Murray Park Aquatic Center opens August 6!

The Murray Park Aquatic Center opens Wednesday, August 6, with a ribbon cutting celebration at 10am. Come see this wonderful new addition to our community!

New City Manager to be sworn in Tuesday

South Miami's new City Manager, Steven Alexander, will be formally sworn in at city hall in a ceremony on Tuesday, August 19, at 7pm. The public is invited to welcome Mr. Alexander, who began work on August 1, and whose successes (so far) include securing a $1.2 million federal grant to complete construction of the Murray Park Pool and working toward resolving a $26 million law suit in which the city was named as defendant.

Murray Park pool moves forward

At a recent meeting of the ERPB, the much anticipated Murray Park Pool was presented. It is exciting that the pool is moving forward in an expeditious manner so that everyone can finally go for a swim!  The design includes a kid's splash fountain, a shallow wading area leading to a lap pool, a small building with showers, bathrooms and a food concession, and perimeter fencing separating the pool from the remainder of Murray Park. While it is hopeful that the pool could be open year round (it will have heating), the current plan is to have the pool open only during the summer months.  That is why the City should consider how the pool can be designed to reap maximum benefits from elements of the pool's facilities.  For example:  the restrooms, showers, snack bar, and splash fountain can be used year round.  

Also, what will folks be seeing when the pool is not in operation?  How can the view to the pool be a postcard image of, say, a lake framed by beautiful landscaping year round?  Can the pool be a destination for special events such as weddings, etc?   Currently, there is chain link fencing proposed at the pool's perimeter.  Is chain link giving the right impression, and is such high fencing necessary? Can a lower security fence be obscured by landscaping and trees opening up to the view of the lake pool?

Other cities have endeavored to make their pools beautiful oases of leisure, such as neighboring Venetian Pool.  Let's build a pool facility worthy of being a postcard image of South Miami!

Community pool to begin construction

standard community news item, in this case an update on the pool (perhaps about the groundbreaking date), with links to earlier posts on the same topic and to whatever city or official web resources are out there