Crandon Park

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The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the boardwalk in Crandon Park
The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the boardwalk in Crandon Park

Crandon Park is a park owned and operated by Miami-Dade County, Florida. It occupies the northern part of the island of Key Biscayne, lying between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is connected to the mainland in Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway. The park is more than 800 acres (325 hectares) in size, and has two miles (3.2 kilometers) of beach on the Atlantic Ocean side. Crandon Boulevard extends from the end of the Rickenbacker Causeway through the length of the park, providing access to the Village of Key Biscayne and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.

The park has a variety of facilities, including a marina, a golf course, a tennis center, a family amusement center, picnic shelters and a nature center. There is parking for more than 3,000 vehicles in the park. Part of the park is set aside as the Bear Cut Preserve, a designated natural Environment Study Area. Guided tours through the preserve are available.[1]

The land Crandon Park occupies was once part of the largest coconut plantation in the United States, operated by William Matheson and his heirs. In 1940 the Matheson family donated 808.8 acres (327.3 hectares) of their land to Dade County (now Miami-Dade County) for a public park. In return, county commissioner Charles H. Crandon promised that the county would build a causeway to Key Biscayne. World War II delayed construction, but the causeway opened in 1947.

At one time Crandon Park also included a zoo, occupying 48 acres (19.4 hectares) of the park. The first animals in the zoo, including some lions, an elephant and a rhinoceras, had been stranded when a circus went out of business in Miami. Some Galapagos tortoises, monkeys and pheasants were added from the Matheson plantation. Other animals were added, including a white Bengal tiger. In 1972 the Crandon Park Zoo was moved from the park to a location south of Miami, and became the Miami MetroZoo.[2]

Since 1985, a major professional tennis tournament for both men and women has been held annually in Key Biscayne at the Tennis Center in Crandon Park. Currently known as the NASDAQ-100 Open, the event was formerly the Lipton Tennis Championships from 1985 to 1999 and the Ericsson Open from 1999 to 2002. (See Miami Masters.)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Miami-Dade Park and Recreation - Crandon Beach - URL retrieved September 12, 2006
  2. ^ Blank, Joan Gill. 1996. Key Biscayne. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. ISBN 1-56164-096-4. pp. 158-160, 163-164.
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