Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Saturday, February 5, 1977, page 4 (of 24)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Grounds readied for Youth Fair extravaganza Construction continues to the tune of a million $
By KAY SEVERINSEN Staff Writer The Dade County Youth Fair grounds are looking like a million dollars. The Midway is paved, two information centers are being built, pedestrian bridges are going up, cranes are digging and hammers pounding, all to the tune of a cool million dollars. And although construction plans for this year's fair, scheduled from March 17 to 27, began over a year ago, most of the actual work has been happening in the past two months, says John Fix, public relations director. "People get the impression that work starts two weeks ahead of time and then, boom! But we're already making plans for the 1978 fair," Fix says. Last year's gate receipts are financing this year's construction, which should make the fair facilities better and more permanent, Fix says. For instance, this year's guests will enter through an entrance plaza, complete with a marquee and ticket booths. The Midway, formerly trodden dirt, will be a 70 foot wide paved walkway, 2,300 feet long. It will be lined with 60 different rides, many that have never been to the Youth Fair before. The Midway will be highlighted by a 1,200 foot long Sky Glider, like a ski lift. Pylons are being inserted for the ride now and Youth Fair directors have a five year contract for the attraction. Pedestrian bridges are being constructed over service entrances, paved walks and roadways will greatly cut down on dust. Construction workers have started work on this year's rides at the Fair grounds
Motorcycle cops go the way of the five-cent candybar in SM
By EDWIN KNIGHT Staff Writer The dashing, booted and black leather jacketed motorcycle police officer is being phased out in the City of South Miami. And with the police officer will go the city's two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, only one of which is in use now. City Manager Jack Present announced the phaseout to the city's council at its Feb. 1 meeting when he pointed out that repair and insurance costs were driving the motorcycle out of range as a police vehicle. "We only use them for eight hours a day as it is, and we can't use them at all in the rain," the city manager said. "It costs the city $900 a year for insurance on each motorcycle and last year alone we had $1,600 in repairs that had to be done at a motorcycle shop." While it costs about $5,000 to buy and equip a motorcycle for police use, for another $1,000 the city can get a fully equipped car which can be used in any type of weather around the clock. "We are following the trend of most municipalities," said Present. "There aren't many cities left which have motorcycles." For this reason, the city may have a hard time selling its two fully-equipped motorcycles, at least in Dade County. Nonetheless, the city's administration is writing a letter to each municipality in Dade County and Metro in hopes that one of these governments will want to purchase the city's two cycles. "We've thought about this a long time," the city manager said. "And we came to the conclusion that we'd rather have the motorcycle officers in police cars." Training for motorcycle duty used to take at least a month, and usually took place outside the city.
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