Sunny Isles Beach kicked off its Heritage Park project Sept. 1 with a ceremonial groundbreaking. Shoveling dirt are, left to right, City Manager Rick Conner; David Whiteman, president of Coastal Construction; Richard Schulman, city historian; Roz Brezin, city commissioner; Lewis Thaler, vice mayor; Mayor Norman Edelcup; Sunny Isles Beach kicked off its Heritage Park project Sept. 1 with a ceremonial groundbreaking. Shoveling dirt are, left to right, City Manager Rick Conner; David Whiteman, president of Coastal Construction; Richard Schulman, city historian; Roz Brezin, city commissioner; Lewis Thaler, vice mayor; Mayor Norman Edelcup; Gerry Goodman, city commissioner, and Hans Ottinot, city attorney.

The City of Sunny Isles Beach officially broke ground Sept. 1 on its Heritage Park project.

The site on the west side of Collins Avenue just north of the Lehman Causeway will be transformed into a park featuring a basketball court, children’s play area and a 500-car parking garage.

Mayor Norman Edelcup expressed hope that residents could be enjoying the facilities in as little as a year’s time and jokingly deputized Vice Mayor Lewis Thaler, who lives across Collins Avenue, to keep a close eye on the work.

Under a broiling sun and against a backdrop of darkening clouds, Edelcup and four of the five city commissioners – Bud Scholl was absent – spoke hopefully about the power of parks to bring the city’s residents together. Heritage Park is the northernmost of the city’s recent outburst of park building.

The vision for the $11 million project includes a heritage wall to honor key figures in the city’s history. The parking garage, which will be built first while plans for other parts of the park are finalized, will include Egyptian-style artwork saved from the lobby of The Dunes when that hotel was demolished in 2003 (See previous story under 'Sunny Isles Beach news').

David Whiteman, president of Coastal Construction, said his crews are ready to get started on the project as soon as the groundbreaking ceremonies wrap up.

An architect's rendering shows the proposed entrance to Heritage Park.