Chapman Field Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami in

Miami-Dade County, Florida 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 county in ...

, in the southern part of Coral Gables,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on historic

Old Cutler Road Old Cutler Road is an off-grid plan, main northeast–southwest road running south of Downtown Miami, downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Route description The northern terminus is Cocoplum C ...

. Of its , remain as mangrove forests and saltwater estuaries; is developed as a park.

History

The property was first used as an army airfield in World War I. It was later declared surplus and in 1923 the United States Department of Agriculture began using as a plant introduction garden. As early as 1940 the county expressed an interest in acquiring the remaining property. In 1947 an additional was added to the garden leaving and the property was declared surplus by the War Department. In 1949, the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

(UM) bought for the

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS ) is the University of Miami's academic and research institution for the study of oceanography and atmospheric sciences. Founded in 1943, the University of Miami's Rosenstiel Schoo ...

and the county the remaining . UM did not utilize their portion and in 1956 a local developer took their portion under a long term lease to build a golf course. This portion has gone through several owners. In 1990 it was then called Deering Bay and owned by Armando Codina and others and the lease was extended through 2030. Little has been done to develop the park since the county acquired it in 1949. Money from the Decade of Progress bonds in 1972 led to the construction of three lighted baseball fields. The county does have plans to improve the park sometime in the future.

Facilities

The park features three baseball fields. Both the Howard Palmetto Khoury League and the Howard Palmetto Baseball/Softball Association formerly played at the park. The baseball/softball fields and related batting cages, etc. were closed due to environmental concerns (arsenic contamination) in 2014 and are now overgrown. There is a canoe and kayak ramp as well, which remain open and accessible.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * {{Greater Miami, state=collapsed Parks in Miami-Dade County, Florida