Miami Military Museum should stay private, mayor says

The good news about the county’s proposed takeover of the Miami Military Museum beside ZooMiami is that an initial inspection says its electrical and mechanical systems “show no deficiencies.” That’s according to a memo issued last week by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

So, all that’s left to resolve are the termite-ridden museum’s buckled floors, leaky roof, and potential heating, ventilation and air condition issues. Also required, she wrote, is the 40-year recertification of the building’s structural soundness.

Mayor Levine Cava also recommended that before a transfer to the county occurs, “further assessments and evaluations … be conducted to properly evaluate the operational and maintenance needs of the museum.”

The original Naval Air Station and blimp base (1942); turned Cold War CIA outpost and headquarters for anti-Castro Cuban exiles (1961); and Operation Mongoose (a CIA-run, anti-Castro campaign); turned US Army Reserve Center (1970); turned Army General Hospital; turned US Marine Corps Reserve Center from which our anti-tank TOW missile company (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) set out for Desert Storm in 1990, and was moved to its current county-owned site at 12460 SW 152nd St. and was named a historic landmark in 2010 as the Miami Military Museum and Memorial.

Despite the mayor’s concerns, the museum already has become, officially, the Miami-Dade Military Museum, with county cash propping up the struggling institution, and a five-year plan to stabilize its survival.

The transition to a county operation began June 6, according to Gustavo Cruz, the Miami-Dade advisor for military affairs. The county’s financial contribution to the museum this fiscal year is $800,000 with an additional amount of up to $750,000 scheduled for fiscal year 2023-2024.

Mayor Levine Cava’s report says, nonetheless, that “it is critical that the museum position itself to pursue outside funding opportunities.

“In general,” her report continues, “statistics show that only 23% of operating expenses for museums comes from earned revenue, with the remaining 77% supported by private grants, government support, and philanthropic donations.”

The mayor is pulling back the takeover reins, recommending that the “decision to transfer the museum’s assets to the county should not occur until further assessments and evaluations of the museum’s infrastructure has been completed…” The museum’s website already has been re-branded as the “Miami-Dade Military Museum.”

Nevertheless, Mayor Levine Cava asserted, “it is highly recommended that the Museum retain ownership of its assets to position itself for the successful pursuit and award of outside private and public grant funding.”