Some other things going on while Rome burns. Teo1000
USA TODAY-WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1999 Historical Miami find may fall to condo plan By Deborah Sharp - USA TODAY MIAMI - Slated to be paved over for a condo garage, the fate of a Native American mystery from centuries past barely mustered a shrug in this city of transplants, where history is measured in minutes. Until Tuesday, the future seemed foregone for the so-called Miami Circle, a huge stone carving that could be a celestial calendar or a buried village from long-extinct Tequesta Indians. Then came moves by dueling elected officials, a candlelight citizens' vigil and an offer by the condo developer to excavate and move the circle from the path of bulldozers scheduled to roar on Feb. 26. "Miami in general has a very sorry record in dealing with its historic properties," University of Miami history professor Greg Bush says. "People who come from other places obviously don't have the same sense of history about Florida. They look at the state as a hotel: They're moving in; they're moving out" Interest is scant in recent Florida history, let alone ages-old tales of the Tequesta Indians. Up to a million strong, the Tequesta roamed Florida when Ponce de Leon landed in 1513, searching for his Fountain of Youth. The Indians didn't last long after the Europeans arrived. Disease and war brought extinction. On Tuesday, The Miami Herald chided the historically disinterested in an editorial: "For goodness's sake, people, the Miami Circle is about to give its life for a condo parking garage! This is a horror on the level of a church desecration - made worse because the community may sit idly by while it occurs:" Locals mainly have greeted the Miami Circle with a massive yawn. Over mild opposition, the city of Miami cleared the way last week for the $100 million condo project It issued building permits for Brickell Pointe to rise on 2.2 waterfront acres. But across downtown at County Hall on Tuesday morning, MiamiDade County commissioners trumped their city brethren by appointing a task force to save the circle. Not to be outdone, Miami Mayor Joe Carollo called a news conference later in the day to say the circle would be excavated and moved to a public site; the developer would pay the expenses. Preservationists, however, remain unswayed. At a hastily called candlelight vigil Tuesday night, they said moving the circle from its original site would be akin to moving England's famed Stonehenge. A news conference featuring concerned Native Americans is being planned for Thursday. Condo developer Michael Baumann, a Miami native who ha,,, allowed archaeologists six months to comb the site and has even helped out at the dig, resents being painted as a history-destroying villain. Says his lawyer, Michael Kreitzer: "From the very beginning, he's given every cooperation. And what does he get for his trouble? Maligned and vilified." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1999 - USA TODAY MIAMI RUINS.- Removal of a centuries-old stone circle from a high-rise construction site in downtown Miami was delayed when a stonemason backed out of a deal to move the ruins. Protesters chanted, burned candles and appealed to state Officials to preserve the 38-foot wide circle, discovered in September during excavation for the $100 million project. Archaeologists have dated pottery chips back 2,000 years. They say the ruins were left by Tequesta Indians, who were wiped out by war and disease in the 16th century. Developers say they just want to move the ruins.
