Filed at March 15, 2009 under Florida Keys and Upper Keys and Islamorada and Animals and Fish and Lobster and Tourism by Keys
Big Betsey, once deemed the second-most photographed icon in the Florida Keys by Eastman Kodak, behind only the Southernmost Point, could soon migrate back into public view. Betsey, better known simply as The Giant Lobster of Islamorada, has been absent for months from her longtime post outside the former Treasure Village on Plantation Key. “We’re working on it,” Mia Berry said of plans for the re-emergence of the family-owned fiberglass sculpture.
With its former home having been transformed into a school, the lobster has been hidden away in a storage yard off the Overseas Highway. Within the next few weeks, however, the giant crustacean, 30 feet tall by 40 feet long, will re-emerge, luring passersby to the Rain Barrel Artisan Village on Plantation Key.
Rain Barrel Gallery LLC and Big Betsy owners Dennis and Mia Berry finalized a 10-year lease with a purchase option on Monday, Dennis Berry and Rain Barrel co-owner Mike Forster said. They did not disclose terms of the deal.
“We are doing this because we feel in this economy we need to generate more trips to the Rain Barrel for our tenants,” Forster said. “We figured that the lobster was a great draw. It always has been a great draw. It was a great draw at Treasure Village and it will be at the Rain Barrel.” Read more »
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Filed at March 14, 2009 under Animals and Mammal and Dolphin and Florida Keys and Upper Keys and Key Largo by Keys
The Marine Mammal Conservancy will keep its Key Largo home base, group officials reported Wednesday. A real estate closing held in Miami seems to end a lengthy court battle with the former owners, JPB Properties of Colorado.
“We’re very happy to have this behind us,” MMC President Robert Lingenfelser said. “We just want to continue on with our mission and continue to serve stranded marine mammals in the Florida Keys and South Florida.” Last year, Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia ordered JPB Properties to honor a contract to sell the bayfront site near mile marker 102.5 to the MMC for $458,000, a provision in the MMC’s original lease with the former owners.
JPB, headed by John Powers, contended the MMC had violated the lease, so the contract was invalid. Garcia ruled that while some lease agreements had been violated, the sale contract must be honored. Powers said he always intended the Key Largo site to serve as a rehabilitation center for stranded dolphins or small whales, but that he was concerned about MMC’s direction after his friend and property agent, dolphin rescuer Rick Trout, was forced out. Lingenfelser declined to discuss details of financing for the purchase. “That’s nobody’s business but ours,” he said. Read more »
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Big Betsey, once deemed the second-most photographed icon in the Florida Keys by Eastman Kodak, behind only the Southernmost Point, could soon migrate back into public view. Betsey, better known simply as The Giant Lobster of Islamorada, has been absent for months from her longtime post outside the former Treasure Village on Plantation Key. “We’re working on it,” Mia Berry said of plans for the re-emergence of the family-owned fiberglass sculpture.