BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
A local nonprofit presented Bahama Village residents with a bold and green plan for 6.6 acres at Truman Waterfront Thursday night that organizers say could revitalize the community.
The estimated $30 million project calls for the development of the 6.6 acres coveted by the now defunct Bahama Conch Community Land Trust.
The idea was presented by resident Jedde Regante at the monthly District 6 neighborhood meeting, which usually features police issues.
Regante, a local lawyer, business owner and green technology consultant, created the Southernmost Sustainable Community Development Corp. to offer a proposal for a plaza, community center and sports complex based on what Bahama Village residents have said they wanted for the 6.6 acres.
"The present plan we felt came from within this community," Regante said. "This is what you told us you wanted."
And Regante wants to build it all with green technology by way of state and federal environmental grants, erasing or minimizing the city's financial burden -- a point that would need to be hammered out by city leaders should the project blossom.
"We would like to see the city put out a request for proposal for whatever they decide to do with the property," Regante said. "I believe our project will win because the ideas came from the community."
Key West City Manager Jim Scholl was supportive of the pitch, but cautious in his assessment.
"This is a good concept of what could be done," Scholl said. "The [Truman Waterfront Advisory] board is interested, but it's important to remember that we have to get into the details of what this green technology has to offer and weigh that against proven technology when we get into costs."
City Commissioner Clayton Lopez, whose district includes Bahama Village, said things are preliminary, but that residents should have the loudest input into whatever happens to the 6.6 acres.
"At this point, my biggest concern is making sure that these plans get to the people and they have an opportunity to weigh in," Lopez said.
Olivia Street resident Erika Biddle was sold.
"This is absolutely fabulous," Biddle said after the meeting. "It's exactly what we need for the waterfront -- this kind of vision. ... This is charming and it really integrates our community."
Whitehead Street resident and substance abuse counselor Edie Hambright was also impressed that the proposal offered green space and environmental technologies.
"My partner and I are old girls; we need the shade," Hambright said with a laugh. "But I really liked that they listened to this community and that they want to celebrate that. It looks like something we can be very proud of."
Regante's proposal also includes a new boxing gym and horse stables for the Key West Police Department, a large open space leading to the community center that would serve as the western "anchor" of Petronia Street.
It would be done in traditional Key West architecture that mirrors the history of Bahama Village, Regante said.
There would be bocce and horse shoe pits, thousands of square feet of community garden space, a gymnastics area in the new gym, a day-care center and a full-size athletic field.
The 6.6 acres is separate from the 25 or so acres at the Truman Waterfront that the Meisel Spottswood developers are proposing to develop.
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