Surfside commission votes to seek family input on collapse anniversary, memorial plans
As families of the victims of the condo building collapse looked on, the newly elected Surfside Commission voted Tuesday on measures to remember those who died in the Champlain Towers South tragedy.
Commissioners voted unanimously to create family-led committees to help organize a one-year anniversary event to honor the victims of the June 24 disaster and make recommendations for a permanent memorial. They also voted to explore installing temporary signage at the site at 8777 Collins Ave. with the names of the 98 victims who died.
“I think your first meeting is definitely a step in the right direction,” Dovy Ainsworth, whose parents died in the collapse, told commissioners. Ainsworth said it was fitting because Surfside “will forever be known” as the town where a building fell.
The first meeting since the March 15 election was dedicated to issues related to the collapse. The new mayor, Shlomo Danzinger, and three new commissioners attended, while the only incumbent commissioner, Nelly Velasquez, was absent from the meeting.
The lone moment of tension in an otherwise quiet meeting came when a member of the audience said he thought installing a banner at the site and a memorial nearby may lower the sales price for the property — which would impact the payout to unit owners and families in a class-action lawsuit related to the collapse.
Martin Langesfeld, whose sister and brother-in-law died in the collapse, said it was not appropriate to discuss money at a meeting focused on remembering those who died in the tragedy.
“If they’re worried about diminishing the value they need to realize that life is worth much more than property,” he said.
Commissioners hope to receive design options and costs for the new signage by their April 12 meeting. Danzinger said the signage could only remain for a few months, until the 2-acre oceanfront Champlain Towers property is sold to a private buyer.
The new anniversary and memorial committees will make recommendations for commission approval. A May 10 deadline was set for a vote on plans for the anniversary.
“What’s important is that family members are front and center,” Danzinger said.
But not everyone was satisfied with the direction being taken.
Langesfeld said he was surprised that the location of the memorial is still apparently up for debate. He and other family members have advocated putting a memorial at the building site, which is being sold to a private developer.
The previous commission voted in January to designate 88th Street, which abuts the property, as the site of a future memorial. Commissioners on Tuesday said that remained an option but was not definite.
“This was already approved because families advocated for it,” Langesfeld said.
Danzinger said other options may be considered, such as putting a memorial in neighboring Miami Beach at the North Beach Oceanside Park or working with the developers to place a memorial on the new property. But he said commissioners should defer to family members to come up with a plan.
“I just want these options brought before them,” he said.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 10:39 PM.
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