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BY TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com
For decades, Little Haiti leaders have clamored for a park, an open space in a mostly cluttered landscape where kids could play soccer and moms could walk their children.
After years of government holdups, their dreams will finally come true. Yet many residents, business owners and local activists say the area's first real community space could have been better had they had more input.
''My only complaint is poor planning,'' said Jean Ridore, who chairs the park's soccer committee. ``The park is good for the community, but we should have been involved from the beginning.''
The neighborhood's city commissioner, Michelle Spence-Jones, says residents had every chance to participate.
''There have been a lot of things along the way to make sure there's community participation,'' she said at a public meeting Tuesday night.
This Saturday, Spence-Jones and city officials formally kick off the park's opening with a day full of events, including a parade, an exhibition soccer match between teams from Haiti and Miami, and a ceremony posthumously honoring a famous Haitian soccer player.
Located between Northeast Second and Fourth avenues along Northeast 64th Terrace to the north and Northeast 59th Street to the south, the park in the Little Haiti/Lemon City area will include a 5,000-square-foot community center, scheduled to open next year. The center will be named for the late Miami City Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr.
The project has been mired in controversy since Teele was credited for conceiving the idea for the park a decade ago. Teele wanted a 60-acre park -- which would have warranted mass evictions -- but the park's size was reduced to 15 acres. Little Haiti has the lowest acreage for parks, according to the city.
Even as the park's size diminished, its cost swelled. Once estimated at $10 million, the park's cost has now reached $37 million, according to city documents. Miami-Dade County pitched in $7.3 million.
Delays stemmed from arguments over the park's size as well as from shake-ups at City Hall. Last year, Chief of Operations Mary Conway was forced out after the arrest of about a dozen employees on racketeering, theft and fraud charges. Most of them had worked in the city's Capital Improvements department, which builds parks.
There have been other frustrations.
''We have had some very deep concerns that the city has not been as forthcoming as we would have wanted them to be,'' Kenneth Newman, a member of the park's soccer committee, said. ``They don't return phone calls well.''
Like Ridore, Newman and other soccer committee members said the city hadn't done enough to seek community input -- a claim Spence-Jones disputes. At a community meeting Tuesday at Toussaint L'Ouverture Elementary School, Spence-Jones said the city had held public meetings at the school and the Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church.
Newman said Little Haiti residents would have have gotten a better park had city officials consulted ''the soccer community.'' They would have offered suggestions for a stadium that's bigger than the current 750-seater, he said.
Chief among their concerns: No locker room or showers on the field. For Saturday's game, the players from Haiti will be bused to Miami-Edison High to wash up after the match.
The park will have two soccer fields and a community center. A complementary Cultural Complex, at 260 NE 59th Ter., will house an art gallery, a theater and several studios.
Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié said he looks forward to a local venue that showcases the work of South Florida artists and those from throughout the Caribbean.
''It will have to serve the community but also be flexible enough to be a much more important facility,'' said Carrié, who is curating an exhibit for the complex through the Haitian Cultural Arts Alliance.
``I do not want to see just a bingo parlor.''
Others welcome the park despite the delays, saying it offers a much-needed alternative to the youth violence that has been so prevalent in South Florida in recent years.
''The reason we have such a high rate of children being hurt, killed, is that they have no place to go,'' said Hattie Willis. ``It's much needed and it's been a long time coming and we're grateful it's finally happening.''
But even as activists such as Willis hope the park will deter crime, some residents and business owners fear it could fuel crime if the premises are not property secured.
''This is not a rinky-dink tot lot,'' said Frank Rudman, owner of a garment business that borders 300 feet of the park. ``You got to protect the park, make sure it's clean and it serves the purpose of the people. If you don't, it will go to hell in six months.''
The city hired a security guard to patrol the park at night, said Lara de Souza, a spokeswoman for the park's department.
Miami Cmdr. David Magnusson said the department won't be sending officers to patrol the park, because officers will be patrolling the streets. But he said his department won't allow the park to become a hotbed for criminal behavior.
''We're not going to allow a brand-new park or any other park to be the newfound home for dopers, thugs and vagrants,'' Magnusson said. ``It's for kids and parents.''
Said Carrié about the project: ``It's been fraught with miscommunication, but I hope we can get on good footing so that this can be a vibrant place.''
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