URGENT ALERT! Please email this to as many people as you can. Time is running out.

Dear Stiltsville Supporter:

You previously expressed kind thoughts and sentiments towards preservation of Stiltsville. The National Park Service (NPS) just announced plans to evict the owners of the stilt homes and take possession of the structures December 1, 2000. The NPS admitted that they do not know the extent of maintenance required to preserve the houses, that they have no money in their budget for Stiltsville, and no management plan to preserve the homes. The NPS proposes a study for various uses for Stiltsville, ostensibly to benefit the public. While they are "studying", the NPS will "mothball" the structures until a "viable alternative can be identified." This is a complete ruse on the public. Within months, if not weeks, the structures will be damaged beyond repair by vandals and the weather. Then the NPS will simply declare the structures a hazard and remove them. Remember the NPS has stated "the ultimate goal is to remove the Stiltsville structures…" Well this is NOT the goal of South Florida.

We must act immediately, if we are going to save this unique cultural district which dates back to almost the beginning of Miami. There is one South Floridian that can turn this situation around, Senator Bob Graham. Currently there is a bill, HR3033 ready to go to the House floor in Washington, D.C. In order to become law, we need a Senator sponsorship. Congress has left the door open for Senator Graham to help draft a mutually acceptable bill, but to no avail.

Please call Senator Bob Graham’s office and ask to speak with the Senator staffer who is in charge of Stiltsville. You need to express your concern that Senator Graham has not supported the effort to save this valuable South Florida treasure, Stiltsville. We need Bob Graham to immediately express support HR3033, but time is running out in this session of Congress. So South Florida needs the Senator to press the NPS for a 1—2 year extension of the current Stiltsville agreement so a reasonable solution can be reached.

If you are calling from Miami-Dade County, please dial (305) 536-7293 and ask to be connected to the Senator Graham’s Washington D.C. office since you have a legislative issue to discuss. To call directly, please dial 1 (202) 224-3041. Also, call and ask to speak to "Becky Liner" in the Tallahassee office. You should follow up with a letter to Senator Graham (sample enclosed), mailed to 524 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, faxed to: (202) 224-2237, and e-mailed to: bob_graham@graham.senate.gov.

Please hurry and pass this message on to ALL your family, friends, co-office workers, and neighbors. Time is running out for one of South Florida’s most unique cultural and historical assets. Thank you !!

**NOTE: Please gets this to as many people as possible. If Senator Graham’s office passes you to a voice mail that is full, you might want to call back to complain that your US Senator is not allowing you, a tax paying voter, to be heard.

Download prepared letter print, sign and mail to Senator Bob Graham. Acrobat PDF file.

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