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Project The Charles E. Deering Estate at Cutler, located in South Florida, is a 430 -acre environmental, historical, and archaeological park. The largest of its kind, it serves as a center for education and recreation. The park grounds feature several of Florida's native habitat communities, including mangrove swamps, maritime hammocks, a coastal tropical hardwood hammock, an endangered pine rockland forest, and a variety of archaeological resources, most notably one of the few remaining Tequesta Indian burial mounds. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew virtually destroyed the Estate. The storm's winds ravaged the landscape and decimated the historic structures. After extensive cleanup, the CGA's duties included developing a Masterplan for the restoration of the Estate; the siting of and plantings surrounding new maintenance, trailhead, and environmental demonstration facilities; updating the grounds for ADA compliance; the resculpting of a Champion Black Olive Tree; the re- establishment of a destroyed historic palm glade; and the overall coordination be- tween the Project Architect, the Historical Preservation Group, the Miami -Dade County Parks Department, and the General Contractor. In an effort to reconnect to the property's historical precedent, the design team created the experience of historical regression and of connection to the Estate. By developing a sequential rite of passage, the visitor is first led along a historic coral rock wall with butterfly attracting vegetation, through the recreation of the historic country road edge, then immersed into the denseness of a sub - tropical hammock, and finally emancipated into a palm glade that foregrounds the Biscayne Bay out to the Atlantic Ocean. Today, the Charles E. Deering Estate at Cutler, listed on the National Historic Register, stands as a testament to the region's rich and diverse past; it serves the present community with cultural, educational, and recreational uses; and it faces the future with proven tenacity, perseverance, and dignity as a surviving ambassador of the wealth of Floridians and of their i Pioneering character. Client Miami -Dade County Parks and Recreation Department Contact information at time of project: Miami -Dade County Parks and Recreation 275 NW 2nd Street Miami, Florida 33128 Project Cost $1.5 million Project Date 2003 Services Provided Landscape design Key Personnel Tammy Cook- Weedon, ASLA, RLA Gianno Feoli Awards FNGA Landscape Award of Excellence FNGA - 2003 Best of Show ASLA Award of Excellence