Building Better Communitites

Ribbon Cutting at Spinal Cord Living-Assistance Development, Inc.

SCLAD celebrated the completion of their new Resource Center with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony attended by Miami-Dade County Commissioner for District 6 Rebecca Sosa. The SCLAD property is located at 201 East 2nd Street, Hialeah.

The SCLAD Plaza is a mixed-use building consisting of 3,350 sq. ft. of space that is composed of the new and improved SCLAD Resource Center offering programs and services to help persons with disabilities become independent and contains 18 units of barrier-free, affordable housing. It will house SCLAD's administrative offices as well as offices for its Social Workers, Counselors and other Program Staff. It will also have multi-purpose areas where individuals will receive life and pre-vocational skills training as well as other educational and recreational activities. The total project cost was $4.2 million with the GOB contributing $494,522. This is one of the thirty-seven projects funded through the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Not-for-Profit Fund.

North Pointe Community Center

The New North Pointe Community Center recently opened its doors and the community celebrated with an open house and dedication ceremony attended by Miami-Dade County Officials and Staff.

The 6,590 square foot center provides space for community, fitness and recreational activities.  The amenities includes a meeting room accessible to community groups and homeowner associations; a wellness facility with cardio equipment and areas for group exercise; and spaces for arts, cultural and musical instruction.  The center also has staff offices; a 6,023 square-foot beach-entry style recreational pool; a 1,500 square-foot splash playground with a tunnel slide, dancing floor jets, water cannons, and rain curtains; a 2,460 square-foot pool building with public lockers, showers, restrooms, and a snack bar; two picnic shelters and walking paths. The total project cost was $4,981,831 of which $2.1 million came from the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Funds.

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens Groundbreaking

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, along with Commissioner Carlos Gimenez and County Manager George Burgess were joined by City of Coral Gables Mayor Don Slesnick at the groundbreaking ceremony on December 8, 2010 at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens.

The groundbreaking for the proposed Science Village, with a total of more than 25,000 square feet, will have labs for college and graduate students and full sized, interactive classrooms.  It will feature state-of-the-art laboratories for tropical plant conservation, a world-class collection of orchids and butterflies, and will include the expansion of the current Garden Café.

The Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond funding towards this project is $10.5 million.

The New Miami Art Museum

The Miami Art Museum (MAM) broke ground recently for their new museum facility at Museum Park in Downtown Miami which will also be home to the new Miami Science Museum. Attending and representing Miami-Dade County at the groundbreaking was Mayor Carlos Alvarez, Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, Commissioner Sally Heyman and County Manager George Burgess.

The 150,000 sq. ft. museum will house exhibitions, expand its art collections, offer educational programs and will also have a 4-acre sculpture garden. The GOB allocation towards the project is $100 million of a total cost of $131 million.  The new MAM is scheduled to open to the public in 2013.

Groundbreaking for new Jessie Trice Community Health Center

The Jessie Trice Community Health Center located at 5559-5609 NW 27th Avenue broke ground. The facility is being partially funded by the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program.

The Bond Program includes funding for upgrading several community healthcare facilities. These include the recently opened Community AIDS Resource, Inc. Dental Clinic, 3510 Biscayne Boulevard and the acquisition of a building for the Citrus Health Network, Inc. in Hialeah. 

The Jessie Trice facility will house a medical facility which will deliver oral health, men's health and other preventative medical services to the underserved and uninsured population of the area.

The Oral Health Center is estimated to serve an additional 2,150 patients in the first year of operation alone. The Men's Health and Wellness Center is estimated to have an additional 7,164 patient visits in the first year. The project is scheduled to be completed in January 2012.

UNIDAD Miami Beach Groundbreaking

UNIDAD held a groundbreaking for its North Beach Oceanfront Senior Center on 73 Street and Collins Avenue on July 21, 2010. The two-story center is being built in partnership with the City of Miami Beach and is partially funded by the Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program in the amount of $1 million. The total project cost is $3.5 million. 

The Center will provide many programs for seniors to include meals, employment training and placement, counseling, support groups, health screenings, and assistance with immigration related issues. The Center will also provide cultural enrichment and fitness classes.

Mayor Roscoe Warren Municipal Park Groundbreaking

The City of Homestead held a groundbreaking for the Mayor Roscoe Warren Municipal Park located at 1400 East Palm Drive, Homestead. The Building Better Communities General Obligation Bond Program is funding $3,509,000 of a total project cost of $3,902,000.

Phase I of the park design will be for multiple outdoor pavilions, shade structures, tot-lots, playgrounds, basketball and racquetball courts and a tennis complex, dog park, canoe launch, benches, picnic tables, waste cans, grills, fencing, entrance features, signage, irrigation, landscaping, potable water, sanitation and parking facilities. Phase II, which focuses on redevelopment of the closed landfill, will include a two-story looking house/community building, maintenance facilities, four soccer fields, lighting, additional benches, picnic tables, waste cans, bleacher seating, fencing, irrigation, landscaping, lighted parking and storm water treatment.