Lack of City Action Prompts Movement to Save Miramar Park Dolphin via Private Donations
Dolphin at Miramar Park
After more than 180 days in captivity, the Dolphin at Miramar Park has been rescued. At least, that’s the message proclaimed by Brian Diederich via a gofundme page established today seeking private donations to replace the rubber surface beneath the statue.
According to Diederich, Jody and Jamie Davis from The Rosalie Ellen Company have already provided a very generous commitment to fund the repair and refurbishment of the iconic dolphin statue and that it is now “up to us, the locals, to finish the job.”
In a post appearing on the Nextdoor website, Diederich initially claimed that the City of Torrance didn’t have the money to fix the statue and that he was in charge of the private fundraising effort. In a later post, he backed off his claim that the City didn’t have the money explaining he took action because he did not want this project to get tied up in red tape and become a political issue.
The posting on the gofundme page claims that the “City of Torrance spent countless hours researching archives and making numerous phone calls to find the original dolphin manufacturer but was unsuccessful. The City knew it was time to reach out to the community.”
Deiderich did not respond to an inquiry soliciting whether he is acting in an official capacity with the City and it is not clear from the gofundme site whether the City of Torrance approves of the fundraising effort. That could be an issue as the City will ultimately have to approve any modifications made to the park.
A chain link fence that has surrounded the dolphin for the past 6 months was recently replaced with orange cones and caution tape.
As of this writing, the gofundme site had raised $560 of the needed $9,850.
It would appear some clarity is necessary on this before anyone can truly do anything. Why set up a “go fund me” Page, without clear authority by the city that this endeavor to replace the surface can be undertaken? To claim “actions weren’t taken with the City to avoid red tape” is vague, at best. To claim that city action wasn’t sought in order to keep the issue from becoming politicized seems absurd ($10, 000)???? This is city property, and if it is, our general fund should absorb this cost. Setting up a this donation fund seems all a bit premature at this point… Unless Deiderich knows more than he is willing to say. I’m left bewildered.
God forbid the citizens decide to step up and privately make things work. The information is right there.
what a huge issue in our community. Torrance is just falling apart LOL
Sounds like a bunch of bitching and complaining over nothing. Who cares if a group of private citizens steps up to the plate to offer to fix something. Are these people forcing you to donate? Doesn’t appear so. Every dollar donated by a private company or collected on a funding page is a dollar the city saves to use elsewhere. You sound like one of those little people that whines and cries over everything. Get a life.
Mark, who are you referring to that is doing a lot of complaining as you say? I don’t see a bunch of complaints on this page.
Clint, the “whining” comes from the strange article above…seems like a weird attack to save something we’ve all grown up with…going to share this whole this on all social media to make sure it gets taken care of!
Hmm Anonymous. Not sure why you would feel that way about the article. I don’t detect any whining or attacks in the article. Just a simple straightforward account of what is happening. Perhaps this is a sensitive issue for you for some reason.
Hm. “Simple and straightforward” oddly have different meaning to you and me. How weird!
It doesn’t surprise me at all that someone who took offense to the above article, for absolutely no valid reason, would also have a hard time understanding the meaning of the words “simple and straightforward.”
Why is this weird, Clint? What is the issue?
I have no idea why someone would portray the above article as weird. You tell me?
You don’t think this “post” has a bent?
Apparently you think it does. Maybe you can enlighten us?
Hi Clunt, I’m donating in your name…do you mind?
Mark and “Anonymous”…high fives.
The whole thing is bizarre. Why in the hell did the city not simply fix the dolphin and the padding? It is only $10k! What other play equipment in Torrance does not get fixed. Now somebody is raising money to ay for the dolphin to be fixed. Torrance is an absolute joke of a City, creating all this fuss over fixing a concrete dolphin, while spending millions on lawsuits by their own police force!
Well this was a shock to find out a page like this existed….The headline is wrong. For those who took the time to go to the meeting in our community regarding the ‘dolphin’ park, you know the truth and what transpired. Clint, were you there?
Hi Brian, thanks for your efforts in restoring the dolphin. I’m glad you found my blog. There is a lot of good information here for those that care about our community and are interested in making a difference. I was aware of the meeting you reference. I was unfortunately not able to attend myself, but did inquire of folks that were there and gained a general understanding of what transpired. Not sure why you say the headline is wrong. I take great pains to only post factual information on this site and would welcome any corrections in that regard on this topic or any other. The fact that the dolphin has now been in captivity for over 6 months and that the City, to my knowledge, has yet to fix it or offer the necessary funds needed to repair the structure is pretty clear evidence that the City has failed to act Do you disagree?
The dolphin looks great thanks to all of those who gave their time and effort to make this happen. If the city wanted this done they would have found the time and money. At one time rather than repair the rocketship at los arboles park the city wanted to remove it. As it turned out the neighborhood got together and stopped the removal and insisted that the city repair it rather than remove it. One more thing that I have noticed at miramar park was that a large number of the Japanese black pines have been removed. Some were dying others were trimmed or removed by person wanting a better view. Criminal. I would like to see these trees be replanted and the park returned to its original state. All in favor say ya