National Endowment for the Humanities Condensed Environmental Assessment For Florida International University FIU CasaCuba Challenge Grants Program Grant No. CHA-264405-19 DRAFT 1 National Endowment for the Humanities Condensed Environmental Assessment Project Location: Facility Name: Florida International University CasaCuba Address: 11200 SW 8th Street City: Miami County: Miami-Dade State: FL Recipient Information: Facility Name: Florida International University Point of Contact: Robert Gutierrez, Assistant Vice President for Research Address: 11200 SW 8th Street City: Miami State: Florida Zip Code: 33199 Telephone Number: 305-348-2494 Email: [email protected] Point of Contact: Stuart Grant, Facilities Planning Coordinator Address: 11555 SW 17th Street City: Miami State: Florida Zip Code: 33199 Telephone Number: 305-348-4090 Email: [email protected] Identify all Attachments to this Condensed EA: Include aerial photos, maps, plans, correspondence, and completed studies (or executive summaries) Figure 1: Site Map Figure 2: Existing Land Use Figure 3: Wetlands Figure 4: Floodzones Figure 5: Future Land Use Figure 6: Contamination Figure 7: Census Block Group Minority Populations Attachment A: FIU President Letter for Site Selection Attachment B: Site Photographs Attachment C: Cultural Resource Assessment Survey (CRAS) Report and Public Notice Attachment D: Division of Historic Resources Letter of Concurrence Attachment E: FIU Public Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Assessment Attachment F: IPaC Resource List Attachment G: FNAI Biodiversity Matrix Attachment H: Executive Order 11988: Floodplain Management Memorandum Attachment I: Coastal Zone Management Act Consistency Correspondence Attachment J: FIU Noise Receptors Memorandum Attachment K: EDR Report Attachment L: FIU Stockpile Material Memorandum Part I - General Project Identification Proposed Action: Describe the proposed project (the preferred alternative) in detail. List and briefly describe your proposed action (which must relate to the project purpose and need). Attach drawings/plans for the proposed action. Florida International University (FIU) plans to build CasaCuba, a ±57,876 gross-square-foot humanities center located at FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique campus in Miami, FL. The proposed facility will be readily accessible to the university community and to visitors from the local community and beyond, such as students, faculty, scholars, and the general public. This project is being partially funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Challenge Grants Program (Grant No. CHA-264405-19). In addition to the building, the project includes the construction of a courtyard, gardens, and associated exterior parking, sidewalks, landscaping, utilities and signage. The roadway and service drives will also be reconstructed as required. The proposed construction will take place on a +/- 2.36-acre site, located to the west of SW 107th Avenue between SW 16th Street and SW 17th Street. See Figure 1 for proposed project location. This state-of-the-art center will host public lectures, academic conferences, digital exhibits, and research projects, engaging museums, historical societies, and other academic and cultural institutions through meaningful partnerships.DRAFT CasaCuba will help preserve and showcase the wealth of Cuba-related intellectual and cultural resources at FIU, with a special emphasis on sharing and expanding its notable Cuba collections. Purpose and Need: Describe the problem that the project will address and the goals of the project. You may incorporate by reference information that is reasonably available to the public. Briefly describe the existing conditions on the project site, and the projected future conditions of the area impacted by the project. Identify any known sensitive environmental conditions. FIU is a global leader in the study of Cuba and the preservation of Cuban culture. It is situated 228 miles from Havana, in Miami-Dade County, a geographic area that is home to 70 percent of the two million U.S. residents of Cuban origin. FIU enrolls over 56,000 students, including the largest number of students of Cuban origin outside of Cuba. Given FIU´s location, its Cuban student population, its research expertise in Cuba, and its prominent Cuban history, oral narrative, genealogy, photography and art collections across its colleges and museums, FIU is uniquely positioned to be the world’s preeminent intellectual and cultural hub dedicated to fostering understanding of the Cuban heritage. CasaCuba will expand on FIU’s depth and breadth of teaching, scholarship and cultural engagement on Cuba and the Cuban diaspora as it integrates and preserves the intellectual, cultural, historical, linguistic, and artistic