Not everyone is happy about renovations that will soon get underway at Morningside Park, and they made that known during a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday morning.
At times, the chants from protestors drowned out the applause at the planned ceremony.
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Soon, this City of Miami Park will have a new seawall, bay walk, trailways and even upgrades to the boat ramp area.
Commissioner Damian Pardo, who lives in Morningside, said there haven’t been any improvements to the park in more than 25 years.
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“It’s very well thought out, the engineers put in a ton of time, the architects, the people have really spent a lot of time on this design,” Pardo said.
But not everyone is happy about the renovations.
One major issue for demonstrators is the planned 15-foot-wide walkway.
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“A 6-foot-wide walkway has worked fine for 71 years,” Elvis Cruz said.
“A 15-foot walkway is absurd,” said another protestor. “Why are we covering our nature with pavement?”
Pardo said they received feedback from the community at multiple meetings. According to him, the current plan aims to address flooding concerns.
“Some of the elements in this park, including the bay walk, has porous material, has a 3-and-a-half-foot reservoir under that bay walk, which is really meant to store the water and absorb all the flooding that’s currently happening in the park,” Pardo said.
Most people agree it could use an update, but not everyone agrees on what the changes should be or how to go about making them.
“We have to adapt and modernize, and we want to save this and preserve this for future generations,” Pardo said.
It’ll take about a year and half to complete phase one. Phase two hasn’t been funded yet.
