Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Coral Gables Times
Thursday, March 22, 1962, page 2 (of 20)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Street Work Stirs Protests As More Districts Approved
Coral Gables' street improvement program ran into a few additional detractors Tuesday as two more streets were placed in local improvement districts by the city commission. The Commission voted for the improvement of Valencia Avenue from Le Jeune Road to Douglas Road and Andalusia from Le Jeune Road to Douglas Road over the objections of a half dozen firms and individuals. First National Bank, which had opposed similar improvements on Galiano Street, led off the objectors again. They were joined by Realtor Ben Largen, Adam Adams, R. E. Nietszche and Jim Napoli. Napoli, the most vocal of the objectors, challenged the entire program. "I don't see the emergency," said Napoli. Mayor Robert L. Searle told Napoli that the streets involved had not been paved since the City was built. Napoli then challenged the authority of the City's engineers in finding that the work needed to be done. "Is the Public Works Department incompetent?" retorted Commissioner Franklin S. Evans. "I didn't say that," said Napoli. "I say they are not qualified to do that," he said later, after pointing out greater need for repairs on Riviera Drive, a street proposed for repairs several years ago, but turned down after a howl went up from property owners. It is up for improvement again. Commissioner C. L. Dressel Jr. told Napoli there was no money in the general fund to do the work and it would be a precedent for it to be done from taxes. General taxes are paying for improvement of intersections, but abutting property owners are assessed on a front foot basis for the remainder of the paving work, estimated at $21⁄4 million. "By waiting four years," Dressel said, "it could double your present assessment." The estimated assessment is $3.90 a front foot. Largen suggested that Metro do the work. The mayor said Metro cannot handle primary and secondary streets, and could not consider side streets in municipalities. "If we raised taxes," said Commissioner Evans, "there'd be a hue and cry." Last week Salzedo Street was ordered improved from Miracle Mile to Navarre Avenue and from Almeria Avenue to Miracle Mile with only one protest registered.
Riviera Accident Takes Her Life
One elderly woman was killed and another critically injured in an accident shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday at Riviera Drive and South Dixie Highway. Dead on arrival at Doctors' Hospital was Mary Corash, 83, of Worcester, Mass. She was a passenger in a car driven by Israel Miller, 63, of Bronx, N.Y., treated at Doctors' and released. Miller's wife, Mollie Miller, 64, was listed in "critical" condition. Also injured were the driver of the other car. Freddie Lee Green, 21, of 10130 SW 176th St., and Freddie McCray, 19, of 7840 SW 104th Ave. Both men were treated and released. According to Officer Robert DeKorte, Miller was going southwest on South Dixie Highway when he turned left in front of Green's car, going northeast. Miller was charged with failing to yield the right of way. Both cars were extensively damaged.
Exam Benched
Metro Judge J. C. Gramling got tired of waiting for Priscilla M. Simons of 1546 San Remo Ave. to show up in court, and issued a $50 bench warrant. Miss Simons, a student at the University of Miami failed for the second time to show in court for a speeding offence. Her present defense was that she was taking two exams.
High Rise Building Okayed
(Continued from page 1) abstained from voting on the Rogers building saying only that his law partner and former mayor, Thomas C. Mayes, had been retained by Rogers to represent him before the Commission Tuesday. Murphy and Rogers had engaged in heated debates over various proposals in connection with the building made by Rogers in previous weeks. And he joined Evans in voting against the Giffen Building after Commissioner C. L. Dressel Jr. moved to approve the ordinances on first reading. The new Gulf Building will be 783⁄4 feet in height. First floor will be a parking garage for approximately 45 cars, the next five floors will be office space and the remainder used for elevator machinery, a 250-ton airconditioning unit and an office penthouse. An additional 90 spaces for parking will be provided in the rear of the irregularly-shaped building.
