letter to the editor

Building 103 as the Boxing Gym

letter

by Paul Williams…….

Dear Editors,

There is, perhaps, a readily available solution to the cultural threat posed by locating a citywide, multi – ethnic boxing gym 50 feet from Shine Forbes’s old house… uh, even though Kermit, himself, might have been fine with precisely that picture. Other people are not. They wish something else could be arranged.

Well, it could; but Islanders, Both white and black, would, first, actually have to Stop for a moment and Think …. about what a suitable PAL alternative might look like.

The big white former Navy building right next to the Coast Guard Cutter Museum at the foot of Southard would make a great location for an upbeat, highly visible, KWPD “Community Activity”.

On – The – Waterfront.
( Do the City’s esteemed parental units need an explanatory caption to this – as yet, only mental – picture? Now? In 2016?)

Yes, the ship’s crew is using the ”front”” of the building for logistics and supply space. Yet, just the ”back” (east) half of Building #103 might be sufficient for the PAL. I forget the dimensions, but it’s something like 10,000 sft. And – it has open space on All three sides. And – it’s thoroughly modifiable, expandable space, inside and out.

Reader: You would actually have to go look at it to see a clear picture of how obviously Bldg. 103 could support a public, highly desirable, community friendly, dual use. Walk around it and visualize how things might look in the not too distant future.

You know? With absolutely No Need to hit Bahama Village a completely gratuitous shot in its already wobbly cultural knee caps. If we were to think about the Black Bahama Conch community as an Asset, unique to Key West, as time goes by?

That block stretching between Petronia and Geraldine, and from Emma to Fort, is the northernmost, irreducible Anchor of Bahama Village’s threatened traditional neighborhood. With Douglas Gym, the American Legion Post 168, the Community Clinic and the Band Room, that small piece of real estate comprises the heart of what’s left of old Bahama Village

On the South is the MLK Building and its park spaces. On Whitehead, the Black Elks are still going strong. If the Council permits ANY of these remaining half dozen organs to be chipped away or repurposed, they will be actively supporting – and hastening – the destruction of almost two centuries of African – Bahama Conch tradition on the western tip of Key West.

The only surviving community assets would then be a few, mostly small, Churches.

Move the gym elsewhere… like onto the yet undeveloped Truman Waterfront, right next to the Cutter Ingram.

Let visitors to Key West see with their own eyes, without any need for puffed – up, PR embellishments, that Key West’s GENUINELY proud history is in fact a prologue to it’s strong future as a fully intact, diverse “Island Home”.

Let the visitors leave thinking: “:Gee, the place is real. It’s not just some slick PR pitch, like the instant town in Blazing Saddles. All front. Nothing real. Just a manufactured sales pitch. Nada mas.

Let the band room stay a band room. Shine Forbes liked music, too, you know.

The only force that could stop 103 from morphing into a seamless, dual community use, would be the unseen objection of some well heeled business group with visions of hi – dollar grandeur for the whole Southard street acreage.

So, people: Is Key West ALL about the money?

ALL the time?

100% ?

The City Council needs to back the right program, here.

Now.

One thought on “Building 103 as the Boxing Gym

  1. Mr. Williams, I have written about Building 103 and its possible uses (with the public’s numerous ideas) several times, as well as being involved in discussions of this property and design at Truman Waterfront Park Advisory Board meetings.

    So far, my take is that the rear of the approximately 14,000 sq.’ building looks like it could end up being a small type of Conch Café with a separate area as a staging area for catering of Wedding Receptions, Conferences, Meetings, etc. which would utilize the front of the building. $5 million has been earmarked for the design and renovation of this building with about half of that coming from a Tourist Development Council grant.

    I personally would like for the PAL building to be saved and renovated with its main operation located there – where there is already a Boxing Ring. The PAL building can serve multiple services of which I and others have described in detail previously, including: PAL operation; Horse Stables; Computer learning lab; Mentoring for kids; Police presence; Wrestling and boxing instruction; Culinary training; Storage for Police vehicles and heavy equipment; City Community Service operations; Dormitory for traveling sports teams who can’t afford high hotel rates; etc. The Douglass Gym could possibly share some of these features and more but, yes, that area is already grossly overworked. A ballpark estimate from a General Contractor to renovate the existing PAL building is $1 million to $1.5 million – that should give the building 50-75 years of use or indefinitely if maintained.

    The Custom House Museum is called the ‘Crown Jewel of Architecture’ for our island, but I would like to have Building 103 thought of when finished as not only the City’s go-to place for locals and our guests to enjoy, but also to have an exterior designed in such a way that it would be a standout on the Waterfront for beauty as well as functionality.

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