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After years of closure and environmental remediation, Chapman Field Park in Coral Gables once again is alive with the sound of baseball, children playing, and America’s favorite pastime brought back to life in the community’s backyard.
Local leaders, league presidents, and community members gathered at 13601 Deering Bay Dr. the morning of Friday, June 6, to celebrate the official reopening of the renovated ballfields and green spaces with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The event marked the completion of a long-awaited transformation of the 483-acre park, once a military training site with ties to both World Wars. Now overseen by the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department, Chapman Field is poised to become a hub for youth sports and environmental resilience.
“Chapman Field is one of our gems in the great parks’ system,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “This is long awaited. The community is just abuzz because they are so eager to have a place for practice and play. It was idle open space, and now it is going to be deployed for the benefit of our community.”
The upgrades include two fully renovated ball fields, one specifically for tee-ball and the other designed for multiple sports, like baseball, soccer, and flag football. A new open green space and a shaded gazebo also were added, giving visitors a place to relax and watch ongoing games shaded from Miami’s heat.
What was once an unused parking lot has now been elevated and rebuilt in accordance with environmental standards to protect it from future flooding.
Christina White, the newly appointed director of the Parks Department, described the project as part of a broader effort to “adapt parks to rising sea levels.”
Alexander Paez, the new park manager at Chapman Field, acknowledged the range of groups involved in bringing the park back to life.
“We have various entities from Miami-Dade County coming out — from coastal regions and parks in the area to local schools and leagues we’re connected with,” Paez said.
One of the most prominent organizations benefiting from the renovations is the Howard Palmetto Baseball and Softball Association, the largest recreational league of its kind in Florida. “These fields allow us to grow our league and offer the opportunity for more members of our community to be able to participate in this really amazing league that we offer,” said Josh Carroll, the league’s president-elect. “We are very grateful and excited about the park and the opportunities that it presents the community.”
Few understand the evolution of the park better than longtime parks department veteran Steve Grant. With 51 years in the department and more than 30 years at Chapman Field alone, Grant sees this moment as both a personal and professional milestone.
“I’m somebody who has never worked a day in his life because I chose a job that was fun,” Grant said. “I work with young people, see young people, and they make me feel young.”
With new leadership and a focus on community and environmental sustainability, Chapman Field is ready to serve Miami-Dade’s families for generations to come.
Dylan Berkowitz a senior at Ransom High School.
