The City of Miami Beach budgets and allocates on an annual basis sponsorship funds in the amount of $100,000.00 for the Art Deco Weekend Festival. As a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, the Art Deco Weekend Festival was cancelled for FY 21.  On November 20, 2020, Daniel Ciraldo, Executive Director of Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) formally requested the City to consider the possibility to reallocate the City’s budgeted FY 21 sponsorship funds towards the Museum Master Plan consistent with the current management agreement between the City and MDPL.  

The proposal was reviewed by the City’s Property Management Director and CFO whom agreed that the proposed improvements to the City-owned facility have merit, but that it would be difficult to re-allocate the full $100,000 sponsorship due to dramatic decreases to the City’s resort tax revenues. After subsequent discussions, MDPL revised their request to re-allocate $50,000 of the $100,000 FY 2021 sponsorship towards the Museum master plan improvements project. This amount allows MDPL to begin some of the key elements of the overall project while providing the City $50,000 of savings to apply towards re-balancing the FY 2021 budget.

Following the recommendation the FERC meeting on January 22, 2021, and pending commission approval the City will move forward with the request for the reallocation of FY 21 Sponsorship funds in the amount of $50,000.00 towards the Museum Master plan for Capital Improvements and for MDPL to fundraise the remaining 50% of the total project costs.

To fund the remaining estimated $350,000 for the project, MDPL has requested a 50% match from the City, of up to $175,000 from the FY 2022 Capital Budget.  MDPL proposes to fundraise the remaining 50% of the total project costs.