maps, more than 75,000 maps will be produced and updated annually, partly in a “green” attempt to encourage residents to buy locally (whereby reducing their carbon footprint), but also to set the stage for the wave of anticipated development in Palmetto Bay’s emerging downtown district and northward along the US1 commercial corridor Miami Maps has produced this valuable marketing tool for several other South Florida communities during the past 20 years. Miami Maps currently produces maps for Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne and Brickell. Merchants located in Palmetto Bay will receive a free standard listing inside the map. Visit < www.miamimaps.com > for an example of these informative and useful maps.

    Maps are distributed throughout the year to local businesses and residents, stores, restaurants, Village Hall, hotel concierge desks, the Deering Estate at Cutler, and many more locations. The maps also will be available at village events and will be mailed to all residences located within the village.

    Merchants and business owners wishing to participate should contact Alex Schreer at 305- 962-2727 or Marshall Steingold at 305-710- 2720, via email at < as@miamimaps.com > or < ms@miamimaps.com >, or visit Miami Maps on the Web. Display advertising is available. Join other businesses and become a part of an excellent way to promote your business — and our wonderful community.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Tile painting enhances building in Pinecrest’s Coral Pines Park

    Kendall resident Dimitrios Gulbalis recently donated a tile painting, titled Birds of the Everglades, to the Village of Pinecrest.

    “There are areas in Pinecrest that need something,” Gulbalis said. “My main thing for the donation is to make it look nice.” He saw a need to enhance the exterior of the recreation building at Coral Pines Park, 6955 SW 104 St.

    “It’s a building that they rent for activities and parties. It’s like a community center,” he said.

    He saw the donation as an opportunity to do something for the village. So he talked to someone who knows the mayor.

    “She contacted her. I meet with the mayor; they liked the idea,” he said. “I tried to talk to them first before I do anything. When I know what they like, I sketch it out.”

    Gulbalis did sample sketches and they chose the one they liked best. He had to make some minor changes to their favorite sketch because village officials wanted the mammals taken out.

    “It was a fox and a raccoon,” he said. “There were empty spaces so I had to reorganize the whole thing. I put a spoonbill in the space, blue herons, white herons and spoonbills.”

    That wasn’t a problem since a lot of his paintings are of birds.

    “I do the sketching on the computer but the sample I do in tile,” he said. The sample was 19 inches by 24 inches. The finished painting is five feet tall by 12 feet wide.

    It took almost two months to complete the project because he did a sample section of the tile painting first.

    “I wanted to do that before I did the larger,” he said, adding that it is important that he sees what the painting looks like on tile before he does the whole thing. Also, the Pinecrest officials wanted to see what it would look like before it became a permanent fixture in the park.

    Once the officials agreed on the painting, he went on to complete the project. “I painted the tiles; I fired the tiles; then I transported them and glazed them myself,” he said. “They are fired tiles. They go into a kiln after the painting with a glaze.”

    He fired the tiles in sections to make sure the colors matched after each firing. Once the tiles were prepared, he needed to adhere them to the building. He used regular mastic to affix the six- by six-inch tiles to the building.

    The advantage of the tile painting is that it is permanent.

    “No one will have to do anything about it because it’s outdoor tile. Nothing will happen to it,” he said.

    Pinecrest officials were quite happy with the final product, enough so that they held an unveiling and gave him a plaque. Now he would like to do more donations and beautify more of South Miami-Dade. He already has murals at Homestead Animal Hospital and Trimline Kitchens.

    To see more of Gulbalis’ artwork, go online to < www.artbyDG.com > and < www.customcreativetiles.com >.

    Hundreds shrug off storms to walk for family, friends

    More than 400 participants braved wind and rain during the recent Epilepsy Foundation of Florida (EFOF) walk-a-thon at Tropical Park to raise awareness and support to help South Floridians suffering with epilepsy.

    Although walkers were soaked by passing showers and brisk winds they made the 2.5-mile trip to raise funds for EFOF programs that serve thousands of community members who struggle every day with seizure disorders.

    “We are extremely proud and appreciative that so many community members came out on such a sloppy day,” said Karen Basha Egozi, EFOF CEO. “It’s a real tribute that they recognize the need to help and serve many in our community diagnosed with epilepsy.

    The annual event, which raised $70,000 this year, also was supported generously by sponsors AirTran, Lundbeck, Nevada Orchestra Show, PC Depot, Steve and Donna Feig, Feldenkreis Family Foundation, and others.

    All proceeds will go toward EFOF services such as direct medical and neuropsychological services, advocacy and counseling, education, prevention and more in South Florida. Based in the Dadeland area, EFOF also serves communities throughout Florida.

    For more information on upcoming events and/or EFOF services, call 1-800- 940-6515 or visit online at < www.epilepsyfla.org >.

