With a growing population in Sunny Isles Beach that is starting to include many young families, the City Commission is working hard to provide more open green and park space as called for in its Comprehensive Plan.
In its continuing effort, the City Commission in 2006 purchased four acres of land just west of Collins Avenue and north of the William Lehman Causeway.

Approved by the Commission in November 2008, the design plan for this site is to turn it into a beautifully landscaped park serving residents living at the northern end of the city.

This won’t be the first time the City has turned spaces into beautiful and functioning parks.
When first becoming a city in 1997, the elected officials approved the purchase of land that is now Samson Oceanfront Park at 174 Street and Collins Avenue. This site, once home to two older and “not-so-nice-anymore” motels, is now an open space with beautiful landscaping, a covered pavilion, restrooms and boardwalk to the beach.  

Samson Oceanfront Park also provides space for many popular city events including Sunny Serenade concerts, the winter seasonal lighting ceremony, the city’s annual anniversary party and the annual Jazz Fest. This oceanfront park, also home to The Family statue by world-renowned artist David Fischer, has become a treasured park by local residents.

Senator Gwen Margolis Park at 178 Drive and North Bay Rd., once covered over with unmanaged growth of weeds and trees, now has a place for children to play, space for city-organized sports, butterfly-friendly plants and an area for dogs and their owners.  

Like what happened at Samson Oceanfront Park and Senator Gwen Margolis Park, Heritage Park will soon be transformed into a landscaped park with its own unique design.

Residents of the Golden Shores area and the condominiums just west of the Heritage Park site - Oceanview Buildings A & B and Ocean Reserve - will have easy access to this neighborhood park and benefit from its beauty and offerings.  

The Heritage Park site is large enough to include beautiful landscaping and open space and also a required parking garage to accommodate 393 valet parking spaces for Marco Polo’s residents and tourists for which the city will receive parking revenues.

To accommodate traffic for residents, park goers and valet parking, current plans include widening the access street, Galahad Dade Blvd., from two to four lanes. All of the city’s plans for Heritage Park are geared towards transforming an existing undeveloped eyesore into yet another beautiful neighborhood park.

Work is scheduled to begin by September 1, 2009 and barring any unforeseen circumstances, we expect the work to be completed by the end of 2010.