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Our February 24th meeting at Bimini Boatyard saw another great turnout despite the blustery, rainy weather and a number of faces and new members joined us for three interesting presentations of interest to everyone on the corridor.
Click here for a look at the photos from the meeting, courtesy of our friend and colleague, Bobby Raskin of Maritime Art by Bobby R.
For those who missed it, we had three very interesting and informative presentations. Arlene Wites of The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale kicked things off with a review of their recently successful outdoor festival event, 'Synergy' and a proposal to partner with the 17th Street Causeway Alliance to develop it into a 'Signature Event' for 17th Street, perhaps to be called 'Synergy on 17th Street!' The idea was greeted enthusiastically by members and attendees and will be one of the first items on the agenda for the new Board of Directors to consider.
Ms. Patricia Zeiler of the Sun Trolley was next on the agenda and received the rapt attention of the many attendees during her review of the challenges and opportunities she's inherited since taking over as the Executive Director of the TMA, which runs the Sun Trolley. Members asked numerous questions about the 17th Street routes and stops of the Sun Trolley and were brought up to speed by Ms. Zeiler on the many restrictions the Sun Trolley must deal with as the recipient of Federal grant monies that are essential to its operations and agreed to talk further with several members who expressed an interest in exploring new Sun Trolley route opportunities along 17th Street.
The final presentation of the evening was from Mr. Bruce Wigo, CEO of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, who put on a slideshow encompassing the fascinating history of the ISHOF and the community pool that preceded the current, but highly outdated current pools. He went on to discuss the city's desire to redevelop the pool as an attraction and asset to the city, as well as the lack of input the City had sought from him and ISHOF in putting together the RFP that they had already put out for redevelopment of the pools. This issue was generally agreed to be of concern to 17th Street as well as the beach and entire city due the nature of the (recently renamed) Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex slowly losing it's place in the competitive swimming world due to its outdated facilities. Mr. Wigo asked for the help of the Alliance and anyone interested in helping to redevelop the pool complex by taking part in upcoming discussions and decisions that will be made by the City as to the plans for this attraction and property.
The meeting concluded with a review of the Board Election process to take place in March and the need for members to step up and take this newly-created organization to the next levels of effectiveness in promoting the business and profile of our 17th Street Causeway.
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