The Hovels Called Home in Our Town
Times 4 cols 42 ro—Street said Moon, "Half of them are not using it." The survey showed that rents ranged from $12 to $20 week for unfurnished homes and apartments. "They don't make enough money to pay high rent," said Moon. By contrast, E. D. Blumenthal, owner with other members of his family of 36 units said he favored the program. "Yes, I'm 100 per cent in favor of it," he said. "We don't wait for the program to catch up," said Blumenthal. He termed the city's program "not too high ideally and practical." But Blumenthal drew the line at renewal. "Some commissioners," he said, "think that all wood buildings are shacks and should be replaced." He saw no sense in a major operation to cure a minor trouble and has no plans for replacement. Blumenthal said he gets between $15 and $18 a week for his units. "Slum conditions," he said, "are caused by people and not buildings." "These people in this area have been umblessed in material goods," he added. "They've got to go up gradually." As an afterthought, he said, renewal might be unworkable unless property owners got a special tax break. Wilson Trammel, owner of 21 family units, said he didn't think some of the changes required were necessary. "Hot water is something that some of the colored people don't want," Trammel said. Trammel said his units average $12.50 a week. He will replace the homes when they need it, he said. Urban renewal? He'd have to know all the details. Perhaps the best informed and known person involved in Negro housing is Luther Brooks, whose Bonded Rental Agency manages 10,148 exclusively Negro units in Dade and Broward Counties with rentals averaging $12 to $13 a week. "I'm in favor of that program," Brooks said enthusiastically. But the whole thing will fall flat without an educational program to go with it, said Brooks. People have to be educated to keep a nice home, said Brooks, who once sponsored a program of household hints. Urban renewal? "I think that rehabilitation is just as good," he said. The main Negro housing problem, as Brooks sees it, is unwed mothers, the product of overcrowding. "That's the biggest problem you've got," said Brooks. An average of 41⁄2 persons in a small dwelling is too much, he said. There is little privacy and moral problems are created. He knows of many families with three generations of unwed mothers. Brooks proposed that these women be separated from their families, placed in special apartments where their children can be taken care of in nurseries, allow them to work and support themselves, get them off the welfare rolls and out of other people's homes. While others had hinted at some of the moral problems created by slums and overcrowding, Brooks had come to the point. It takes generations to breed decent people, he concluded. ★ ★ ★ NEXT WEEK: In the final installment of this series, City Commissionetrs tell their views about the rehabilitation progrom. -Times photo by Raymond Long THEIR HOME IN THE CITY BEAUTIFUL
Rotary Has New Plan For Clubs
(Continued from page 1) boys had to carry the burden of the club but under the new one, every boy in the club will have to be active," said Kerdyk. Meanwhile, the Kiwanis Club is proceeding with reorganization of its Key Club at Gables High. New officers were elected this week and they are: President, Robert Grier, 1130 Aduana Ave.; vice president, Mike Duncan, 5100 SW 73rd Terr; secretary, Howard Dale, 828 Palermo Ave.; treasurer, Charles Shepard, 5600 Alhambra Cir. The Kiwanians number among their members Principal Harry Rath of Gables High. State law makes it illegal for a student to be a member of a high school fraternity even if it's off campus. Service clubs, under this same interpretation, are denied the right to choose their own membership and must be open to all students on the same basis.
Indian Talk Wednesday At School
Gableites will have an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the native Seminole Indians next Wednesday when the Historical Association of Southern Florida introduces a program, "A View of Florida's Indians," at Coral Gables High School Auditorium. The free public meeting is designed to acquaint people with the social and cultural background of the Seminoles, said Justin P. Havee, program chairman. Beginning at 8 p.m. Reginald C. Miller, bureau program officer for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, will introduce Buffalo Tiger, of the general council and business council, Miccosukee tribe, who will tell about the activities of his people. Rev. Billy Osceola, chairman of the Tribal Council, and Howard Tiger, president, board of directors of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, will be introduced. They will discuss the work of their group. Two films, "A Quarter Century of Seminole Progress," and another film will be narrated by Waldrip and William D. Boehmer, Bureau community services officer.
HE WINS
For the second year in a row, Lee Baumgartner, owner of the Miracle Mile Flower Shop, won the "Designer of the Year" award recently at the annual show of the Greater Miami Florist's Asso. Baumgartner competed with six other florists in making three floral arrangements within a specified time limit.
Deadline Coming
Deadline for filing for homestead exemption in Coral Gables is midnight, April 2. Gables tax assessor T. C. Blount estimated that 7,100 exemptions — 100 more than last year — would be filed.