In 1938, thirty year old Daniel Dieffenbach arrived in North Miami Beach and built a house with $100 of used lumber on the banks of the Oleta River. This endeavor grew into an enterprise named the Blue Marlin Marina, which flourished and expanded in the late 40s supporting more than 23 families and for a while, becoming the largest employer in North Dade County. Its notoriety lead to Mr. Dieffenbach’s election as North Miami Beach’s Mayor in 1953. A heart attack in 1963 limited him to serving as City Manager from 1969 to 1973, and to running the Blue Marlin Marina until a fire burned the building. Mr. Dieffenbach died in 1992, never having laid legal claim of the Blue Marlin Marina property, which officially belongs to, and it is run by the State of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection. The Sunny Isles Causeway bridge spanning the Oleta River adjacent to the site was named in Mr. Dieffenbach’s honor and the State of Florida allocated funds to re-build the Blue Marlin Marina site into a park and commissioned Rolando J. Gutierrez, Architects to design its facilities in an architectural style that resonated with the original structures. The new facilities preserved the footings of the original smoke house and included a historic pavilion (725 SF) depicting the history of the site, and added a concessions area (930 SF) providing smoked seafood to visitors, in addition to new restrooms (800 SF), a covered sitting area (550 SF) , and rental canoe launch facilities for the public. The buildings and canoe launching pads are fully accessible, equipped with floating docks and ramps.