The Coral Gables Times

2 CORAL GABLES TIMES Thursday, March 15, 1962

Metro to Watch You At Le Jeune Light

Metro will study the light signals at the intersection of Le Jeune Road and Aragon Avenue to determine if any change is needed. Jesse Marsh, head of the Metro Traffic Signal Section, said Tuesday that he will observe driver habits in connection with the lights to learn if the signal is properly placed. The lights have been erected past the intersection and lack of stop bars until recently have contributed to motorist stopping beyond the normal point. "I'll agree that it looks a little peculiar," said Marsh, "But we don't feel that the signal was improperly placed." Responsibility for placing the stop bars was the State Road Department's, he said. City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. said the City had received quite a few complaints at first. "It's a matter of educating the people," Robinson said. But, the city manager added, a third light might have made it easier for the motorist.

More Service

Expansion of Coral Gables bus routes into unincorporated areas will be proposed to the county. City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. Tuesday was instructed to offer Metro a cooperative agreement for expansion of service into areas outside the Gables. A route was recently established to the Baptist Hospital and buses have been picking up passengers on the Gables-Miami route, previously prohibited.

Holiday Inn Motel Slated On S. Dixie; 150 Rooms

The Holiday Inn—the largest hotel to be built in Coral Gables since the Miami Biltmore made its debut in 1926—will be constructed on South Dixie Highway at Hardee Road, hotelman Ben Gaines disclosed this week. A $2 million hotel, it will have between 150 and 200 rooms, Gaines said. He will be the owner-operator. The site is adjacent to the University Court Motel. The three-story building will be erected on a 360 by 325 foot tract purchased for $350,000 from the Coga Corp., a holding company, Gaines said. A pool, solarium, dining room, meeting rooms, coffee shop, cocktail lounge, barber shop and beauty parlor are to be incorporated in the hotel. "We haven't made any plans yet," said Gaines, "We expect to have a sketch in a week or 10 days." "What I intend to build there will be a credit to the neighborhood," said the hotel builder. Neighboring property owners have been in one continuous battle with the city over one proposal for development after another. A battle ranged all the way to the Florida Supreme Court when Burdine's sought a change in zoning to permit a shopping center there. More recently, the former owner, Mickey McBride, sought to have the tract re-zoned with buffers between business and residential areas, but property owners also balked at this. The area has been studied by Rader And Associates in their zoning study of the City, but their findings have not been made public. Gaines said Tuesday that he will build a hotel that will meet all the requirements of the City. The property upon which the hotel is to be built is already zoned for a hotel of three stories in height. City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. said this week that Gaines had contacted him about a month ago and asked about zoning requirements the property but that he did not know that Gaines had purchased the property until he read about it in the paper. Gaines came to this area in 1936 from Boston and built the old Dempsey-Vanderbilt Hotel in Miami Beach. He also built the Sahara in Sunny Isles and the Miami Skyways Motel on Le Jeune Road.

Kiwanians Demand Name Be Removed By Fraternity

(Continued from page 1) merely following instructions. Goldsmith was not singled out. Any violations which come to the attention of the authorities will be dealt with. Nevertheless, students in the high school say it has been common practice to wear medallions, rings, pins and have insignia on notebooks and automobiles, despite the School Board ban. However, there was a noticeable dropoff after word of Goldsmith's suspension got around. Students and parents are required to sign a pledge of "Non-Affiliation with Sororities and Fraternities." It says that a public school student will not be a member of any fraternity, sorority or secret organization. There are a half dozen or more boys' and girls' social organizations comprised of Gables High students. Membership is by election. Most of the fraternities and sororities seek at least one public service project a year and some have sponsorship. The groups were in the news last fall after charges by Miami law enforcement people that wild parties took place under the sponsorship of many of these groups and that the groups themselves spawned juvenile delinquency. The charges were never publicly documented.

SRD Says No

The State Road Department has thrown cold water on the City of Coral Gables' plan to erect a wire fence along South Dixie Highway in the Negro apartment section. But the City Commission isn't taking no for an answer. They instructed City Manager L. W. Robinson Jr. to try again after receipt of a letter from the SRD which indicated they said, a lack of knowledge of the area and conditions involved.

New Bank Coming in Gables

(Continued from page 1) Great Lakes shipping owner. Total capitalization will be $1.5 million, with $600,000 capital, $600,000 surplus and $300,000 in undivided profits, making it the 14th largest in Dade County from that standpoint. There are 38 banks in Dade. University National Bank will have 100,000 shares of capital outstanding at $15 a share. A president and other bank officers are yet to be selected, Montgomery and Wessell said, but the top post is expected to go to a man familiar with the local scene. BEVERLEY MONTGOMERY PEPPARD

The Hovels Called Home in Our Town

(Continued from page 1) "The impetus has been lost as I see it." While the city has tackled the job of rehabilitating the Negro area on a block by block basis, Finkelstein said, he favored doing the job all at once. Some areas cleaned out have slid back to their original state, he added. Finkelstein disagreed with other city officials who say that the area was getting adequate service. And he still feels, as he did three years ago when he and the Committee of 33 or Urban Renewal Committee drafted the law, that urban renewal is the ideal answer. While he acknowledged the controversy over the use of federal funds, Finkelstein felt renewal might be financed by individuals. Short of that, Finkelstein said the Gables should negotiate with Miami to have the area incorporated into the Negro section of Coconut Grove. Don Wessell, chairman of the Planning Board, agreed largely with the views expressed by Finkelstein. "We shouldn't have to apologize for anything in Coral Gables," said Wessell. "The greater majority (of homes) should be replaced," he said. "The ideal solution would be to start anew." Wessell felt the city should take the lead in solving the universal problem of slums. If the city solved its problem in a practical way, other communities might follow suit, he said. Wessell thought the necessary money could be raised to do the job without federal help. This is something the City Commission has been reluctant to do because of the de-segregation overtones. Another official, Phil Laurence, chairman of the Zoning Board, said he favored renewal on a single-family home basis, but he had doubts about the feasibility of working it with area capital and he opposed federal urban renewal aid funds. He also questioned the ability of residents to pay back. Laurence was satisfied that the city was moving along on its rehabilitation program. "In a good many cases," said Laurence, "the money was well spent." The prospect of eliminating the slums was met enthusiastically by the Rev. Theodore R. Gibson, pastor of Christ Episcopal Church. Father Gibson, while citing the city and its leaders for the rehabilitation program and cooperation in general, felt that more could be done. "I would favor new homes by all means," said the Negro spiritual leader. Overcrowding and doubling up of families causes serious moral problems, Father Gibson said. Multiple dwellings are unsightly and created problems for Coral Gables that didn't eight-nine years ago," he said. "They are on their last leg," he said of the shack homes. He cited the difficulty in obtaining adequate financing to back a renewal program and hoped that the city could use its influence to get the money. Next: What the slum owners have to say. NEXT TO WASHINGTON TOT LOT LIES THIS DERELICT, A FAVORITE IN ITS OWN RIGHT DR. GORDON WESSELL