Where is Walt Disney (who always paid for his stuff) when you need him?
Dr. Gregory Bush always derided Miami for its boosterism. This is the mother of all boosting: Miami Wild. What are we Orlando? Do we need every stupid thing they can think up at our fingertips and help pay for it to boot? Do we want to be a land of chain hotels and restaurants, or a farming community? Remember this is the only subtropical farming in the continental United States. Doesn't that mean anything to anybody?
Look at what the South Florida Business Journal reports (Attention: more of our tax money needed):
"20th Century Fox wants $13.5 million from the Miami-Dade County Economic Development Fund to replicate several US Coast Guard communication towers so that they can build their Miami Wilds amusement park.
The film company and Miami-Dade are negotiating the logistics of the proposed $930 million Miami Wilds development that might rise at the county-owned Zoo Miami, according to Miami Today. Included in the plans are theme park rides; a water park; a 400-room hotel with a Sony Music Theatre venue; a 30,000-square-foot retail and restaurant village; an entertainment center with movie theaters and bowling; an outdoor area for sports; and a 1.5-mile transportation link that brings it all together.
20th Century Fox plans to lease land from the county for the project. The company says it would pay Miami-Dade more than $67.1 million in rent during the first 20 years of operation, Miami Today reports.
The reason why the company has to replicate Coast Guard tower? Part of the Miami Wilds complex is to be built on federally owned land northeast of Zoo Miami where the US Coast Guard now has facilities. For that to happen, 20th Century Fox needs to replicate several towers.
20th Century Fox is also requesting public sector funding for $40 million parking, $26.5 million site preparation, $26 million roadways, and a $24 million transportation mode inside the entertainment complex."
| This is exactly where we don't want a big theme park, near our subtropical farms - the only subtropical farming in the continental U.S. |