‘Blatant neglect.’ Community speaks out after Little Haiti Cultural Complex director resigns
About 100 Miami residents gathered Tuesday at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex to express their displeasure over the institution’s direction.
The meeting, which the Little Haiti Revitalization Trust had already scheduled, comes the day after LHCC director Qunyatta Warren submitted his resignation due to “systemic” issues.
“I’ve had the hard, painstaking opportunity to try to become a vendor and create new programming here over the last year so that opened my eyes to a lot of the issues at the Little Haiti Cultural Center,” community member Shayna Johnson said. “But I want to be clear that it was not because of the management or the staff here. I want to be clear that it is because of the city of Miami’s management of the Little Haiti Cultural Center.”
Tuesday’s meeting marked the first opportunity for community members to address Warren’s resignation but also the long overdue repairs that have indefinitely closed the Caribbean Marketplace, one of the area’s biggest tourist attractions, June 14.
Nearly two dozen attendees spoke on a number of topics including the need for increased unity to the need for more programming at LHCC to the repairs themselves.
“It’s ironic how at the beginning of this meeting, gun violence and lack of summer programs came up ,” 1804 Apparel owner Ro Michel said, referring to Miami police’s update about the recent double shooting in Little Haiti. “We have this culture center here that could resolve many of those issues and we’re not utilizing it for that.”
Frustration mounts
The repairs, according to Warren, ranged from the marketplace’s leaky roof to the mold that has formed as a result of improper drainage to the lack of air conditioning inside the theater. Although the Little Haiti Revitalization Trust doesn’t itself run the LHCC, the six-person board invited the City of Miami’s Parks and Recreation Department to address some of the community’s concerns.
“We want the Little Haiti Cultural Complex to remain open, remain thriving within the city,” said Chris Evans, the director of the parks department which oversees the LHCC. “It is something that I am passionate about.”
In addition to Evans, other government representatives in attendance included Lacleveia Morley, the assistant director of the parks department; Hector Badia, director of capital improvements; and Ace Marrero; the assistant city manager.
Miami Commission Chair Christine King came in after the meeting had adjourned due to having had a jam-packed schedule. Little Haiti Trust Chair Lesline Anglade-Dorleans, however, noted that King planned to host one of her own.
“It’s a shame that Christine King is not here here, it’s a shame that [County Commissioner] Keon Hardemon is not here,” community activist Sharon Frazier-Stephens said. Both King and Hardemon’s respective districts include Little Haiti.
In an email sent out Thursday afternoon, the City of Miami summarized the parks departments’ renovation plans that were first announced Tuesday evening. The email also included a statement from King in which she called the LHCC “a pillar of pride for the Little Haiti community.”
“The preservation of the LHCC is a priority of my office as well as the City’s administration,” King said Thursday. “I am confident that the community and visitors will continue to enjoy this historical complex for years to come.”
‘False promises, delays and lack of support’
One of the catalysts to Warren’s resignation was his uncertainty about when some of the aforementioned repairs would begin.
Both Badia and Marrero addressed those concerns, explaining that repairs on the poor drainage issue will begin in August while fixing the marketplace’s roof and air conditioning will not be complete until 2026. Construction on the roof, which Badia said needs to be replaced in full, will begin in June 2025.
“We want to make sure we come on a regular basis and give you an update about where are those projects and are we meeting those deadlines or not,” Marrero said, pledging that he and the parks department will attend the Little Haiti’s Trusts monthly meetings.
He underscored how funding for the LHCC has increased exponentially considering that, between 2006 and 2019, the city only distributed $1.9 million to the complex.
“Right now, the city has capital projects valued at $5.3 million to renovate this facility.”
Despite the long overdue updates about the state of the LHCC’s repairs, it was clear that some frustration remained.
“This isn’t about budget; this is about blatant neglect,” Little Haiti Trust Vice-Chair Ashley Toussaint said. “Think about all the resources we got to now have to use to fix inadequate things. If we would’ve just took care of it, that money could’ve been going to programming for youth.”
Warren, whose last day will be July 19, lasted a little more than a year in his post. Many of the problems that plagued Warren’s tenure — notably the lack of funding — also hampered his predecessors Abraham Metellus and Sandy Dorsainvil.
“It feels systemic,” Warren told the Miami Herald. “There has a consistent behavior between parks, the center and city administration that leads me to believe there’s a disconnect.”
Added Warren: “I don’t know why the center isn’t looked at with the same care as facilities in other neighborhoods.”
In the hours after Warren submitted his resignation, Metellus emailed the Miami Herald and a host of community leaders questioning the future of the LHCC in light of the most recent director’s departure.
“What is the fear in actually investing in the cultural complex, the only one of its kind in the City of Miami?” Metellus wrote in a bold, underlined font, later adding “I salute every single cultural complex manager who has held this position because it is a tough, thankless job with a lack of support from the City of Miami. False promises, delays, and lack of support have all contributed to our disappointment in the City of Miami.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated on July 11, 2024 to include a statement from Miami Commission Chair Christine King about the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. The statement also included details of the city’s planned repairs for the center.
