Community fights to save log cabin in Miami Beach

City says cabin isn't safe, doesn't meet code

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A little log cabin sits on Collin Avenue.

It was first built as a home in 1934, and then served as Miami Beach's beloved center of activities for the disabled and their job training at the log cabin nursery.

But the cabin may not be around much longer.

Kirk Pascal, a North Beach resident, broke the news on Facebook that several city commissioners decided that the log cabin is too far gone and too expensive to save.

"It's a testament to our pioneering history and it's something that really brings great character to North Beach's identity," Pascal said.

Paula King wants to save the building.

"It is so worth saving this structure," King said. "Everybody knows it. It's the heart and soul of North Beach."

Commissioner John Aleman said in a Facebook comment that the building is simply not safe.

"The rotting, infested building doesn't meet code," he wrote on Facebook. "(It) is not safe to be habited." 

The building is, however, in good enough shape to be used and for people to be inside. In fact, the city uses it for storage and machinery.

The air conditioning was on when Local 10 News visited.

"If this were a private property and a private owner had let it deteriorate to this," Paul Mokha said. "they would have been fined, would have had many code violations, but now the city let a public building deteriorate."

 A master plan for the North Beach neighborhood says that the log cabin should be preserved.

Miami-Dade County's Historic Preservation Board is now urging Miami Beach to restore the log cabin and designate the building a historic site.

 


About the Author:

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."