Alexander Diaz remembers the two hurricanes that changed how the coastal town of Golden Beach’s leadership should ride out future storms. The first was Hurricane Irma in 2017. The town’s city manager, Diaz hunkered down at a neighboring condominium because his city had no shelter for Diaz, his chief of police and staff.
The second was Hurricane Michael. Following its 2018 landfall at Mexico Beach along Florida’s panhandle, Diaz recalled the iconic image of the single, private residence left standing, seemingly unaffected, after the Category 5 storm’s winds and surge leveled all around it.
“I saw that and said - That’s what we need to build for our town,” he recalls.
Within months, the effort to build a landfall bunker was out to bid. In May, Diaz and long-time Mayor Glenn Singer, along with members of the Town Council, held a ribbon cutting for the town’s new Civic Center, town hall and Landfall Team Bunker.
The 980-foot bunker is a unique and remarkable feat. Surrounded by the 13,300 square-foot Civic Center, the two sit upon pilings driven down to bedrock to help them withstand Category 5 winds and a 1,000-year storm surge.
The windowless bunker has cot tents, a kitchenette, a bathroom with a shower, as well as dedicated wifi, satellite phone service, water, and a backup generator. It also has a separate entrance, and dinghies to wade through flood waters after a storm.
In the event of a hurricane warning, the bunker will house up to 20 first responders, including the town’s police and first responders and administration. It also will serve those from neighboring cities of Sunny Isles, Hallandale Beach and Hollywood, with whom Golden Beach enjoys a regional cooperation compact.
It is not a shelter for the town’s 1,100 full-time residents because everyone on the 1.6-mile city on the barrier island is required to evacuate.
When not in use as a bunker, the facility will serve as a city training center.
The $7 million center and bunker is part of a city-wide, $67 million capital improvement effort. It reflects the growing needs for a city whose assessed value of its 380 homes has risen from $500 million almost two decades ago to $1.7 billion today.
Diaz is a Homestead native whose family home was destroyed during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In the aftermath, young Diaz knew he wanted to become a city manager. This year, he celebrates 17 years in the role with Golden Beach, the longest-serving city manager in the 95-year-old town’s history.
Under Diaz’s and Mayor Singer’s leadership, the Civic Center and Landfall Team Bunker are just two of 38 recent capital improvement projects. Others include the burying of utility lines, the building of a comprehensive stormwater system, mandated seawall inspection and repairs, and the raising of city elevation to nine feet. They added seven public parks, while lowering taxes three times.
“Our success has come from the great relationship our residents have with their leadership,” Diaz says. “Our residents trust and lean on us, and we strive to deliver the premier community in which to work and raise a family.”
About Golden Beach
Incorporated in 1929, the Town of Golden Beach is unique among South Florida ocean-front communities. Residents in its 364 single-family homes enjoy an exclusive lifestyle with convenient access to fine dining, cultural centers, professional sports venues, world class shopping, and two international airports. Fiscally responsible leadership and unrivaled public services ensure an enviable quality of life.
Learn more at www.goldenbeach.us