Route 100 Stop #2 Bayfront Park/BaySide Marketplace/Ferre Park/Freedom Tower

After leaving the history museum and library complex, the bus heads south then east along SE 1st Ave toward Biscayne Bay.  The next stop is Bayfront Park, which is located at 301 Biscayne Blvd, 33132. Bayfront Park-is a 30 acre downtown park first developed in 1925, and redeveloped in 1980 by Japanese landscape architect Isamu Nagochi.

It serves as a focal point of outdoorsy downtown activities, ranging from weekly Yoga classes to seasonal celebrations. One point of interest is The Torch of Friendship, dedicated in 1960 by then  Miami mayor Robert King High as a symbol of Miami’s friendship with Latin America, just as Miami was beginning to receive Cuban refugees.

The curving structure surrounding the torch has a plaque for each Latin American country. Notice that there is one missing, as there is a space between Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, reserved for a post communist Cuba. 

The torch was dedicated in memory of assassinated President John F. Kennedy in 1964. As a young child, I was convinced he was buried there!

The park is also the site of a historic near miss, the attempted assassination of  President-Elect Franklin Roosevelt in February 1933 by anarchist  Guiseppe Zangara.  Zangara hit and fatally wounded Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, instead. Cermak died of his wounds, and Zangara was sentenced to death in the electric chair. 

The next point of interest at the north end of Bayfront Park is Bayside Marketplace.  Opened in 1987 by the Rouse Company, it is a tourist-oriented ‘festival marketplace’ with food, drink, and retail options. Neither historic nor off the beaten path, but worth visiting for a Caribbean meal or a cold drink, alcoholic or caffeinated, along with great people watching and a picturesque view of Biscayne Bay.

Check https://baysidemarketplace.com/ for the latest. Hours are quite extensive, from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM on weekdays. 

On the north side of Bayside is Ferre Park, named after former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre. It is home to a sculpture garden and a Bayside promenade, and is a quiet respite from the more bustling areas to the north or south of the park. 

As the bus heads north on Biscayne Blvd/NE 6th street,  across from Ferre Park, you will notice an architecturally striking building from the 1920s, The Freedom Tower.  Initially home to the Miami News, and repurposed as a processing center for Cuban refugees in the 1960s. It was built in the Mediterranean Revival style and was based on the Giralda, the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral, Spain. It is presently (July 2025) under renovation and will reopen as an art museum, under the auspices of Miami-Dade Community College.

Visit the website for the most up-to-date information:https://www.mdc.edu/freedomtower/

Let me know in the comments if you are a fan of the Bayfront Park area, and what activities you have participated in, and have you visited the Freedom Tower.