Miami-Dade County paused the eviction of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center from its Crandon Park facility for 45 days, an effort Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says is to negotiate a path forward with the non-profit. 

But the center’s executive director, Theodora Long, said the County’s offer, made Nov. 7,  is not evidence of acting in good faith. 

“We’ve been in the park for 40 years. How does a 45 day extension do anything,” Long said on Tuesday.

It was in an August 22 County letter that  Long learned that their programming partnership license agreement would be expiring on November 23. The  nonprofit was told it needed to vacate the building it now occupies in Crandon Park. The letter gave no reason.

But since then, it has come to light that Miami-Dade wants to take control of the center’s building because it believes it can generate $1 million in revenue through kayak and snorkel trips through its EcoAdventures operation. That predicted revenue is helping to balance the County budget, which at one point suffered a $402 million shortfall this year. 

Mayor Levine Cava wrote to Long, saying officials wanted to talk.

“This pause will remain in effect as we engage in a constructive dialogue to determine a mutually beneficial path forward for the Center, its educational mission, and its continued relationship with the County,” Levine Cava wrote. “Our goal is to identify a sustainable and transparent framework that preserves public access, supports expanded educational programming through mutual efforts, and honors the shared vision established when the Center was founded.”

Aerial view of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center in Crandon Park, Key Biscayne (Biscayne Nature Center via KBI/Facebook)

The mayor also promised that her office and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces would coordinate next steps and schedule follow-up discussions in the coming weeks. But Long has found the lack of transparency very disheartening.

Calls and messages to the mayor’s spokespeople for comment were unreturned on Tuesday. 

Never miss a story! Sign up for our FREE newsletter

The Independent obtained a copy of the mayor’s letter to Long as well as a copy of Long’s response. 

“The center rejects the characterization of this ‘temporary pause’ as constructive engagement. It is not,” Long said in the letter. 

She makes clear the center’s position, calling on the County to rescind the August 22 eviction notice. 

“On behalf of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center Board of Trustees, we do not recognize the County’s asserted authority to unilaterally alter, suspend or otherwise terminate the relationship that has governed our presence at Crandon Park for decades,” Long said later in the letter. 

The nonprofit has been teaching children about the coastal environment for decades at the two-story building, which houses a collection of artifacts, a saltwater aquarium and a touch tank. The center is named after environmental pioneer Marjory Stoneman Douglas who helped create the program, which got its start in 1969 from inside a hot dog stand. 

The current facility was paid for and built thanks to a state grant and millions in donations raised by the nonprofit. The building was later gifted to the Miami-Dade School district,  but it sits inside a county park. 

“It’s the legacy of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, this was her brain child to make this happen for the community and for the County to send us an eviction notice. I can’t understand,” Long said. 

Jessica De Leon is a general assignment reporter at the Key Biscayne Independent.