Posted on 01/29/2006 6:06:47 PM PST by Sam Cree
Miami-Dade County may get its most unusual artificial reef ever with the re-creation of the lost city of Atlantis in the ocean 3 ¼ miles off Key Biscayne this spring.
Gary Levine's Atlantis Reef Project received final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Miami-Dade's Department of Environmental Resources Management earlier this month to construct the sprawling network of cement and bronze statues in 50 feet of water. Levine says construction should begin in March, with the first phase ready to receive divers at the end of April. Levine said the reef will take three to five years to complete at a cost of between $3 million and $5 million.
''It will be five concentric circles, 900 feet in diameter, as big as three football fields,'' Levine said. ``You can see it from the air as a compass pointing due north. There will be 40 specific themed sculptures incorporating the elements you'd have in any city -- arts, government, the military, theater.''
While most of the structures will be made of concrete, utilizing up to 10,000 cubic yards of material, there will also be some bronze statues sculpted by Kim Brandell, who is famous for the stainless steel globe at Donald Trump's headquarters in New York.
Graphic illustrations are done by Joey Burns, who designed the interior of the Sultan of Brunei's private jet, Levine said.
Levine envisions Atlantis Reef as an attraction for divers; haven for fish, lobster and other marine creatures; coral nursery; underwater laboratory -- and memorial reef.
Since Miami-Dade County is not financing the project, Levine proposes to raise money through donors who pay to have their cremated remains incorporated into Atlantis' columns and balustrades.
''Instead of getting sprinkled in the ocean, you're inside a three-foot column,'' Levine said. ``You can be memorialized in this underwater city.''
At this point, he said, there are about a dozen people who have signed up for the underwater memorials.
Interesting...but breaking?
Army Corp of Engineers destoyed the evergaldes,
is this there next great acomplishment?
yea I know Glades
drain bamage
How does this equate to the everglades being it's 3 1/4 miles into the Atlantic?
How does this equate to the Army Corps of Engineers if all they did was approve a private undertaking?
Ok so they'll build it to look like Atlantis. Then some tragedy will befall mankind and we'll forget we built it. Then some underwater archaelogists will come along and decide Eureka I've found Atlantis.
Can't wait to hear the interpretations of the greek writings that explain how it wound up in FL.
What witht the actual remains of Atlantis being 45 miles away in Bimini;-) http://www.subversiveelement.com/BiminiRoad.html
I live and work in Miami. I don't think its quite that bad here but bad neighborhoods are never far away in any big city.
Whether they are made out of sunken ships, aircraft or concrete blocks, artificial reefs attract marine life which attracts recreational divers who spend dollars in the local economy.
Its no weirder than building a fake castle in Orlando and expecting tourists to come and spend money to see it.
(This is known to all people who know the Earth is hollow, with a hole at the North Pole from which Santa emerges every Christmas, but the governments, especially the Secret Mystic Heriditary Tibetan Monks who secretly manage the world (except Pittsburgh, which is unmanagable) hush it all up.)
There is a boatload of new-agers who worship the myths of Atlantis. According to this bunch, crystals powered Atlantis and had great healing powers.
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Did the ACOE have their hands in those quality levies in La?
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They built to the spec the state gave them. Don't dis the COE; they do tremendous work.
Well, the artificial reef part is fairly straightforward. I've fished some myself, and contributed debris to a few as well. Also fished from time to time on wrecks, and even sunk airplanes. But the idea of getting permits to build a quasi Disney type attraction underwater, in public waters, in our "fragile and rare ecosystem" right in the middle of real reefs and healthy marine communities of fauna and flora is a little shocking in this day and age.
But the weird part is the ruins of Atlantis theme combined with the idea of selling gravesites in the attraction. AFAIK, you can't buy gravesites in Disney World, can you?
But having said all that, the thing sounds like fun, and should bring more customers to the local dive boats and other businesses patronized by those who will come to dive the thing. It's pretty much OK with me.
Makes sense.
"Its no weirder than building a fake castle in Orlando and expecting tourists to come and spend money to see it."
Does this "Atlantis" have underwater rollercoster rides? (snicker snicker)
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