Fort Lauderdale artificial reef builder Gary Levine has received tentative approval from Miami-Dade County officials to post a gigantic environmental billboard on the ocean floor off Miami Beach.
Sometime in the next few months, Levine and his work crews are expected to begin spelling ''SAVE THE REEFS'' in block letters up to eight feet tall in water 30 feet deep, 1 ½ miles off Government Cut.
The letters will be formed by 13,000 circular modules of concrete and limestone -- each weighing about 700 pounds -- anchored eight feet below the ocean floor to withstand major storms. The entire message is expected to take up an area the size of 40 football fields.
''It will be the greatest fish habitat ever created by man and the most important message,'' Levine said, without a touch of irony.
'When planes are flying out of Miami International Airport, people will be able to see `SAVE OUR REEFS' on the bottom of the ocean on a good, clear day.''
Besides creating homes for fish, Levine believes the structures will be a big draw for scuba divers and snorkelers, luring them to stay in Miami Beach for underwater recreation instead of heading off to the Keys.
He likens the project to the 1983 blanketing of 11 Biscayne Bay islands with pink polypropylene by the artist Christo -- but to the benefit of the marine environment.
''We want people recognizing this like Christo wrapping the islands,'' Levine said. ``His was temporary; ours creates life.''
Levine figures the total project cost will be around $13 million. He expects the county to obtain some grants, but said much of the money will come from private donations.
Carl Olson of the nonprofit Coral Reefs 101 will solicit tax-deductible contributions. Donors will be recognized on underwater plaques.
Levine, a marine contractor, has lined up Alabama-based Reef Makers to manufacture the modules and South Miami's G.M. Selby to be project engineer. He's also looking for grant writers and support divers.
This is not Levine's first South Florida underwater project. He created the concept for the Neptune Memorial Reef, a re-creation of the Lost City of Atlantis that lies partially completed in 45 feet of water three miles off Key Biscayne.
Taken over by the Neptune Society, a cremation services company, the stones and columns are being sold as underwater burial sites.
''SAVE OUR REEFS'' is separate from that project and involves no cremated remains.
Levine said he has two more pending artificial reef projects. First, he proposes to enhance the connection between the popular ''Wreck Trek'' cluster of sunken Army tanks, ships and structures off Miami Beach with the same ''living circles'' that form ''SAVE OUR REEFS,'' making the path easier for divers to follow.
Next, he wants to begin placing stacks of the circles -- along with original sculptures -- about 70 feet deep off Fort Lauderdale in a 32-acre site where workers are removing up to two million waste tires that were dumped there in the 1960s and '70s.
Levine said there is no time to waste when it comes to saving the oceans.
''When it comes to green initiatives, the oceans are No. 1,'' he said. ``Today is the best day that will ever be for creating a reef.''
For more information, visit livingreefproject.com or miamireef.com.
