Every week for years, Denise Sandkamp and her son Henry, 13, do soccer drills at Flamingo Park in Miami Beach. They shoot on goal and pass the ball. But now, as authorities begin planning a $25 to $30 million fire station on the site where they now play, they fear there will be a major disruption.
“It would be terrible to not have the field available,” said Henry. “It is the only one in the area with good conditions and with the right goals to play.”
Coaches of No Kidding Run Club, who train dozens of children ages 7 to14 on a track at the same site also face the loss of their facility – a 400-meter oval that surrounds the football/soccer field.
“This track is more than just a place to work out,” said coach Anja Magdalena. “From kids playing soccer, the neighbors who train here, to NFL athletes, it’s a place for everybody.”
Even though 75% of the Miami-Dade electorate voted “yes” to the construction of the new fire station and a new track and field are planned for the park, these athletes and many others are organizing to fight the project in the western-most part of Flamingo Park.
The details of the construction were rarely discussed before the Aug. 20 vote. Juny E. François, another coach of NK Run club, contends the ballot item presented incomplete information to residents.
“The primary ballot was not clear on what was going to happen,” she said. “It didn’t mention that they were going to tear down the track to build the fire station.”
The new building will replace old Fire Station No.1, which is located at Tenth Street and Jefferson Avenue and was built in the 1960s according to the county. It no longer meets the needs of the fire department.
After years of looking for available space, the city first chose the South Shore community center for the new station. However, after residents raised concerns about the demolition of the historic building, the city landed on Flamingo Park.
Back in 2018, the funding for this project was set at $10 million by the General Obligation Bond Committee, seven of which are already spent. The new project weighs in at $15 to $20 million more expensive.
To make room for the station, the city’s current plan is to shift the track slightly to the east by tearing it down and rebuilding it from scratch. However, the park’s track and soccer field are vital recreational spaces for local residents and high school teams. This relocation means the community will likely wait years to use the space again.
Opponents of tearing down the track met with city commissioners on Sept. 11. The community gained some ground with the meeting. The city was willing to consider other designs that preserve the track.
“I have directed our [Capital Improvement Project] department to find a way to design this facility so it does not impact the track,” said City Manager Eric Carpenter during the meeting.
To date, 852 people have signed an online petition to protect the track. If the city can’t find a design that maintains current activities, Sandkamp and her son Henry won’t have an alternative regulation-sized soccer field to train within a ten-mile radius.
“We’ve used this field for years,” she said. “It is the only field that is nearby.”
