Miami commission dismantles Virginia Key Beach Park trust, future of site up in the air
MIAMI - The future of Virginia Key Beach remains in question after Miami commissioners voted to remove the board of trustees overseeing improvements.
Miami Mayor Frances Suarez refused to veto that takeover, but former board members and community leaders are not giving up easily.
Virginia Key was historically dedicated as the only beach for Black people. The commission wants to do something with the space, but the community says not so fast.
Wednesday night it was a packed house at New Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Liberty City where residents born and raised in the community spoke about frustrations of what they said is the mismanagement of Virginia Key Beach.
"There is a much bigger story that needs to be told," said Gene Tinnie who was on the Virginia Key Beach Park trust. Established in 2000, the goal of the board was to update Virginia Key key both ecologically, and historically. The board quickly made the park an historical site and they wanted to build a museum.
But last July, the commission proposed that a homeless camp should be put on the key. That idea did not bode well with many residents in the Black community and the park trust shut the idea down.
Pastor Dr. Steven Caldwell said the beach needs to remain a historical site.
"The African American community has very few pieces of its history left in South Florida," he said.
Now two months later, the commission dismantled the trust. They said the city performed an audit which found that the trust had lackluster accounting and failed to properly document expenses.
Trust board members say that's false.
"To say the least, it came as a shock," said Tinnie.
While the future of the beach is up in the air, the community says they will continue to fight to be involved in those decisions.
"The overarching emphasis is to keep what we have been entrusted to hold as a part of our history for our community," said Caldwell.