Group aims to buy old Jungle land

Pinecrest residents have formed a nonprofit group to drum up support and raise funds for the ultimate acquisition of Parrot Jungle.

Preserve The Jungle will hold its first fund-raiser at Fairchild Tropical Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for the sit-down dinner and roast of city officials cost $100. All proceeds will go to the organization.

The organization was formed a little more than three months ago by residents concerned that Parrot Jungle owner Bern Levine might eventually sell some or all of the property to developers.

The organization wants to keep the 22-acre site at 11000 Southwest 57th Ave. just as it is - the largest native cypress hammock south of Lake Okeechobee. It is designated a County Historical Site.

Levine, who has owned the property that is home to 75 species and 1,100 birds since 1988, has never publicly said what he intends to do with the property after Parrot Jungle moves to Watson Island in the fall of 1998. The Miami City Commission approved the move last week.

Levine has spoken to several groups, he said.

“We’ve put tons of time into it,” he said earlier this year. “I’ve talked to more than one nonprofit and developers.”

That scares Pinecrest residents, who do not want any more development in their recently incorporated neighborhood. That is why they are holding Saturday’s roast.

“The event is to raise money so that ultimately, however it does get purchased, it will be left as a park,” Preserve The Jungle member Robert Glowacki said.

Levine has never set a price for Parrot Jungle, but Glowacki said he has heard anywhere from $8 million to $14 million for the property, which is on Pinecrest’s eastern border.

The roast will spotlight Mayor Evelyn Greer and her council, as members of South Florida’s media tell tales and make fun of the five council members.

For information about the fund-raiser, call 461-3800.