Bicentennial Park (Miami)

Bicentennial Park (Miami)

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.