Florida Senate - 2018                            (NP)    SR 1832
       
       
        
       By Senator Campbell
       
       
       
       
       
       38-01386A-18                                          20181832__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the City of Miami Beach on
    3         the 103rd anniversary of its incorporation as a
    4         municipality.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, in 1870, Henry Lum and his son, Charles, arrived
    7  by sailboat on a large sandbar off the southeast coast of
    8  Florida, and were so impressed by the island that they bought
    9  most of the property, along with land further north, paying the
   10  federal government 75 cents an acre, and
   11         WHEREAS, Henry Lum later sold the property to fellow New
   12  Jersey natives Elnathan Field and Ezra Osborn, who began a
   13  coconut plantation along the shore, but ultimately sold their
   14  land to John S. Collins and his son-in-law, Thomas Pancoast, who
   15  were also from New Jersey, and
   16         WHEREAS, in 1913, avocado grower and investor John S.
   17  Collins teamed up with auto parts entrepreneur and Indianapolis
   18  Motor Speedway developer Carl G. Fisher for the funding and
   19  construction of the first bridge from Miami to Miami Beach, a
   20  project that, at the time, was the world’s longest wooden bridge
   21  and which set the stage for the area’s real estate boom, and
   22         WHEREAS, Miami Beach was officially incorporated on March
   23  26, 1915, and it experienced remarkable growth in the years that
   24  followed, including major oceanfront resorts that beckoned to
   25  tourists, and
   26         WHEREAS, during the Great Depression and afterward, new
   27  investor groups from the Northeast built smaller hotels along
   28  lower Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive and, some 70 years later,
   29  this famous Art Deco District forms a signature part of the
   30  city’s architectural and business history, and
   31         WHEREAS, the 1959 communist revolution in Cuba brought
   32  change to South Florida, as more than 500,000 Cubans fled their
   33  homeland to escape the cruel reign of dictator Fidel Castro and,
   34  with their arrival, enriched the cultural fabric of Miami Beach,
   35  which has also welcomed immigrants from Latin America, the
   36  Caribbean, and beyond, and
   37         WHEREAS, in more recent decades, the City of Miami Beach
   38  has benefited from additional investment capital and commercial
   39  real estate growth, an expanding population, and important
   40  transportation improvements, ensuring its continued success as a
   41  business, trade, and tourism destination that has few rivals,
   42  and
   43         WHEREAS, the City of Miami Beach is led by Mayor Dan
   44  Gelber; Commissioners Micky Steinberg, Mark Samuelian, Michael
   45  Góngora, Kristen Rosen Gonzales, Ricky Arriola, and John
   46  Elizabeth Alemán; and City Manager Jimmy L. Morales, NOW,
   47  THEREFORE,
   48  
   49  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   50  
   51         That the City of Miami Beach is recognized on the 103rd
   52  anniversary of its incorporation as a municipality.