Watson Island is a neighborhood and man-made

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

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 large ...

, in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It is located Immediately east of the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

and

Arts & Entertainment District The Arts & Entertainment District, or previously known as Omni, is a neighborhood of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami, Florida. It is bound roughly by North 19th Street to the north, North 10th Street to the south, North West 2nd Avenue to ...

neighborhoods of

downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...

and is connected to the mainland and

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

by the

MacArthur Causeway The General Douglas MacArthur Causeway is a six-lane causeway that connects Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami to South Beach via Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County. The highway is the singular roadway connecting ...

History

The island was deeded to the city in 1919 with the restriction that it only be used for public or municipal purposes. The city gave it to the state and the state deeded it back to the city with similar restrictions - both in the 1940s. In 1979 the city attempted to circumvent this prohibition by claiming that the underwater land surrounding the island is a preserve and Watson Island need not be protected as per the deed, as a park, or for public ownership and use.
-URL retrieved Aug 17,2013 The island had a name change from Causeway Island to Watson Island, named for John W. Watson Sr., who was Mayor of Miami 1912-1915 and 1917–1919. In 1932 Watson Island was considered for the site of Miami's Pan-American Exposition, a World's Fair and "International Merchandise mart." By the end of the 1940s, however, the site of the Exposition, now called Interama, was moved North to where

Oleta River State Park The Oleta River State Park is a state park on Biscayne Bay in the municipal suburb of North Miami Beach in metropolitan Miami, Florida. Adjoining the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, the park contains one of the lar ...

is today. A

Goodyear Blimp The Goodyear Blimp is any one of a fleet of commercial airships (or dirigibles) operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, used mainly for advertising and capturing aerial views of live sporting events for television. The term blimp itse ...

base was located on Watson Island from 1930 to 1978, initially on the east side of the island and later on a new landfill area to the west. Goodyear moved the base to

Opa-locka Airport Opa-locka () is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Spanning roughly , it is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 16,463, up from 15,219 in 2010. Opa-locka was founded ...

after failing to agree on lease renewal terms with the city. Vestiges of the old base still remain such as the imprint of the mooring circle and a paved path for a small tram that would transport passengers to the airship. Grand plans to develop the island started in 1979, with a planned amusement park, Diplomat World. Residents formed "Save Watson Island, Inc", a neighborhood group opposing the use for anything other than a park. They had public demonstrations and because of the demonstrations and a variety of other reasons, the amusement park was never built. Another development included one from the late 1990s, culminating in 2003 when

Jungle Island Jungle Island, formerly Parrot Jungle, is a relaunched eco-adventure park on Watson Island (Miami), Watson Island, Miami, Florida, United States. The park re-opened following a series of major renovations after the park incurred damage from Hurr ...

relocated to Watson. There has been continued controversy stemming from Jungle Island's inability to meet the financing terms it had made with the local municipalities when the move was approved. Local elected officials had and continue to bail out Jungle Island with tax dollars. The Miami Children's Museum also relocated to the island in 2003. The State of Florida offered a site in the Island Gardens project on Watson Island to host the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Permanent Secretariat. As of March 2006 the

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the U.S. state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the power ...

was planning to construct a tunnel from the Port of Miami on Dodge Island under the main shipping channel to the MacArthur Causeway on Watson Island. On May 24, 2010, construction began on the Port of Miami Tunnel; it was completed on August 3, 2014.

Current public facilities

Aviation Center

Chalk's International Airlines Chalk's International Airlines, formerly Chalk's Ocean Airways, was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in unincorporated Broward County, Florida near Fort Lauderdale. It operated ...

