Miami-Dade County has officially rescinded its lease agreement with Miami Wilds for a controversial water park on Zoo Miami property.
In a letter to Miami Wilds Managing Principal Paul Lambert, the office of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that "while Miami Wilds and the County may have entered into the lease with the understanding that the 2022 release was valid and effective, the parties were mutually mistaken."
Back in Dec. 2023, after months of debate and opposition from activists, it was announced that a proposal for the water park on Zoo Miami property would not be going forward.
The announcement came at a meeting where Miami-Dade commissioners had been expected to vote on whether to extend the lease agreement with the developers of the proposed Miami Wilds project.
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Commissioner Kionne McGhee, who had brought forth the item, wwas withdrawing it.
"The required environmental study still needs to be done. Don’t ask me I’m not an attorney, but it seems to me this was basically killed without the data, without the science," said Bernard Zyscovich, one of the project's developers.
Miami Wilds had been described as a "family-friendly leisure destination." The proposed project would have been built on 27.5 acres of existing county-owned parking lots adjacent to the zoo.
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Plans for the attraction included a water park, a family-friendly boutique hotel, and a small number of unique small retail shops and restaurants.
While some had argued for the economic benefits of the project, others like Zoo Miami's Ron Magill had spoken out against it, saying it would threaten the wildlife living in the surrounding habitat.
In a post on X, Magill thanked the mayor for "following through."
