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The People’s Park continued

The park’s construction budget of $12m is now fully paid for. Best known in South Florida for Key Biscayne’s waterfront
The city contributed $5m; the rest of the money comes from Rusty Pelican, the company runs waterfront restaurants around
the DDA, and funds raised by the foundation. Once the new Florida as well as spots like Castaway Burbank, a hilltop
park is open, the restaurant is expected to fill a practical role. restaurant and event venue with views of the Los Angeles
skyline. Getting them on board, Ladd said, “ was better than I
“The restaurant was like a triple edge plus,” Ladd said. In ever could have hoped when we started this thing.”
addition to being a positive addition to downtown, it’s meant
to be an income source for a park with a manager, security As Fort Lauderdale continues to grow and change, Ladd believes
and other things that mean significant money. The restaurant Huizenga Park can provide a blueprint for public spaces.
should also be one of the things that “activates” the park and “Hopefully we can show the way and create more of these
makes it a well-used space that feels safer for everybody. places,” he said. “What’s amazing about our city is that it’s

“It creates activity and eyes on the park,” Ladd said. “A so vibrant. For people who were here when nothing was here,
restaurant that’s done well is very powerful to the good. When it’s ‘wow, how the hell did it happen?’”
they’re done well, it’s a really positive thing for a park.”

He cites Bryant Park in New York as an example of a place
where a restaurant and other activated spaces helped renew
a public park. “That park is a good example of what a
successful reimagining of a park can do for a neighborhood,”
he said. “They can either be these dynamic, positive things or
if they’re not properly managed and cultivated, nothing or a
big negative.”

He also notes that the company selected to run the three-story
restaurant, California-based Specialty Restaurants, has a track
record with high-profile restaurants in publicly owned spaces. Steve Hudson & Wayne Huizenga, Jr.

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