maintained a seaplane base on Watson Island from 1926 until it ceased operation in 2007. As of 2006, the City of Miami is relocating the Miami Heliport to a site adjacent to Chalk's seaplane base, with the intention of creating an Aviation Center serving corporate and tourism needs. Ichimura Miami – Japanese Garden
The Ichimura Miami - Japanese Garden grew out of the efforts of Kiyoshi Ichimura, who sent objects, materials and artisans from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

to Miami in the 1950s to construct the San-Ai-An Japanese Garden on Watson Island. The garden opened in 1961. As of 2006, the garden was being redesigned and reconstructed. Jungle Island

opened its new facility on Watson Island in 2003. Originally named ''Parrot Jungle'', the popular tourist attraction first opened in the Pinecrest neighborhood of Miami in 1936. Over the years, the attraction came to be a popular attraction for Miami residents and tourists, but that trend reversed once it moved to the smaller and less natural setting of Watson Island. Jungle Island has many fewer animals, and none of the old growth vegetation the original park was known for. Jungle Island hosts Miami's most popular event venue with its Treetop Ballroom. Miami Children's Museum
The Miami Children's Museum opened a new facility on Watson Island in 2003. It has ten galleries, classrooms, birthday party rooms, a parent/teacher resource center, an educational gift shop, a 200-seat auditorium and a dining area. Miami Outboard Club
The Miami Outboard Club has been located on Watson Island since 1948. It is active in conservation and

artificial reef An artificial reef (AR) is a human-created freshwater or marine benthic structure. Typically built in areas with a generally featureless bottom to promote Marine biology#Reefs, marine life, it may be intended to control #Erosion prevention, erosio ...

programs, and provides social and educational activities. The club has boat slips, dry storage, a boat lift, a ramp for

jet ski A personal watercraft (PWC), also called Jet Ski or water scooter, is a primarily recreational watercraft that is designed to hold only a small number of occupants, who sit or stand on top of the craft, not within the craft as in a boat. P ...

s and other small craft, and a restaurant, bar and internet cafe. Miami Yacht Club
The Miami Yacht Club has been located on Watson Island since the late 1940s. It offers youth and adult sailing programs, and sponsors races,

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

s and a Sea Scout ship. The club has boat slips, dry storage, and a lounge, bar and restaurant. Public Boat Ramp
There is a Public Boat Ramp with 50 oversized parking spaces for vehicles with boat trailers.

Future planning

In 2001, voters approved a bond measurer for what many thought was a public park for Watson Island and later many insisted they were tricked by the wording of the measure. However, the allowance was in fact for the City of Miami's public partnership with a developer for a mega-yacht marina related commercial development concept, Island Gardens. In 2004 the City of Miami and

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 coun ...

approved Island Gardens, a $281 million, hotel and marina development on Watson Island. The development included two hotels, retail and restaurant space, landscaped promenade gardens and a marina serving mega yachts. An environmental watchdog group sued to halt the project, unsuccessfully. In 2009 the equity investor Flagstone had signed up withdrew from the project due to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

and failure of bank syndication. The city forgave the developer, enabling them to keep right of development, extending the deadline for payments. Miami developer Jorge Perez, was interested as a partner in 2013, at which point the project jumped over three times to a proposed $1B project, with interest from the Related Companies. Jorge Perez later pulled out, citing, in part, concern about their expansion regarding City of Miami Beach residents, that the project will cause traffic nightmares on the causeway between the two cities. Flagstone submitted a new outline to the City of Miami that they were not increasing their approved numbers.

Education

The local school district for the entire county is

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the public school district serving Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida. Founded in 1885, it is the largest school district in Florida, the largest in the South ...

. Zoned schools for Watson Island include: * South Pointe Elementary School * Nautilus Middle School *

Miami Beach High School Miami Beach Senior High School (Beach High, MBSH) is a secondary school located at 2231 Prairie Avenue Miami Beach, Florida, across from the Miami Beach Convention Center and Botanical Garden. It is located at the corner of Prairie Avenue and Da ...

Miami Beach SHS School Legal Boundaries Description
"

. Retrieved on November 21, 2024.

References

External links

{{Crossings navbox , structure= Junctions , place=

, bridge= Watson Island , bridge signs= Florida A1A

, upstream text= West , upstream= I-395 , upstream signs= I-395

, downstream text= East , downstream= Palm Island
Hibiscus Island , downstream signs= Florida A1A