Keep your suits on. After all the talk of a clothing-optional beach and a referendum on the Oct. 6 ballot, Key West City Commissioners unanimously killed the item at Tuesday’s meeting.
Commissioners said the lack of a specific site raised too many questions, calling it premature to begin the process of changing land-use rules to allow for designated “naturist” areas. They also said the proposed referendum could confuse voters.
“This is also not a proposal for Fantasy Fest. I want to end those comparisons,” Commissioner Clayton Lopez said. “I actually do support the naturists in their quest to find a place where they can go in comfort, but we have an obligation both to the naturists and to those who don’t want to be — excuse the pun — exposed to it.”
Interim Commissioner Joe Pais, who is filling out the term of Dan Kolhage, reminded commissioners of the long-gone businesses like Naked Lunch and Atlantic Shores and said that naturism may not be the economic draw supporters portray.
“They [the aforementioned businesses] failed. The thousands of people that are going to be here, they’re not going to be here,” Pais said. “We’re not going to trade our businesses for businesses that have already failed. Buy your own property. Start your own business.”
Mayoral candidate Sloan Bashinsky called out commissioners for not having the political courage to make a tough decision, rather than sending the nude beach issue to a non-binding referendum.
“You seven should have made the decision. That’s what you were elected to do,” Bashinsky said. “I will never pass the buck like that. That is weenie-ing out and I accuse you, Mr. Verge, of being a weenie.”
District I Commissioner Bill Verge laughed that off and joined the rest of the commission in killing the referendum.
City staff is working with commissioners to set up public workshops to discuss the idea of designated naturist beaches. For more information, go to www.kwfb.org .
Key West’s nightly Sunset Celebration has been named America’s best unheralded free attraction, and Bahia Honda State Park near Big Pine Key has been ranked number two in a list of best United States beaches by TripAdvisor.
Both accolades were determined by the TripAdvisor Popularity Index and TripAdvisor editors.
TripAdvisor-branded Web sites provide online travel reviews and feature more than 25 million monthly visitors and 10 million registered members.
For more than 30 years, Key West’s Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square has drawn large nightly crowds to applaud talents of colorful street performers, view local artisans’ handmade wares and watch the sun sink beneath the horizon beyond Key West Harbor. A tightrope walker, jugglers, mimes, quirky animal acts, fortune tellers, musicians and foodstuffs including “Pretty Good Popcorn” are among attractions as well as unobstructed views of the setting sun.
In its announcement of the designation, TripAdvisor lauded the nightly event as “a celebration of dazzling Key West sunsets” and quoted a TripAdvisor traveler who said, “You can’t imagine the beauty of this, it is just awesome.”
Whether composing novels in his Whitehead Street writing studio or fishing for big game in local waters, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway left a powerful legacy in Key West. His zest for life, literary accomplishments and enduring affection for the island he called home throughout the 1930s are to be commemorated Tuesday through Sunday, July 21-26, during the annual Hemingway Days celebration.
Scheduled events include a look-alike contest for stocky white-bearded men resembling Hemingway, readings and book signings by nationally acclaimed authors, an awards ceremony for the renowned literary competition directed by author and Hemingway granddaughter Lorian Hemingway, a commemoration of the 110th anniversary of Ernest’s July 21 birth, a one-man play exploring the literary legend’s life and motivations, a museum exhibit of rare Hemingway memorabilia, a zany “Running of the Bulls” and a three-day marlin tournament recalling Hemingway’s devotion to the deep-sea sport.
During his Key West residence, Ernest Hemingway wrote some of his most enduring works and spent his leisure hours fishing and socializing with local and literary cohorts. Each year, fans of his writing and exuberant lifestyle come together for Hemingway Days. Read more »
OK so it was really the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg a 523-foot-long former U.S. Air Force missile tracking ship. And it was sunk to create an artificial reef.
But this same ship was the “Star” of the 1999 movie Virus with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Sutherland and William Baldwin, a Russian spaceship tracking vessel somewhere in the Pacific. The scientists onboard are in direct communication with their pals onboard the MIR spacestation. A bright bolt out of the sky goes whipping through the spacestation and follows the invisible communication beam down to the ship below. The ship is loaded to the gills with research labs and only one Russian crewmember is still alive, raving about “intelligent lightning.” They soon discover that an alien life form has taken over the ship’s computers and is churning out biomechanical warriors to attack Earth’s virus, better known as humans.
Project organizers say they have set the date [actually a range of dates] to scuttle a retired missile-tracking ship that will be converted into an artificial reef off Key West. Key West City Manager Jim Scholl says the sinking of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg will be between May 26 and June 1.
The Vandenberg arrived in Key West on April 22. The ship is to be scuttled about seven miles south of Key West in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
On the surface, it sounds like a simple plan.
Each of 42 charges totaling 179 pounds of explosive material will create 3 million pounds of pressure per square inch, tearing 42 holes in the hull of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg below the water line.
That’s the science, but bringing the old ship down will require as much art as engineering savvy. Getting the ship and the 6 million pounds of iron and concrete ballast inside it to settle properly on the sandy floor — seven miles southeast of Key West and half a mile from the nearest reef — required years of model-making, planning and input from explosive experts, engineers and scientists, said project founder Joe Weatherby.
Permits from 18 different agencies define the location, surveyed during more than 130 dives, according to Sheri Lohr of Artificial Reefs of the Keys.
Anyone who wants to get close to the 522-foot Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg when it sinks will be disappointed.
The Navy, Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Key West Police Department will be out in force to ensure that no boaters breach a one-mile-radius perimeter around the vessel as it goes down.
Authorities, led by the FWC, will encircle the ship with their boats during the sinking, spokesman Bobby Dube said.
The boundary will be enforced when the Vandenberg arrives at its final resting place, between Sand Key and Western Sambo, south of the Hawks Channel Marker 32. Encroaching boaters will be given a warning, Dube said. Those who repeatedly cross the line could be detained and arrested, he added.
The Fourth Annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival, in Key West, presented by the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, celebrates the bounty of the sea on Jan. 17, 2009. The event, at Bayview Park on Virginia Street, is free and will feature seafood caught and cooked by local fishermen. Proceeds benefit the association and student scholarships for children of fishermen. For details, call 305-292-4501.
24th Annual Key West Craft Show, Jan. 24-25, 2009 a juried show with artisans and crafters displaying their creations on Whitehead and Caroline Streets (call 305-294-1241 or visit www.keywestartcenter.com).
