Tropical Park Race Track was a horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 facility built on 245 acre (0.9914807 km²) at the current intersection of Bird Road and the Palmetto Expressway in metropolitan

Miami-Dade County, Florida

Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...

 Miami, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, in what is now the neighborhood

Neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County

The neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County encompass all municipalities, neighborhoods , and largely populated clusters in the U.S...

 of Olympia Heights

Olympia Heights, Florida

Olympia Heights is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 13,488 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Olympia Heights is located at ....

. The race track

Race track

A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...

 was built by Bill Dwyer

Bill Dwyer (mobster)

William Vincent Dwyer , known as "Big Bill" Dwyer, was an early Prohibition gangster and bootlegger in New York during the 1920s. He used his profits to purchase sports properties, including the New York Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates of the National Hockey League , as well as the Brooklyn...

, a prohibition

Prohibition in the United States

Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...

 era bootlegger

Rum-running

Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...

, and Frank Bruen with backing from Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 distilling tycoon, Samuel Bronfman

Samuel Bronfman

Samuel Bronfman, was a Canadian business magnate and philanthropist. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited, and is a member of the Canadian Jewish family dynasty, the Bronfman family.-Early life:...

. It opened on December 26, 1931, and closed in 1972. The track hosted meets for both for Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 and Standardbred horses.

Tropical Park introduced the first synthetic racetrack surface for horse racing in the 1966-67 season. Known as "Tartan Turf, " it was a rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

ized surface manufactured by the 3M

3M

3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....

 company. Built inside the regular dirt track, one race per day was contested on the Tartan track but for safety reasons the majority of horse trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

s and owners refused to run their horses on the track.

Saul Silberman bought Tropical Park in 1953 after president Henry L. Straus died in a plane crash. A major gambler from Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

, Silberman was a former majority shareholder of the Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 who had also owned Randall Park Race Track in North Randall, Ohio

North Randall, Ohio

North Randall is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1027 at the 2010 census.-Geography:North Randall is located at ....

 and the Painesville Raceway in Northfield, Ohio

Northfield, Ohio

Northfield is a village in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,827 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Northfield is located at ....

. When Silberman died in 1971, new owner William L. McKnight made his intentions known. He wanted to close the track, and have all of the racing dates switched to the new Calder Race Course

Calder Race Course

Calder Casino & Race Course is a casino and horse racetrack in Miami Gardens, Florida in the United States.-History:In the mid-1960s, real estate developer Stephen A. Calder envisioned summertime racing in Florida; in 1965, on the advice of Mr. Calder, the Florida Legislature approved a bill...

, of which he was a principal investor. Tropical Park was closed after the 1972 racing season.

In 1979, the Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation service converted the facility into a public park they named Tropical Park

Tropical Park

Tropical Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami, Florida. The park is located just southwest of the intersection of the Palmetto Expressway and Bird Road , just east of South Miami.-History:...

. http://www.miamidade.gov/Parks/Parks/tropical.asp The park offers a number of sports activities including Tropical Park Stadium

Tropical Park Stadium

Tropical Park Stadium is a 10,000-seat stadium located in Olympia Heights, Florida, a CDP near Miami, Florida. The stadium is located in Tropical Park and was the home field of Miami FC of the United Soccer Leagues...

 used for track and field athletics. The old racetrack's stable

Stable

A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

s were used as part of the park's equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

center.