    Tour of Gables 5K looks to top 900-runner mark

    The Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce will host its 15th annual Baptist Health Tour of the Gables 5K on Saturday, May 22. The race, which attracted 900 runners last year, takes participants on a beautiful tour through scenic areas of Coral Gables, beginning and ending at the historic Coral Gables City Hall, located on the corner of Le Jeune Road and Miracle Mile, right in the heart of Coral Gables.

    The 15th Annual Baptist Health Tour of the Gables 5K, which is a USATF and RCCA certified course, will have staggered start times for the 5K wheelchair, 5K run and 5K walk.

    All members and friends of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce are welcome to participate in this event designed for the entire family. Children under age 18 also are encouraged to register.

    The first 900 participants who register will also receive a race packet, which includes a guaranteed custom T-shirt. Awards will be given to the run and walk winners — overall male and female. Medals will be awarded to the top three in each age group. The company with the most participants will receive the coveted Chairman’s Cup, so build up your team and join the race.

    Come early, even if you are not taking part in the race, and cheer on all who participate. Free parking is available at the parking garage on Andalusia Avenue, close to Le Jeune Rd.

    The cost for participating is: cash or check, $25, before event day, $15 for those under 18. It will be $35, and $20 for runners under 18 on Race Day.

    Participants can register online at <www.footworksmiami.com>. The 15th Annual Baptist Health Tour of the Gables 5K would not be possible without the generous contributions from sponsors: Baptist Health South Florida, BUNGE, City of Coral Gables, Mercedes- Benz of Coral Gables, and Victoria & Associates Career Services.

    For information on sponsorships, contact senior events manager Erica Dominguez at < edominguez@coralgableschamber.org > or call 305-446- 1657.

    The Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce is a 1,500-member, not-forprofit business association with a mission “to foster and enhance the economic interests and quality of life in the Coral Gables community.”

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Spence: Distinguished career in field of law

    J.B. Spence, a practicing attorney for the past 59 years, was inducted into the Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame on Apr. 24 at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. This was an honor bestowed upon only four other lawyers this year and is the culmination of a most distinguished career.

    A native of Arkansas, Spence grew up in Tallahassee before joining the U.S. Navy during World War II and bravely serving six years in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters.

    Taking advantage of the GI Bill following the war, Spence moved to Miami to attend and graduate summa cum laude from the University Miami School of Law. After graduation, he tackled public service as assistant attorney general of the State of Florida under the Hon. Richard W. Erwin, who later became Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

    In 1967, Spence founded the law firm of Spence, Payne & Masington and that same year won the first million-dollar-plus verdict in Florida. Amazingly, Spence now has more than $100 million verdicts to his credit, has argued before the Supreme Court of the United States, served on the Constitution Revision Committee, Florida Judicial Nominating Committee and even authored the book, Final Argument.

    Now, at Leeds Colby Paris Spence Hoffman & Valori, Spence continues to litigate medical malpractice and premises liability cases. He serves as partner and, using his vast experience with aircraft and airline disasters — including such cases as the ValuJet, Eastern Airlines, Arrow Airways and National Airlines cases — he continues to fight for high-dollar amounts for his clients.

    He has taught at the University of Miami as an adjunct professor of law, served as president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers and is the 2001 recipient of the prestigious Al Cone Award.

    While his accolades are too numerous to mention, his outreach to the community is evidenced by the organizations in which he has served.

    He has been President of both the Dade County Bar Association and the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. Spence also was a member of the board of governors of the Florida Bar for six terms, and belongs to the American Bar Association, Association of Trial Lawyers of America (serving as Chairman of the Medical Malpractice Committee), Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, Law Science Academy, New York Association of Trial Lawyers, California Association of Trial Lawyers, and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.

    He also is a member of the Rotary Club of Coral Gables.

    Spence’s law firm honored him by creating a scholarship in his name at the University of Miami School of Law, which is awarded annually to a deserving law student in financial need.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Let them eat cake to mark City Beautiful’s 85 years

    Coral Gables residents celebrated their city’s 85th birthday with cake, music and a historical exhibition.

    The event was held fittingly at city founder George Merrick’s family home, 907 Coral Way. The Merrick House was the first structure to be built on Merrick’s family homestead.

    Gables Mayor Don Slesnick and Commissioner Maria Anderson were among the city leaders and attendees who sang Happy Birthday to Coral Gables. For most of the afternoon, residents visited the house, participating in self-guided tours and looking at historical photographs that depicted the City in the 1920s. The photos were on loan from the Coral Gables Museum.

    Live music by flamenco guitarist Carlos Valdes and cake rounded off the pleasant evening.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Coral Gables High Culinary Team heading to national competition

    The three-member Coral Gables Senior High School Culinary Arts Team, which recently won the regional and state championships in Orlando, will have the honor of representing South Florida in the national FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) competition, July 3-8, in Chicago, IL.

