Thursday, May 23, 2013

ON THIS DAY IN:

1965 The main ship channel was being dredged to a depth of 35 feet, and 1.1 million cubic yards of the fill was used to create an island of 30 acres for a planned Navy fuel stowage facility, Tank Island, known today as Sunset Key.

1969 The Navy dedicated the new $250,000 building on Trumbo Point as headquarters of the Key West Test and Evaluation Detachment.

1980 The Coast Guard began enforcing the president's ban on making trips to Cuba by arresting a Los Angeles man who had gone to Cuba to get his daughter and grandson.

1983 The new senior citizen center in Marathon was named for senior citizen advocate Mel L. Levitt.

1983 The Monroe County Zoning Board, in a historic first, voted down a major real estate development 4-1. The board turned down Planter's Point, a 366-unit condominium proposed for Tavernier.

1991 Scotty's had a grand opening for its new store at 2811 N. Roosevelt Blvd.

1995 Petty Officer Jason Dunn was awarded the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Award for rescuing a man from a capsized boat during the World Championship Offshore Power Boat races November 1994 in Key West Harbor.

1997 Capt. Richard T. Steadman died at age 75. He had commanded the cable ship Western Union from 1956, when he relieved his father, until 1973, when the ship was retired from cable work.