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Huizenga Park Reimagined.

Huizenga Park is at the heart of DowntownFTL where art, business, living, education, and entertainment intersect. Huizenga’s central location on the New River at Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue offers a natural respite among the bustle and density of the urban core. Huizenga Park was originally built over 25 years ago at a time when DowntownFTL was primarily a destination for business. A space for large events was needed to attract residents to DowntownFTL. Now, DowntownFTL is a thriving city home to a vibrant residential population. As downtowns evolve, so do their public spaces.   When reimagined, it will become the epicenter of Downtown Fort Lauderdale’s park and open space network. 

Learn More About Huizenga Park.
Project Timeline.

The new park design will be finalized by the end of 2022 with construction anticipated to begin in 2023 and last 12-18 months. A reimagined Huizenga Park is projected to open to the public in 2024. 

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2019.

Urban Land Institute Open Space Advisory Services Panel. 

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National experts from the Urban Land Institute presented recommendations for parks and open spaces in DowntownFTL in October 2019. Over the course of a week, panelists toured the city center, interviewed more than 80 community stakeholders, developed their recommendations, and presented their findings to a large audience of interested stakeholders. 

2020.

Downtown Parks Precedents Whitepaper.

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Six recently built signature downtown parks from across the United States were examined through a comprehensive study and series of interviews with downtown parks leaders.  The precedents study evaluated the unique challenges and opportunities that major downtown parks projects face in their design, operations, programming, maintenance, and long-term sustainability. The lessons learned help to inform future decisions about Huizenga Park.

2021.

Huizenga Park Visioning Briefing Book.

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The results from the ULI Advisory Services Panel and Downtown Parks Precedents Whitepaper led to the creation of a conceptual vision for a reimagined Huizenga Park. This briefing book introduces potential design elements that may be incorporated into the final vision for Huizenga Park. 

2022.

Public Outreach. The DDA has presented the vision for the reimaged Huizenga Park at over 30 meetings with the public since the beginning of 2022, directly engaging with the downtown community, park stakeholders and adjacent properties. Scroll down to see a list of some of the DDA's outreach efforts.

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City Coordination. The DDA has diligently worked with City of Fort Lauderdale staff from the beginning of the project, ultimately leading to presentations to the Budget Advisory Board (7/27/22 and 8/11/22), City Commission (7/5/22), and Parks, Recreation & Beaches Advisory Board (6/22/22). Support was secured from each of these presentations leading the City and DDA to develop a proposed partnership agreement to move Huizenga Park forward.  

Summer 2022.

State of Florida Appropriations.

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The State of Florida included $950,000 towards the construction of Huizenga Park as part of its fiscal year 2023 budget. Representative Chip LaMarca presented the check to the DDA's Board of Directors at the June 2022 meeting.

Fall 2022.

The reimagined Huizenga Park became closer to realization. 

  • Perkins&Will finalized the design plans for the DDA.

  • The Huizenga Park Foundation launched a capital campaign to raise $5 million to support the park’s construction.

  • The DDA's Construction Manager at Risk, Burkhardt Construction, began the Guaranteed Maximum Price process to ultimately provide a proposal to the DDA to build the reimagined Huizenga Park.

  • The Huizenga Park website went online.

Public Meetings & Presentations.

​The DDA has presented and shared the design vision for Huizenga Park with hundreds of downtown residents, employees, partners, and stakeholders. These presentations, outside of DDA meetings/workshops, include, but are not limited to:

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  • Huizenga Park Reimagined Community Meeting and DDA Board Workshop (January 19, 2023)

  • City of Fort Lauderdale Budget Advisory Board (August 11, 2022)

  • City of Fort Lauderdale Budget Advisory Board (July 27, 2022)

  • City of Fort Lauderdale Commission Conference Meeting (July 5, 2022)

  • City of Fort Lauderdale Parks, Recreation, and Beaches Board (June 22, 2022)

  • Flagler Village Civic Association (May 18, 2022)

  • Chamber's Downtown Council (May 11, 2022)

  • Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations (May 10, 2022)

  • Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale Design Working Session (April 25, 2022)

  • Broward Workshop's Urban Core Committee (April 15, 2022)

  • Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale Board of Directors (April 6, 2022)

  • Downtown Civic Association (April 4, 2022)

  • Downtown Coalition Meeting (March 25, 2022)

  • Huizenga Park Public Stakeholder Meeting (March 16, 2022)

  • Chamber's Downtown Council Breakfast (February 24, 2022)

  • Targeted Stakeholder Meeting (January 26, 2022)

Questions? Contact the DDA office at (954) 463-6574 or dda@ddaftl.org.

Stay in Touch.

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