    The total cost for this trip will be $6,000 including airfare, hotel, registration and the transportation of all their cooking materials. Some $2,500 has been raised so far, including a donation from the Biltmore Hotel.

    For the past eight years the Gables High Culinary Team has taken first or second place in the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce Holiday Cookoff at the Biltmore Hotel. The team also partners with the Biltmore in their interactive internship program and has catered special events and private parties for the school.

    There are eight classes and more than 485 students at Gables High who are enrolled in the culinary arts classes. Chef Mercy Vera is the lead Culinary Arts instructor. She is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University and has taught at Coral Gables High School for the past 10 years. If you want to make a donation or sponsor the Culinary Arts team’s trip to Chicago, contact Chef Mercy Vera at 305- 443-4871 or send email to her at < mercyvera@dadeschools.net >.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    Pinecrest family supports Arsht Center with $10,000 gift

    Rick and Margarita Tonkinson have pledged $10,000 to the Adrianne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in exchange for naming 10 seats in the Knight Concert Hall after family members.

    The seats will be named in memory of family members, both living and deceased, with a passion for music. Rick Tonkinson, who also serves as a trustee of the Cleveland Orchestra, is a board member of the Community Foundation of Pinecrest and is involved with his wife and son, Steven, in several other charitable outreach efforts.

    The Tonkinsons encourage others to participate in the seat naming campaign. For more information, call the Arsht Center at 305-468-2000.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    FPL handed another setback in power line placement

    For the fourth time, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has deemed Florida Power and Light’s South Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) transmission line application incomplete. The line would serve two new nuclear power plants that FPL wants to build at Turkey Point.

    Quite aside from huge hurdles regarding the environmental impact of the plants themselves, it appears that FPL still has a long way to go to provide the answers DEP expects on the installation of the 85- to 105-foot tall transmission lines. These would extend along the U.S. 1 corridor from south of Southwest 136th Street to downtown Miami. FPL defines the corridor so broadly that lines could even run off of U.S. 1 north along Southwest 77th Avenue and east along Kendall Drive through Downtown Dadeland.

    For Pinecrest residents, uncertainties abound. If FPL can achieve approval of a broader corridor, the utility gets free rein to select the actual route, which may run on the west or east side of U.S. 1, or a combination of the two.

    DEP has agreed with Miami-Dade County that FPL needs to provide additional information about pole placement and design, noise, lighting, shadows, glare, vibration, access, traffic, parking, height, bulk, scale of architectural elements, landscaping, buffering and safety to determine compatibility with its comprehensive plan.

    While FPL has acknowledged the possibility that lines might be Metrorailmounted, the utility will now need to conduct a thorough feasibility study.

    Unanswered questions also remain regarding how line installation would affect future mixed-use development along the island located between U.S. 1 and the busway. It was news to me that the county envisions mixed-use buildings being built there ranging in height from six to 10 stories. Nonetheless, these would require minimal power line setbacks.

    FPL has allowed that it may underground sections of the line where insurmountable engineering challenges preclude other options, but continues to hold that any further undergrounding cost must be borne by affected municipalities rather than all system users. In any event, FPL now needs to furnish detailed site criteria for each installation technology (underground, overhead and Metrorail).

    Last July, the Pinecrest challenged FPL’s above-ground siting of this massive, ugly transmission line in our front yard. We filed our objection with DEP within the incredibly tight one-month deadline allowed by the process, citing reasons too numerous to go into here.

    Leading up to this, we had begun building a strong coalition with the adjacent municipalities of South Miami, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay, plus the county. We meet monthly at Chamber South to discuss this and other issues that affect us all such as transportation.

    In March, The Village Council unanimously passed four resolutions directed to the Florida Legislature that would allow for more meaningful engagement in transmission line siting decisions by municipalities such as ours. Presently, the deck is stacked and utilities hold all the cards. Other communities have now passed similar resolutions.

    Last month, Mayor Cindy Lerner persuaded the Miami-Dade County League of Cities to form a committee to study reforms necessary at the state level, setting the scene for broader joint action.

    Also, Mayor Lerner, Vice Mayor Cutler and I journeyed to Tallahassee for the Dade Days event. Our main order of business was to visit the governor’s cabinet members, plus regulatory and elected officials, to gain insight into the process, meet influential people, understand attitudes and plead our case. All in all, we participated in nearly two dozen planned and spontaneous meetings, sometimes accompanied by County Commissioner Katie Sorenson and other local elected officials.

    We came back from Tallahassee with a better knowledge of decision points where the Village’s participation would be useful. More than likely, this issue will be resolved years from now at the Cabinet level.

    Meanwhile, FPL announced recently that its project timeline had slid by two years.

    Enhanced by Zemanta
    - Advertisement -