South Pointe Park and Pier

The Federal Government donated the land to Miami Beach in 1979, which used it as a home to police horse stables, a police intelligence unit and the Port of Miami's harbor pilots until all buildings remaining at the site were razed in 1984 to begin conversion a park. The federal government paid half the construction cost. Opening on October 25, 1985, it became the nineteenth public park in Miami Beach, built at a cost of $3.6 million (1984). Initial features included an amphitheater, two wooden observation towers, picnic pavilions, fitness courses and a 522-foot (159 m) wooden boardwalk over Miami Beach's last natural sand dune. During planning phases, city officials worried it would become a home to vagrants, and to discourage that they planned the park to be a home to frequent festivals and other events. The park became part of a larger plan in the 1980s to renovate the city's run down South Pointe area. Renovation plans were first drawn up in the city's 1995 master plan, but the 20-month, $22.5 million renovation wasn't completed until March 2009. Features added in the renovation included 20-foot (6.1 m)-wide walkways lined with Florida limestone and an ocean-themed children's playground. The park underwent a major renovation effort, completed in 2009. The Hargreaves Associates, of New York City, were hired to redesign the park at a cost of around $22 million (2008). “South Pointe Park.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Dec. 2016, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pointe_Park.