Melbourne Harbor circa 1974

'Melbourne Harbor, circa 1974'  collection of Dr. Richard Hynes

I took this image hanging out of the open cockpit of a Brevard County Mosquito Control biplane in 1974, working on a presentation to be made for the U.S. Coast Guard, concerning the regulation of boats, rather than cars, as regarded the opening of the old Melbourne Causeway (note the vanished Australian Pines that were an area icon) swingspan bridge.  A young man had died after a drowning incident at the beach because the bridge had to open for a boat (a federal regulation on the books since the mid-1800's) and he did not make it to the hospital on the mainland in time to be saved.  The idea was to show the Harris Corporation traffic backed up, wasting gas (we were in the wake of OPEC's first oil embargo in 1973).  We were the first in over 100 years to get the reg changed to allow boats to pass on the 1/4 and 3/4 hour, so drivers could work around the closing, and to stay open for emergencies.  When I recently saw my then-boss (District III County Commissioner Val Steele, only the 2nd Republican to hold any elected office in Brevard), he reminded me that the lesson was that one person (he germinated the idea) can make a difference.  In the center left portion of the image, you can see the remnants of the Guerin-Dare Lumber yard.  Dr. Hynes, in conjunction with the Osler Clinic, will be moving into a 6 story, $20 million medical complex, currently under construction, on that site in the spring of 2009.