S. Fla. companies to help make over park

Local 10 spearheads Gratigny Plateau Park effort

MIAMI – The effort to rebuild a neglected northwest Miami-Dade County park is getting into gear. 

Local 10 first announced its Making a Difference effort to revitalize Gratigny Plateau Park last week. Many neighbors said they did not realize the empty field was actually meant to be a county park. 

"It's not a playground. It's just an empty field," said a child who lives nearby. 

The goal is to get the community involved in building a useful, beautiful park at the site, and there has been a big reaction. 

The first meeting was held Thursday to decide the next step. Movers and shakers from the community gathered, including Tom Miller, CEO of Miller Construction, which builds multimillion-dollar projects in South Florida, including Local 10's new station in Pembroke Park. 

"We just want to help get it coordinated and built right so it will last," Miller said. 

Also in attendance was Kona Gray, of EDSA, whose Fort Lauderdale company designs million-dollar projects all over the world. It employs master planners and landscape architects and is currently working on projects in China. Gray said he is committed to the Gratigny Plateau Park project, too. 

"For us, being able to listen to people, being able to bring their ideas through our minds and out through our fingertips onto a drawing is really amazing," Gray said. 

"There are parks in our system that are undeveloped because there's simply not funding, and any time an outside entity like Channel 10 and all the partners can come along and do something great in a community like that, they're going to love it," said Jack Kardys, of Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation. 

The next step is a community meeting, where residents will weigh in on the best use for the land. The meeting will be held at the park, located at Northwest Eighth Avenue and 117th Street, at 6 p.m. May 10. 

Anyone who would like to help with the project can email share@local10.com.