Bicentennial Park (Miami)
| Bicentennial Park | |
|---|---|
 Western corner of Bicentennial Park as seen from The Grand Doubletree |
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| Type | Municipal |
| Location | Downtown, Miami, Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 25°47′02″N 80°11′13″W / 25.784°N 80.187°WCoordinates: 25°47′02″N 80°11′13″W / 25.784°N 80.187°W |
| Area | 30 acres (0.12 km2) |
| Created | 1976 |
| Operated by | Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department |
Bicentennial Park is a 30-acre (0.12 km2) public, urban park in downtown Miami, Florida. The park opened in 1976 on the site of several slips served by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. It was named "Bicentennial Park" to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States in that same year. Today, Bicentennial Park is maintained by Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department, a public organization that manages all the parks within Miami. The park is bordered on the north by I-395, Metromover, and the Miami Herald headquarters, on the south by the American Airlines Arena and Bayside Marketplace, on the west by Biscayne Boulevard and on the east by Biscayne Bay.
Bicentennial Park is served by the Metrorail at Government Center Station and directly by the Metromover's Eleventh Street Station and Park West Station.
Bicentennial Park is host to many large-scale events as the park can hold around 45,000 people. Some of these events include Ultra Music Festival, a large, three-day music event, numerous rock concerts such as Warped Tour, various conventions, concerts, as well as boat tours around Biscayne Bay. In March 2009, Bicentennial Park was set to host the Langerado Music Festival, a large three day festival that was held at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation every Spring since 2003, but was canceled due to poor ticket sales.
Seven blocks south, is Bicentennial Park's partner park, the 32-acre (0.13 km2) Bayfront Park.
Bicentennial Park is currently undergoing a renovation to be renamed Museum Park for the construction of the new Miami Art Museum and the Miami Science Museum. Renovations include a complete revamp of the park as it is currently underutilized for large parts of the year. In December 2010, the Miami Art Museum began construction on its new building, due to be completed in early 2013.[1]
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[edit] History
From the early 1900s to the mid-1960s, Bicentennial Park was the location of the Port of Miami, until it eventually moved to neighboring Dodge Island in the mid-1960s. The port at what is today Bicentennial Park was then a bustling cargo, trade and passenger port, with the offices of Clyde Mallory Lines at the park. Once the port moved out to Dodge Island, the land was cleaned up of industrial residue from decades of port trade, and the park was designed, finally opening up in 1976, as Downtown's second large park after Bayfront Park. The name "Bicentennial Park" signifies the bicentenary of the independence of the United States in that same year. [2][3]
In May 1994, the Omni Loop of the Metromover opened which brought a Metro station to Bicentennial Park. The station has since been temporarily closed since 1996, due to lack of use. In 2010, construction began on the new Miami Art Museum in the new "Museum Park".
[edit] Racing circuit
| Location | Miami, Florida, USA |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1986 |
| Closed | 1995 |
| Surface | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Length | 1.873 mi (3.014 km) |
| Turns | 10 |
In 1986, promoter Ralph Sanchez moved the IMSA GT Championship's Grand Prix of Miami from nearby Bayfront Park to Bicentennial Park. A 1.873-mile (3.014 km) circuit was laid out on park roads and adjacent portions of Biscayne Boulevard. After a hiatus in 1994, the event returned as the opening round of the 1995 IndyCar season. The circuit was run in the opposite direction (to prevent drivers who had raced there in previous years from having an advantage), and the race was won by Jacques Villeneuve.
[edit] Race results
| Year | Date | Winning Driver | Car | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMSA GT Championship | ||||
| 1986 | March 2 |  Bob Wollek Paolo Barilla |
Porsche 962 | Bayside Leven Racing |
| 1987 | March 1 |  Elliott Forbes-Robinson Geoff Brabham |
Nissan GTP ZX-T | Nissan Electramotive Engineering |
| 1988 | February 28 | Price Cobb James Weaver |
Porsche 962 | Dyson Racing |
| 1989 | March 5 | Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson |
Nissan GTP ZX-T | Nissan Electromotive Engineering |
| 1990 | October 6 | Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson Bob Earl |
Nissan GTP ZX-T | Nissan Electromotive Engineering |
| 1991 | April 7 |  Raul Boesel |
Jaguar XJR-10 | TWR |
| 1992 | February 22 | Geoff Brabham |
Nissan NPT-91A | Nissan Performance Technologies |
| 1993 | February 21 |  Juan Manuel Fangio II |
Eagle Mk III-Toyota | All American Racers |
| CART IndyCar World Series | ||||
| 1995 | March 5 |  Jacques Villeneuve |
Reynard-Ford Cosworth | Team Green |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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