Matheson Hammock Park is a

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

in metropolitan

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

at 9610

Old Cutler Road Old Cutler Road is an off- grid plan, main northeast–southwest road running south of downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Route description The northern terminus is Cocoplum Circle at the edge of the Coral Gables Wat ...

, just south of Coral Gables,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The park surrounds the north and western ends of

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees, and vines. It is located in the city of Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, just south of Miami, s ...

History

Matheson Hammock opened in 1930 as the first county park of Dade County, a gift of 80 acres to the county from William J. Matheson. Originally administered by the county's first director of public parks, A. D. Barnes, and designed by the landscape architect William Lyman Phillips, today it is owned and managed by Miami-Dade County. Matheson wanted the land to be used as a park "to preserve the wild and natural beauty." It grew with further donations by the Matheson heirs, purchases by county commissioner Charles Crandon, and other donations to its current 630 acres.

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

(CCC) crews were assigned to Matheson Hammock in 1936 and began to develop the Bayfront park area. Coral stone buildings rose and the picnic area had a coral stone shelter. Without the use of the inexpensive and skilled labor force under the state and federal assistance programs, it would have been impossible to build the miles of carefully hewn coral stone walls and native stone buildings. The quality of the CCC's work was verified in 1945 when a hurricane resulted in 12-foot waves rolling over Matheson Hammock, causing immense damage to equipment and furnishings, and depositing layers of mud and trash in the park, but the basic CCC structures stood firm and the park recovered.

Facilities

Matheson Hammock Park is a scenic park featuring a man-made atoll pool, which is flushed naturally with the tidal action of adjacent

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is la ...

. The beach

sea breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any wind that blows from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass; it develops due to differences in air pressure created by the differing heat capacities of water and dry land. As such, sea breezes ar ...

is popular among families. The park operates a snack bar and restaurant built into an historic coral stone building, picnic pavilions and nature trails. In conjunction with the park, the county runs an on-site marina accommodating vessels of up to . Other facilities include a

fishing tackle Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/ lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/ feeders, nets, stringers/ k ...

shop, boat launch ramps, gas and diesel fuel, and wetslips.

Controversy over development

Seeking to improve access to Biscayne Bay for boaters, the County contracted with Aqua Marine Partners on July 7, 2011, to construct and operate a five-story, $18-million warehouse to store an additional 360 boats in the marina, provide ample facility parking and preserve the parking for the marina's existing wet slips, relocate the existing trailer-storage capacity, and obtain environmental permits to create a new boat launch. The contract was the subject of discussion at two public hearings conducted at the

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

Commission chambers. The project awaits final approval from the City of Coral Gables. Critics note that a similar proposal was rejected by the City of Coral Gables in 2008, and claim that the current project's promoters are trying to "sneak tthrough" the public approval process. Richard J. Heisenbottle, one of its main promoters, resigned as chairman of the Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board on 19 January 2012 amid accusations that he had been lobbying Coral Gables officials for the project without a permit, and without telling them that he was the Board chairman. The Matheson family have stated that they are against the project. The homeowner associations of nearby

Gables by the Sea Gables may refer to: * The plural of gable, portion of walls between the lines of sloping roofs * Ken Gables (1919-1960), Major League Baseball pitcher * Gables, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in the United States * Gables, New South Wales, ...

and Pinecrest by the Sea have voted to formally oppose it. The City of

South Miami South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida in the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 11,657 at the 2010 census and as of 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was 11,911. South Miami's central business district is directl ...

and the Village of Pinecrest, also oppose the project. Concerns include visibility of the building, preservation of the historic character of Matheson Hammock's facilities, traffic impact on Old Cutler Road, dredging, loss of green space (including

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

), environmental damage,

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...

and an adverse effect on property values. A grassroots organization called

Save Our Matheson Hammock Park Save, SAVE, or Saved may refer to: Places *Save (Garonne), a river in southern France * Save River (Africa), a river in Zimbabwe and Mozambique *Sava, a river in Eastern Europe also known as Save * Savè, Benin, a commune and city * Save, Govu ...

has collected over 6,000 signatures for a petition to block the project.Save Our Matheson Hammock Park

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Jackson, Faith Reyher. ''Pioneer of Tropical Landscape Architecture''. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1997. . {{Greater Miami Parks in Miami-Dade County, Florida Beaches of Miami-Dade County, Florida Tourist attractions in Miami-Dade County, Florida Civilian Conservation Corps in Florida Beaches of Florida 1930 establishments in Florida Protected areas established in 1930