If all goes according to plan, Homestead’s somewhat forlorn downtown will get a $60 million facelift in the next decade or so, with a new city hall, police station, library and parking garage, and a restored Art Deco movie theater.
In addition, there is talk of building a 556-foot observation tower, akin to Seattle’s Space Needle, that would draw visitors eager to catch a bird’s-eye view of the Everglades and Biscayne national parks nearby.
The first step in making some of those plans happen is a bond referendum on May 13 in which residents will be asked to approve funding for the new police headquarters and the restoration of the Seminole Theatre, which is envisaged as a cultural center for the city.
If the general-obligation bonds are approved, $18 million will go toward the new police facility, with another $3 million for refurbishment of a temporary headquarters while the new structure is built. A total of $5 million would be spent on renovating the Seminole Theatre, a task begun some years ago but left incomplete.