riches of the Cuban people, and their impact on the United States. FIU is renowned for its historical collections focused on Cuba and the experience of the Cuban diaspora. These assets, however, are widely distributed across various locations within the University, limiting their impact and visibility. CasaCuba will allow FIU to showcase its rich and extensive collection of artifacts, academic programs, student groups, and research projects devoted to Cuba, for the benefit of FIU students and faculty, and research scholars and visitors from around the world. CasaCuba will seek to document, preserve, and share the history, experiences and legacy of the Cuban nation, and particularly the ways in which Cubans have influenced U.S. culture, and vice versa. Specifically, CasaCuba will collaborate with other local organizations to identify and preserve heritage materials that may be at risk of loss. It will work in close collaboration with the FIU Libraries on projects to enhance current digital collections and digitize new materials. CasaCuba will also collaborate with relevant FIU units and industry partners to apply the latest technologies to showcase Cuban culture in new, compelling ways, such as interactive oral history and genealogy platforms, and virtual reality. And it will host regular events aimed at diverse audiences to promote awareness of temporary and permanent holdings. The project area currently consists of a former under-utilized parking lot and sodded open areas that will be repurposed into the proposed humanities center. Alternatives Considered: Describe any reasonable alternatives, including the No-Action (or do nothing) alternative.) You have discretion as to the number and breadth of alternatives. For example, the need to use existing infrastructure necessary to support a proposed action can be a basis for identifying a discrete number of alternatives. If there is consensus about the environmental aspects of the proposed action based on input from interested parties, you can consider the proposed action and proceed without consideration of additional alternatives. Otherwise, you need to develop reasonable alternatives to meet project needs (42 U.S.C. § 4332(E)). When that alternative includes mitigation, include a brief discussion of those measures that avoid, minimize, reduce or eliminate, rectify or restore, or compensate for the impacts. If there are no other reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, please provide an explanation.DRAFT As there is limited undeveloped space on the FIU campus for new development to meet the needs of the proposed CasaCuba facility, a limited number of sites could be considered for the proposed project. As described in the letter from FIU President, Mark B. Rosenberg, included in Attachment A, “The site must accommodate an iconic, state-of-the-art building with capacity for a performing arts and events venue, classrooms to host interdisciplinary courses on Cuba currently offered at FIU, exhibition galleries, infrastructure for collections storage and maintenance, seminar rooms, and areas conducive to education, discussion, reflection and celebration, facilitating humanistic work on Cuban studies.” The site must also provide visibility from the University’s main entrance on SW 107th Avenue, with its own parking, immediate access to the surrounding community, and be in close proximity to the FIU Ronald W. Reagan Presidential House. Only the Temporary Gravel Lot on SW 107th Avenue between SW 16th and 17th Streets meets the access, logistics, size, and visibility requirements. Other vacant properties at the University, such as the former Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity House, were considered as alternative sites; however, the University leadership dismissed these sites due to lack of adequate space to meet the needs of the project. The preferred CasaCuba site is a temporary gravel parking lot without any significant site improvements. This site provides frontage and visibility from a major campus entrance and highly trafficked SW 107th Avenue. Vehicular traffic from outside visitors to CasaCuba would be relatively direct and not increase congestion for normal campus circulation. The site also offers ample room for future phases of CasaCuba development. Explain in detail the reason for not selecting the non-preferred alternative. FIU’s historical collections focused on Cuba are widely distributed across various locations throughout the University, which limits their accessibility. A No-Action Alternative would maintain this limitation and would limit the University’s ability to accomplish the project’s goals of documenting, preserving, and sharing the history, experiences, and legacy of Cuba with researchers and the general public. Affected Environment: