There has been a recent big stink made over the plans of a developer to build a new mega-mall on the site of the abandoned Omni plaza and former Herald parking lots. It appears that the new mall will include “Times Square-like” elements such as massive LCD billboards, bright lights, and plenty of advertising space. Nice upgrade. Well that is unless you ask certain activists who are saying that the new lighting next door will visually detract from the Performing Arts Center (and bring traffic too! Oh no what will we do???) Well, good point, it will, but, isn’t that somewhat of a good thing, considering that the PAC isn’t all that visually stimulating to begin with (Excellent points by Verticus)? I find it pretty backwards to worry about the view to and from the PAC and the bay after the damned thing was built 3 blocks away from the shoreline. If we had wanted a new PAC, with unobstructed views of the water and a radical design that would forever impact our skyline, then why did we build it 3 blocks away from the shore where any 4 story run-of-the-mill parking garage could cover it up easily? On that note, nobody is complaining about how hideous a parking garage will look behind the PAC, assuming that one gets built sometime this century.
Why are we so concerned with these issues now and why weren’t they raised earlier? If we desired to have a new cutting edge building that would forever change our skyline (Like this, or this, or this, or this) then why wasn’t it thought of before someone proposed to build a large mall next door? I’m all for the Times Square-Like development (minus the thousands of parking spaces that comes with it) but seriously hope that they find better tenants than Target and Best Buy to fill the space. Otherwise, this will turn out to be another misguided attempt to re-urbanize Miami, just like the PAC…
I find it interesting pathetic that we built this on our prime waterfront land…and this on the landlocked real-estate which is destined to be surrounded by a concrete jungle…Must have been on account of the “traffic” problems it would have caused…This is the poor planning I always tend to speak of…
Technorati Tags: Omni, Performing Arts Center, Miami, Urban Planning
0 Responses to “LCDs, Billboards, and Lights! Oh My!”