Sunrise, Florida
The City of Sunrise in western Broward County was incorporated in 1961 with the intention of attracting retirees. In fact, it was originally called “Sunset,” because of its spectacular sunsets, but the name did not sit well with the retirees. It was then named Sunrise Golf Village, a name that was later officially changed to Sunrise.
About The Community
In the sixties, Sunrise had a population of 4,300 and encompassed less than two square miles area. It expanded to its current boundaries through annexation to more than 18 square miles. The current population is over ninety thousand people of rich ethnic diversity. The community is adjacent to the Everglades Conservation Area, just minutes away from Ft. Lauderdale’s beaches, and less than an hour from Miami and Palm Beach. Its location in the middle of the tri-county region (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach), has made it the home of vast number of business, residential and entertainment opportunities.
It is also is home to the Sawgrass Mills Mall, currently the fourth largest outlet mall in the country and the largest in Florida. This is an enclosed outlet mall with over 300 retail outlets and name brand discounters. Recently, the Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass with its new, high-end fashion district opened here. This is an open-air promenade featuring Mediterranean architecture, fountains and plazas and luxury outlet stores.
Important Links
Sunrise is one of South Florida’s most progressive cities and there are constant additions to its civic facilities. A new eighteen thousand square foot multi-purpose community center is getting ready adjacent to City Park and the new branch library on Sunset Strip. A new park named Sunrise Golf Village Park, referring to the original name of the City in acknowledgement of the site’s historical importance is under construction. A renovated Piper Field offers separate fields for baseball and multi-purpose play. The city also offers excellent facilities for tennis and ice-skating.
Vicinity of Sunrise
Additional Details
The BB&T Center is a state-of-the-art arena, the second largest in the nation and is the home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers hockey team. It also hosts top national entertainment and events and has several leisure centers within it. The three thousand-capacity Sinatra Theatre hosts internationally known artists, comedy acts as well as children’s shows and off-Broadway plays. The Sunrise Symphonic Pops Orchestra founded in 1987 performs in the city.
The thirty-year-old Sunrise Country Club is an exclusive privately owned club with golfing facilities open to the public. The city owned Springtree Golf Course is a par 61 executive course designed to suit golfers of every level of skill. Springtree Golf Course Clubhouse with its Old Florida style of architecture ranks among the top clubhouses in the country.
Sawgrass Sanctuary is a twenty-acre park and learning center that preserves and protects the City’s ecological heritage. It features an observation platform, a fishing pier and fishing bank, a 200-foot boardwalk, a hiking/bicycling trail, and interpretive displays identifying the park’s four dominant native ecosystems. Wannado City is an extraordinary new experience for children and the first interactive environment of its kind in the United States. It enables young kids to role-play 250 careers, including lawyer, TV anchor, doctor, firefighter, banker, pilot and police officer.