Landscape Architects Propose A Bayfront Park Conversion For Brickell Bay Drive
Curbed Miami
By Sean McCaughan
Landscape architects and husband and wife team Douglas Thompson and Ebru Ozer would like to turn the section of Brickell Bay Drive that runs directly along the bay front from SE 14th street to SE 15th road into a linear park, creating magnificent park space where only a pretty but little-used bayfront street exists now. The real genius, however, is in how easy it seems the plan would be to execute and the dramatic impact the park could have on the neighborhood. On public land the city already owns, the park would be quite expansive and could include piers, stormwater remediation wetlands, recreations of native hammock environments, playgrounds, jogging paths, picnic areas, and recreation lawns, in a rapidly densifying part of Miami in dire need of park space. Could this be the new Brickell Green Space?
Our design idea relates to park space in Brickell and to a section of Brickell Bay Drive. This is the street nearest the waterfront, south of SE 8th St. For most of its length, this street lies behind waterfront condos, but one section of the street runs directly along the waterfront between SE 14th St and SE 15th Rd. The section seems to be the longest continuous stretch of waterfront that is publicly accessible in Brickell. However, it has few pedestrian amenities. Along the water, the sidewalks are very narrow. From our observation, the street is not heavily used by automobiles and all of the condos fronting it have additional entry access via SE 14th lane. We believe this section of the street has the potential to be re-purposed as a linear waterfront park that could transform the neighborhood. Given that the land is already owned by the city, it might be an easy way to add a substantial amount of public green space and public waterfront.
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