Isola di Lolando is an unfinished artificial island in

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is la ...

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 ...

. Hurricane damage and economic collapse caused the project to be abandoned shortly after the start of construction, but pilings remain visible in the bay and are a hazard to navigation.

History

In the early 1920s, audacious developers like John S. Collins were known for selling pre-construction property in the middle of Biscayne Bay before the islands had even been built. Demand was strong and there was virtually no environmental regulation, leading developers to envision filling Biscayne Bay with artificial islands. With unlimited waterfront property available, it seemed that the land boom had no end in sight. The Shoreland Company and The Venetian Island Company were attempting to build a chain of new Venetian Islands in the water south of the Julia Tuttle Causeway in north

. The first was to stretch from the causeway to Di Lido Island, and was to be called Isolda di Lolando, continuing the Venetian theme of the existing successful artificial island projects. In 1925 the population explosion in South Florida had begun to strain local resources, and railway shipping companies began raising prices. In October the old Danish war ship ''

Prinz Valdemar The ''Prinz Valdemar'' was a 241-foot steel-hulled schooner named after Prince Valdemar of Denmark. It was built in 1891 in Helsingør, Denmark along with its sister ship ''Prinsesse Marie'', as one of the last great ships of the sailing ship era ...

'' capsized in the channel in the port of Miami on its way to becoming a floating hotel, blocking shipping access to Miami for weeks. That summer brought the

1926 Miami Hurricane The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 was a large and intense tropical cyclone that devastated the Greater Miami area and caused catastrophic damage in the Bahamas and the U.S. Gulf Coast in September of the year 1926, accruing a US$100 mi ...

, which devastated an unprepared populace and heavily damaged local infrastructure. The Shoreland Company went bankrupt in 1927 amid objections to "further mutilation of the waterway". The

1929 stock market crash The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

and subsequent onset of the Great Depression ensured that Lolando Island was never completed. A Miami real estate bubble burst in the mid-1920s as a land boom fueled by outside speculators was stricken by economic realities and unexpected hurricanes. One failed development project left its remains scarring north

near Miami Beach, Florida. Concrete pilings from the sea wall of the incomplete Isola di Lolando still remain perfectly aligned in the shape of a new " Venetian island", stretching from the northern tip of

Di Lido Island Di Lido Island is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach on a man-made island in Biscayne Bay, Florida, United States. It is the third island from the east of the Venetian Islands, a chain of artificial islands in Biscayne Bay in the cities o ...

to the Julia Tuttle Causeway. The pilings sit in about 5–10 feet of water and extend about 5–10 feet above the water, depending on the tide. The pilings and the island's outline shape are clearly visible from the Julia Tuttle Causeway as well as from many of the tall buildings that overlook the bay. They present a clear hazard to boat navigation and the interior of the island is a peaceful place that remains free of boat and jet ski traffic for kayakers, dolphin, manatee, sting rays, manta rays, and many types of fish. Though faint, the island's pilings and outline can still be seen from space, via Google Earth and

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

, and from

Yahoo Maps Yahoo! Maps was a free online mapping portal provided by Yahoo! Functionality included local weather powered by The Weather Channel, printing maps, and local reviews powered by Yelp. It shut down on June 30, 2015. For a time in 2019, Yahoo! Maps ...

.Isola di Lolando on Yahoo Maps
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References

{{Reflist History of Miami Islands of Miami-Dade County, Florida Islands of Miami Beach, Florida Artificial islands of Florida 1920s establishments in Florida Planned communities in Florida