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Miami - Little Haiti, New Soccer park on the way by May City Leaders tell audiences

Residents of Little Haiti and surrounding neighborhoods can look forward to using a new soccer park starting next May, Miami city leaders told more than 100 people Wednesday night in a community meeting at Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church.

The soccer park is one of two major components of the 8.9-acre Little Haiti Park now under construction.

Construction on the second element, a cultural center housing a 250-seat theater, art gallery, art and crafts workrooms and community meeting rooms, will start in January and will open in May 2008, said Mary Conway, chief of operations for the city.

A more immediate addition to the park: the Little Haiti Neighborhood Enhancement Team office, which was relocated to Overtown a year ago because of damages caused by Hurricane Wilma.

The NET office will open within 30 to 40 days, said Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez.

Little Haiti Park is located between Northeast Second and Fourth Avenues and bordered by Northeast 64th Terrace to the north and 59th Street to the south.

The late City Commissioner Arthur Teele proposed the 60-acre park in Little Haiti in 1998. The park's $32 million cost will be paid for through a $255 million bond approved by voters in 2001.