Truman Waterfront

I am trying to record as much of the old Truman Waterfront as I can before the new buildings crowd in on these untroubled 34 acres of former Navy base. This is the rather splendid Eco Discovery center where you go to discover the secrets of the rather unusual sub-tropical flora and fauna that live in the Keys:

There is construction starting on the open space and now there are fences within fences...making a nonsense of out-of-date traffic signs.

Rusty trotted off ahead of me and waited obediently while I caught up:

There is some effort to save some existing stuff which is decent of them. 

The old Coastguard ship Ingham is supposedly going to stay, unlike the Mohawk (which I thought as the more interesting ship) which was sent off for sinking to be a dive attraction off Sanibel Island.

The Eco Discovery center is designed and built to take advantage of the sunshine and uses sod on the roof for temperature controil as well as displaying local vegetation outside.

These floating things have been here since at least 2010 that I recall. I'm not sure what they are used for but they are outside sort of tucked away. I had an idea they are used for boat races or something: 

I took a fairly complete tour of the Dr Nancy Foster Eco Discovery Center in 2010 Link which is a reminder I should do it again:

I enjoy the exterior of the building too with its fish cutouts and coral silhouettes:

Mostly serving the unemployed, who I suppose need something uplifting to do in their abundant weekday free time. You'd think a museum type attraction could be open on a Sunday, but no luck.

Ooh look, modern electric car plug in station!

And ooh look a modern electric car plugged in. A Tesla. 

It was actually a nice spot to sit on the grass and watch people coming and going from Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in the distance.

And then we slowly made our way back around the waterfront.

The construction currently underway will beautify and limit our ambling use of what has been for a long time simple open space. The Bermello Ajamil website, whence came this groundbreaking picture, describes the four million dollar design as the largest South Florida park construction plan currently under way.

 Cheyenne used to like it too before the fencing and landscaping started. In this picture you can see the old Navy Guard hut with the sloping roof that guarded the entrance to the military part of the waterfront.: 

Now, in the area between Admiral's Cut where the waterfront nearly joins the Westin Hotel and the Ingham  ship museum this 3500 seat amphitheater will be built.  What traffic will be like in the lanes of Bahama Village as that many people come and go all at once doesn't bear thinking about.

The brave new plan also calls for this former Navy warehouse to become a restaurant and museum:

And there have been noises about dressing up this rather stark black and white thing in tropical turquoise.

I will miss our visits, Rusty and I romping about in the grass, unhampered by plans and developments, money and rules.

I try to take as much advantage of this place as I can, while I can. I've been doing that for years always waiting for  the hammer to drop and for construction to begin, Well, now it has.

Dr Nancy Foster Eco-Discovery Center

Science in the public interest, it's free to all comers and it's beautifully laid out and it will teach anyone a thing or two.


It's all about fish and corals and mangroves and birds and things.


Wetlands and beaches and dunes and Florida's astounding eco-system, much abused and taken for granted and struggling to survive get their moment in the limelight here.


Hammocks get a display too, not cloth sleeping platforms but lumps of dry dirt rising a few feet above surrounding inundated lands, typically found in the Keys and Everglades.


State employees do a valiant job teaching the public to respect our land and water.


And since I was last here the electronics seem to have expanded and improved. The are lots of interactive screens to press and watch and listen to.


The center is itself an example of what could be done if public officials in the Sunshine State had a clue. Sod and solar panels on the roof reduce interior heat and create electricity.


That solar panels aren't everywhere in the Keys is a disgrace but a few hardy pioneers like the Eco Center and the Key West High School are trying to lead the public horse to water, in a manner of speaking. Lots of visitors like the Hogfish restaurant on Stock Island but I wonder if they know what it's namesake looks like?


Then there is the big yellow cylinder that replicates the undersea laboratory that lives nine miles south of Key Largo in sixty feet of water.


Scientists live down there for extended periods supplied with all the necessities, including phones and Internet by a buoy floating on the surface. Children of all ages can wander through this replica to get a feel for the last form of "space travel" left to us now that Russia rules Outer Space alone.


In fact not only marine scientists choose to make use of Aquarius, but they also tell us proudly NASA used to use it to simulate living conditions in space. Perhaps they still do for our astronauts traveling as guests in Russia's rockets.


It seems a rather Spartan life to me, despite the Internet and cell phone coverage looking out through little port holes.


The have bunk beds and a kitchen and to come back to the surface they have to spend hours decompressing to clear the nitrogen from their blood.


It is all terribly elaborate and very useful they tell us.


Then there are the water tanks breeding corals and fish and not very easy to photograph successfully and outside the sun shines on those solar panels on the roof.


A big old brain coral sculpture to remind you where you are,
down at the Truman Waterfront.


Our enemies keep telling us government is the problem not the solution.


The Eco-Discovery center shows that generalizations are not worth the hot air they flown on.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Eco Discovery Center

It's been a while but it was time to head back. Florida Monthly Magazine rates the "best" attractions in the state by some means not made clear and half of Key West seems to win a category in their readers' poll. http://www.floridamagazine.com/bestof2010.html The Eco Discovery center won "Best Nature Center" a win they are touting. Fair enough I suppose, a win is a win in our crazily competitive society, but the list looks suspiciously weighted in favor of South Florida and the Keys in particular.The walkway into the center is paved with donor plaques. Once inside, and entrance is free, the center puts on a good show.Weather in the Keys involves some discussion of waterspouts and hurricanes.Dioramas display flora and fauna.

I think this is it:

I really enjoy wandering the place and taking it all in.

You can dive without getting wet:

And the undersea lab notwithstanding there are tanks filled with actually water. And coral.This was the main reason for my visit.

I had heard on the radio (when the "Best of..." award was also discussed) that a live Lion fish had been donated. It looked like an aggressive little bastard, sitting and staring out of it's aquarium:A staff member clued me in on the fish which has become imported to these waters by accident and has no natural predators except for the Blue Wrasse that likes to eat it's eggs. Which is a good thing as each Lion fish can produce hundreds of thousands of eggs. The Lion fish is aggressive and eats anything it can kill. It's spines are poisonous but apparently it's meat is delicious, like Hog fish. Also delicious to some people is the Queen Conch sitting in solitary splendor in it's own tank. This is a native mollusk eaten almost to extinction in these waters and is now imported from Central America to feed Key West.

Standing inside the center one can look out and see the harbor just a stone's throw away.An air conditioned refuge from the world outside.

My friend Robert's favorite marker in the walkway, his favorite saying really:

And here he is caught in a pensive moment as we strolled out together.I can't remember why I don't come back more often.