Tamiami Park is a public

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus of

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

Background

The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former ''Tamiami Airport'', which was rebuilt as a larger airport south in Kendall. Growth of the surrounding area and the nearby flight path for

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most c ...

forced the relocation of the municipal airport. The Fair Expo Center, site of the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition, is located on the eastern side of the park. A swimming pool was built in the mid-1970s equipped with state-of-the-art solar panels to heat the water.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

held an open-air

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

for 150,000 people in September 1987. Tamiami Stadium ''(sometimes called Tamiami Field)'' was located in the park until 1995, when

FIU Stadium Riccardo Silva Stadium is a college football and soccer stadium on the campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Westchester, Florida. It is home stadium of the FIU Panthers football team and the Miami FC soccer team from the USL Cha ...

was built on the south end of the campus. The Miami Toros of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

played there during the 1976 season. The Toros also used the field for one playoff game in 1974.https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19740814&id=UDw0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=yesFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4148,1615343&hl=en

Auto racing

A CART series race was held at the facility from 1985-1988. (See Grand Prix of Miami).

References

External links

Tamiami Park
{{Greater Miami Tourist attractions in Miami Geography of Miami Florida International University Fort Lauderdale Strikers stadiums Champ Car circuits Motorsport venues in Florida Defunct motorsport venues in the United States Parks in Miami-Dade County, Florida Defunct soccer venues in the United States North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums 1960s establishments in Florida