Bal Harbour Turns 80 With Founders Circle Renewed and the Jetty Still Waiting

At 9650 Collins Avenue, Founders Circle has new sidewalks, new landscaping, new lighting, new benches and a new monument. On Thursday, November 5, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., the Village will rededicate it as part of its 80th anniversary. The ceremony also includes sealing and burying a time capsule that is meant to stay closed until 2046, when Bal Harbour turns 100.

A mile or so north, at the inlet end of the Village, sits a landmark that has been around longer than Founders Circle and longer than Bal Harbour itself. The jetty and cutwalk at Baker's Haulover Inlet are due to become Harbourfront Park. Bal Harbour's project page still shows a 2027 finish. The Council's own records from this summer tell a different story. Founders Circle shows what the Village can finish on its own schedule. The jetty is still waiting on the inlet's.

A monument built to keep adding names

Founders Circle was first dedicated on January 7, 1990. Its original plaque honored Robert C. Graham, Sol M. Taplin and Stanley F. Whitman. The new monument is designed differently. In a resolution memo in the September 15, 2026 Council packet, the Village says the 80th-anniversary improvements include "a monument designed with space for additional names so the Village may continue recognizing distinguished community members."

The first new name is Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar. The same memo credits him with more than four decades of community leadership and service, including many years as Village Police Chaplain. His name will be added during the November 5 rededication, which is open to Bal Harbour residents.

The timing was planned. The Village's FY 2027 budget book calls the renovation one of the Public Works & Beautification Department's most significant accomplishments of the year. It also notes the work was "completed to coincide with the Harding Avenue Realignment Project," and that it covers new landscaping, irrigation, lighting, sidewalks, benches and the monument. The site sits on a Village corner at a primary gateway into Bal Harbour, so the work could be scheduled around the street project next to it.

The anniversary program has other parts that run on the Village's schedule. The 80th Anniversary Celebration was set for November 1 at Bal Harbour Waterfront Park, 18 Bal Bay Drive, as an adults-only evening for residents. "Portraits of Bal Harbour" collects nominations of residents whose lives and service shaped the Village, and selected profiles are slated for a future newsletter.

The landmark that came first

The order of events at the north end matters. The Village's history page and the jetty's design report give this timeline:

The jetty is 19 years older than the Village, and its last major repair was 40 years ago. The basis of design report describes today's structure as steel sheet pile reinforced with granite rubble. It calls the site "a well-used but unrealized amenity" and a popular place to walk out to the end of the jetty and look at the ocean and Bal Harbour's beachline.

What the website says, and what the Council heard in August

The Village's Harbourfront Park project page describes the plan. Mikyoung Kim Design Studio's concept combines a linear waterfront park with a rebuilt historic jetty. Because Harbourfront Park will be the Village's only public park, the page calls it a landmark destination. The page also says construction "is set to begin in 2025, with an anticipated completion in 2027."

The Village's later updates describe a project that hasn't broken ground. On June 26, 2026, a Capital Program Department update said the project was in the final stages of getting its last required permit from the Village's Building Department. The next milestone was the Construction Manager at Risk presenting its Guaranteed Maximum Price, or GMP, to the Village Council.

Minutes from the Council's August 28 mini-retreat, published in the September 15 packet, gave the most recent schedule:

"The presentation reflected a GMP decision anticipated in October/November 2026, while the anticipated groundbreaking and substantial completion dates remained to be determined."

The same minutes put the project's total budgeted funding at about $39.175 million. The listed sources are Miami-Dade County GOB funds, FIND and FDEP grants, Florida Department of Commerce grants, developer contributions, SunTrust/Truist rent, Resort Tax and an appropriation of fund balance. The design work went on all summer. The June update credits Kimley-Horn & Associates as prime consultant and Engineer of Record, working with Mikyoung Kim Design, and says the lighting plans were revised to meet Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission requirements. As of the latest minutes, the project still had no groundbreaking date.

Why the inlet sets the calendar

Founders Circle could be timed to a street project. The jetty sits at a federal inlet, so its timing depends on things outside the Village's control. At the August retreat, staff listed the outside activities and seasonal conditions affecting when construction can start:

• Construction nearby
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging
• Sargassum cleanup
• Turtle and shorebird nesting seasons
• Hurricane season

This year added more pressure on that list. The FY 2027 budget book says South Florida went through one of the most severe sargassum seasons on record, and that Public Works worked with Miami-Dade County and the Village's contracted beach-cleaning provider on daily cleanup along Bal Harbour Beach. The wildlife factor is built into the design too. The project page says the finished park will have turtle-friendly lighting, and the June update says the lighting plans were changed to meet FWC requirements.

Once construction starts, the work is phased. The project page says the first phase replaces the seawall from the Haulover Bridge to the beach hardpack and rebuilds the hardscape to keep fire access open. After that, the cutwalk is raised gradually toward the hook at the end of the structure, and the phasing is meant to keep public access and emergency routes open throughout. The Village is also exploring a Living Shoreline along the structure that would provide habitat for relocated coral and other marine life. The page describes it as under exploration, not as a confirmed feature.

The jetty this anniversary season

Until construction starts, the jetty is the 1986 structure. One newer rule applies to it. A Village notice from April 2026 prohibits e-bikes, e-scooters and other motorized mobility devices on the beach path, the jetty/cutwalk and the 102 Street beach-access path, with an exemption for devices used for disability access.

The Council has also turned to the jetty's current condition. The October 28 Council agenda included a discussion item on the condition of the cutwalk and the Ritz-Carlton frontage road. The memo asks for discussion and doesn't recommend a specific action. The next item to watch on future agendas is the GMP presentation, which the August minutes expected in October or November. The Village's events calendar lists Council meetings, which are broadcast on the Village website.

When the time capsule at Founders Circle is opened in 2046, the jetty will be 119 years old. The Council's latest minutes don't yet say when its rebuild will start.

When the Harbourfront Park GMP reaches the Council agenda, I'll be following it for clients who know this end of the Village well. If you'd like to talk through what the Village's 80th year and the work ahead mean for your own plans in Bal Harbour, Alexandra Gonzalez is glad to help, in English or Spanish. Request a Private Consultation.