NEWS REPRINT
Maritime museum in the works
Project planned for New River site
July 21, 2003
by Sonji Jacobs
Copyright © The Miami Herald, 2003
Fort Lauderdale, famous for its beaches and waterways, could be getting a new downtown museum to chronicle its transformation from a small trading post to a major port city.
Developers of the Fort Lauderdale Maritime Museum also plan restaurants, shops and apartment lofts on the site of the old New River post office, 330 SW Second St., where city commissioners recently approved a 50-year lease.
Many residents say the museum, slated to be finished in two to three years, is long overdue.
''The idea for the Fort Lauderdale Maritime Museum has been around for a while, but it's been without a home,'' said Kelly Drum, who is developing the project with Alan Hooper and Tim Petrillo. ``Fort Lauderdale is one of the world's maritime meccas. I think it's almost ridiculous we don't already have a maritime museum.''
Drum's grandfather, former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Bob Cox, said he had been pushing for the creation of a museum to showcase the importance of the marine industry in the development of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County for more than 25 years.
''Here we are, the Venice of America, and we have no maritime museum,'' Cox said.
Frank Herhold, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, said the marine industry employs 109,000 people in Broward and has an $8.8 billion annual economic impact.
''The yachting capital of the world needs to preserve our heritage,'' Herhold said. ``Other than bits and pieces here and there, there's really no one location where people can go to see how the marine industry began from its small and humble beginnings into what it is today.''
Exhibits will explain the importance of Fort Lauderdale's waterways, both in the past and present, and feature artifacts such as old boats, anchors, and nautical instruments. The museum also will include a floating dock on the New River for traveling exhibitions, such as the replica of the Amistad, a 19th century slave ship.
Along with stores and apartments, the museum will be a bridge between the historic Himmarshee Village to the east and the Arts and Science District to the west -- both recently revitalized parts of Fort Lauderdale's downtown.
Six years ago, the hip Himmarshee Village on Second Street was a forgotten cluster of rundown buildings. Business partners Hooper and Petrillo helped bring new life to the neighborhood by opening several eclectic restaurants and bars, including Tarpon Bend, Himmarshee Bar and Grille, and The River House.
The $5.2 million maritime museum and retail project, dubbed the New River Trading Post Development, is another part of their plan to infuse economic vitality into the area, while retaining the neighborhood's old-fashioned charm and fishing village atmosphere.
''We're going to try to create a Main Street type of feel,'' Hooper said. ``We're trying to create a historic-looking building. We take pride in creating things with the old architectural feel of another era, but they have our own touch.''
Along Second Street, the developers plan to build restaurants and retail stores and perhaps a day spa or nautical shop to complement the museum, which will front the New River across from Esplanade Park.
The third part of the project is the Riverwalk Theater Studios, a combination of office space on the ground floor and apartments on the second floor along Southwest Fourth Avenue. Hooper said the idea behind the studios is for people to live and work in the same neighborhood.
Under the lease, the city will collect rent for the property, starting at $50,000 the first year and increasing annually for a total of almost $5.7 million over 50 years.
The developers still have a few hurdles to clear. They must get pre-development approval from the city and get a thumbs-up from the Planning and Zoning Board, where they will request a zoning change. Plans call for a 30-foot-tall building, which exceeds the 25-foot maximum. The building also is longer than the 100-foot limit.
City officials said they don't expect a problem with approvals. Chuck Adams, the city's redevelopment service and marine facilities manager, said the project is ''totally complementary'' to the area and will maintain the character and scale of the historic neighborhood.
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