Pics from my bike ride to the beach today...

I went on a bike ride today from my house to Southern Boulevard, down South Ocean to our beach and then back to my house - about 12 miles.  I stuffed my camera in my pocket in order to get some pictures of our beach, the casino building construction and miscellaneous other things.

I think these two pictures, above and below point out something that I think is a missed opportunity. In our rush to save the building with Suzanne Meulvehill's "Circle of Light" - which we ended up not doing in practice but only remains in the minds of a few people - we forfeited the chance to open up a view of the ocean as you come over the bridge.  We have essentially walled off the ocean from public view which is what developers have been doing since the early 20th Century in South Florida.  Where can you get an unobstructed view of the ocean as you head east?  If you know, please share.  I am having trouble thinking of one nearby.  We had what could have been a "blank slate" and placed the building anywhere on the 19 acre property and still have the required parking according to the County grant.  And, Commissioner McVoy, the almost 700 parking spaces make this more of a public parking lot for the beach, rather than 19 acres of park property.

Coincidentally, I am reading Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmstead by Justin Martin.  Mr. Olmstead, rather serendipitously, was one of the main designers and integral in the development of Central Park in New York City.  He also established the notion of landscape architecture as a profession.  I encourage you to read it if you are interested.  I just read a part last night how in 1859 he had to figure out how to plan for space for the horse carriages that would traverse the park when they weren't being used.  He assigned a paved area that he referred to as "carriage rests" which was the precursor to the ubiquitous "parking space" of the future.

I have always liked these coconut palms in the median leading to the beach.  A city crew was there today trimming them back.

This storage container lays in "Ye Olde Bridge Parking Lot" and is apparently part of the GreenMarket that operates there on Saturdays.  With this sort of signage, it would make the general public ask what is exactly open this Saturday.  The storage container?

I would like an explanation from the project architect on how the building will meet the city's current height restrictions.  The height definition is to the highest point of the building, including any ornamentation.