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Final park plan on Flamingo visitor center
nearing fruition
Final plan combines popular features debated in earlier hearings
By ARNOLD MARKOWITZ
Waterfront News Writer
A final plan for remaking the Flamingo visitor center in Everglades National Park is out, with an optimistic completion forecast of 2013.
But the public has an earlier deadline — May 15 — to jump in with their own ideas on a draft of the plan already debated at four public hearings held last December and January.
Flamingo, the base of a superb saltwater fishery, draws South Florida steadies from the Keys across Florida Bay, and from as far north as Palm Beach County, not to mention its less-frequent fans from far away. Getting there is no cakewalk; once you reach the Florida Turnpike’s bottom end, it’s another hour’s drive to Flamingo — with only a campground and a cold-water bathhouse now for overnight accommodations.
Nobody does all that to visit a place they don’t care much about, said Everglades superintendent Dan Kimball. In agreement were the fishing, paddling, camping and nature-watching public who came out to air their views at the public meetings.
The resulting commercial services plan, or CSP for short, envisioned a joint venture between the National Park Service and private capital. Its goal is to create lodging, dining and other features attractive to both the public and a concessionaire who will be able to make a profit from it.
There might be some skepticism about that target time of 2013. Five years is awfully fast for government work. “We know it won’t be easy, but our goal is to work as hard as we can to implement it and get started in 2013,” said Fred Herling, chief of planning for Everglades. “There will likely be an interim five-year contract starting later this year that should begin moving some of the CSP items forward.”
A likely first phase would include a new fleet of eight rental houseboats, more kayaks and canoes, new food service in the marina area where only a small convenience store exists now, two new double chickees near Rankin and Johnson Keys in Florida Bay, 40 parking-camping sites with electric hookups in the RV area, solar-heated showers in the bathhouse and bicycles for visitors to get around the place. The amphitheater where rangers used to give nature talks will be rebuilt.
Next on the preliminary calendar would be 24 new cottages, a gift shop and a tram to Snake Bight at the eastern perimeter of the site.
Eco-tents would come next, 40 of them for overnighters who like feeling rustic without investing in loads of camping equipment they’re unlikely to use more than once or twice a year. The tents, featuring screen walls, canvas roofs and solar electricity, will be made so they can be dismantled and stored when hurricanes threaten. They’ll be located next to the regular tent sites (130 of those) close to the shoreline.
Finally, the new lodge with its swimming pool, restaurant and lounge would be opened.
Somewhere in that schedule will be fitted housing for park staff and the concessionaire’s employees. Those and other permanent facilities will be built to hurricane safety standards, elevated for flood safety and accessible to the handicapped.
Flamingo will never be the same as it used to be, but all that ought to make it better. The plan, combining the best and most popular features of three alternatives plans, puts the lodge, cottages and eco-tents near the marina and visitor center, and in an area about one-fifth the size occupied by the ruined lodge and cottages.
The rest of that area, 22 acres, will be restored to its original natural condition. So will 28 acres of former campgrounds. Two camping areas will remain — one for trailers and recreation vehicles, the other for tent camping.
The old parking sprawl will be condensed. There will be a system of yellow bikes (free to overnighters) and a shuttle tram to make moving around the place more efficient and to reduce the use of cars and trucks. Facilities will be accessible to the handicapped — a necessity, for most will be elevated above likely flood stage.
An economic analysis, prepared for the Park Service by Economic Research Associates in Washington D.C., says doing everything in the plan will require “significant capital investment.”
It estimated costs from $20 million to $23 million, but those figures are in 2008 dollars. No attempt was made to predict real-time costs over the next five years.
The new lodge, restaurant and lounge would take the largest share of that, $6.3 million. Concessionaire housing would cost $4.4 million.
The analysts estimated that a concession operator, running all the commercial services at Flamingo under a 20-year contract, could earn $3.4 million a year, or a 17.6 percent average annual return on investment before interest payments, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Also according to the analysts, the larger staff required by increased activity at a rebuilt Flamingo would add $590,000 to Park Service expenses. Water and wastewater costs would add $355,000, minus an estimated $100,000 reimbursement from the concessionaire. Those estimates also are in 2008 dollars.
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Up close
There are two ways to see all the details of the latest plan for rebuilding facilities at Flamingo in Everglades National Park. Then, if you want to state your opinion, you have until May 15.
For a copy of the plan on paper, call park headquarters at 305-242-7700. If voicemail recites a menu of options, press 2 at the first prompt and 5 at the second one to tell your mailing address.
To see the plans online, begin at the National Park Service’s planning website, http://parkplanning.nps.gov and choose Everglades NP from the list of parks.
From the list of current projects, click “Flamingo Commercial Services Plan / EA.” EA stands for economic analysis. In the left margin, click on “Open for Public Comment.”
Two documents are mentioned: the Preferred Alternative, which illustrates and explains the plan in detail, and the Economic Analysis.
After reviewing the plans, click the “Public Comment” link on the left to contribute your ideas or make objections.
If either document can’t be opened, resort to calling park headquarters.
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