Miami Is Right on Course as Major Cruise Port

It is just after dinner, and we’re walking toward the Miami River in the heart of the city.

Immediately ahead of us the safety gates of the drawbridge are closed and street traffic is stopped. Slowly the two sections of the bridge spanning the river begin to rise.

My wife and I walk to the edge of the bridge and watch a loaded cargo ship move downstream into the harbor, towed stern-first by one tugboat while another keeps the bow from swinging into the banks of the river channel.

Moonlight Over Miami

The freighter will soon be passing the Dodge Island cruise ship port, which is linked by its own drawbridge to downtown Miami. The crescent of a new moon is glowing. Around us the lights of the city sparkle in fantasy patterns sculptured by futuristic designs of the high-rise architecture.

By night or day the opening of these central city drawbridges is a fascinating sight, especially for visitors from Southern California, who make up a significant and steadily increasing percentage of cruise ship passengers sailing from the Port of Miami.

Miami’s harbor area has importance for the growth of a city that was born in July, 1896, three months after Henry Flagler’s railroad came chugging into what one historian has described as “an isolated trading post on the edge of the Everglades.”

Since the economic and tourism decline in the early 1970s, the Greater Miami and Metropolitan Dade County area has become a melting pot of more than 1.8 million residents. It is now the world’s largest cruise port, having handled 2.8 million passengers last year. Projections are for close to 4 million passengers annually by the centennial year.

More Cruise Ships

Nearly a third of the world’s fleet of cruise ships dock at Miami’s Dodge Island port. By the end of next year three more terminals will be built on the island, giving the port the facilities to handle 13 cruise ships simultaneously. Construction has started on a high-level, five-lane bridge connecting the port to downtown.

The U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, headquartered in Washington, is set to open a Miami office Oct. 1, a recognition that this city is the primary gateway for Caribbean and Latin American travel to and from the United States.

Tourism revenues and investments are considered fundamental to helping resolve the economic and related social problems of this bilingual city.

The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that tourism dollars will have the positive effect of $4.8 billion on the economy this year, representing a 4.35% increase over 1986. About 66,000 people are employed in the tourism industry.

Most of the more than $3 billion to be invested in the city by 1996 will be aimed at building the tourism potential, particularly around the waterfront. If you haven’t visited or cruised out of Miami for a few years, the proliferation of development may be startling.

The $93-million Bayside Marketplace rims 16 acres of Bayfront Park and Miamarina with restaurants, pavilions, upscale shops and entertainment centers.

Baywalk is scheduled for completion by next spring. The promenade will wind along the bay from Bayside Marketplace to Chopin Plaza, curving around the mouth of the Miami River to the Riverwalk, with grand views of sports boats and the cruise vessels.

The $139-million James K. Knight International Center by the Miami River is a complex that integrates the Miami Convention Center, the University of Miami Conference Center and the 23-story Hyatt Regency Hotel. The next two years will see a $53.5-million expansion of the Convention Center.

New Stadium

Joe Robbie Stadium is the new home of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. It’s a $100-million facility that seats 75,500 and was privately financed by Dolphins owner Joseph Robbie. Due to be added to the complex are hotels, restaurants and a Dolphins museum.

A 100-foot laser-light tower designed by Isamu Noguchi is set for completion by December in Bayfront Park. Crowned with lights and illuminated from within, it will be the first laser tower of its kind in the nation, and will offer computer-choreographed light shows.

Bordering downtown, Little Havana is the cultural center of greater Miami’s Hispanic population and an increasing focal area of visitor interest.

Flagler Street, named for the railroad pioneer with the vision of this city, is one of the two main streets through Little Havana. The other is S. W. 8th Street, better known as Calle Ocho. This city within a city continues to expand as a 30-block reflection of Cuban culture, restaurants, nightclubs, shops and parks.

Three sides of the 31-story AmeriFirst building were lit in blue for the opening of the Bayside Marketplace. During Hanukkah, they will sparkle with blue and white lights. Gold leaf is aglow on the Spanish tile roof of the Central Baptist Church.

Freedom Tower, Miami’s historic 17-story building that became a processing center for Cuban refugees in the early 1960s, has been bought by a Saudi investment group. It is to be renovated and lighted for $4 million.

A 300-foot neon rainbow traces the elevated Metrorail track across the Miami River at the harbor, and is reflected in the water below. The 21-mile Metrorail substantially reduces daily commuter traffic and opens much of Greater Miami for convenient touring by visitors. It is linked to downtown by a 1.9-mile Metromover shuttle system.

Beach fronts have been expanded to 1,423 acres of public beaches. Key Biscayne will widen more than two miles of beach by 100 feet as part of a $2.2-million restoration project carried out in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers. Sunny Isles will widen 2.4 miles of ocean front early next year.

There are 71 parks to complement the beaches and water sports. They are linked with golf courses, tennis courts and bicycle and horseback riding trails. Parimutuel betting is a daily event on jai alai courts or at the horse and dog race tracks.

For cultural events, Bass Museum, Lowe Art Museum, Coconut Grove Playhouse, the Performing Arts Theaters at Grove Square and the Theater of the Performing Arts in Miami Beach have all announced expanded schedules for the coming months.

Miami Beach Additions

The $53.5-million expansion of the Miami Beach Convention Center is set for completion in the fall of 1989. This spring Miami Beach dedicated a recreational complex that includes a renovated theater, band shell and entertainment center dating from 1916.

The celebrated district that has preserved the Art Deco style of the 1930s continues to revive the old magic of Miami Beach with restorations. It’s the world’s largest Art Deco district, built around the showcase Carlyle Hotel at 13th Street and Ocean Drive. It’s also the only National Historic District built in the 20th Century.