Miami plans Plaza Azúcar in Little Havana to honor Celia Cruz on what would have been her 101st birthday

The Queen of Salsa is getting a new home on Calle Ocho. On what would have been Celia Cruz's 101st birthday, the city of Miami unveiled plans for Plaza Azúcar, a public park in Little Havana named for the joyful cry that became her trademark.

City Commissioner Ralph Rosado showed off the first drawings of the space on Wednesday. The park will sit at 650 Beacom Boulevard in the heart of the neighborhood that has long been the center of Cuban exile life in the United States. Its main attraction will be a large sculpture of the singer by Alex Kaufman, an artist known for oversized works.

Plaza Azúcar will be the first public space in Miami devoted to Cruz and only the third in the country. Miami Beach named a street Celia Cruz Way in 2023 and Union City, New Jersey has a Celia Cruz Park with a walkway honoring Latin music stars.

A birthday party on Calle Ocho

The unveiling came with a celebration fit for the singer, complete with music and a pig roast. Guests went home with U.S. quarters bearing her face. In 2024 Cruz became the first Afro-Latina artist to appear on an American coin as part of a program honoring trailblazing women.

The longtime keeper of her artistic estate, Omer Pardillo Cid, was expected at the event, where organizers also planned to play a recreation of her voice.

A mural lost and a promise to bring it back

The news brought some comfort to a neighborhood still upset about a recent loss. A mural showing Cruz with other salsa legends was painted over this fall at the corner of Calle Ocho and 19th Avenue after a dispute involving the building's owner. Commissioner Rolando Escalona said he wants to find a way to bring the artwork back, either on the same wall or somewhere else along the street.

From Havana to the world

Cruz was born in Havana on Oct. 21, 1925. She rose to fame singing with the band La Sonora Matancera and left Cuba with the group in 1960 for shows in Mexico. She never went back. By 1961 she had settled in the United States, where she became one of the most beloved voices in Latin music and an outspoken critic of the Castro government.

Her stand cost her dearly. Cuban authorities would not let her return when her mother died in 1962 and her records were banned on the island. Even so, she carried Cuban music around the world for four decades, helping turn salsa into a global sound.

Cruz died in 2003 at age 77. More than two decades later her music still fills the streets of Little Havana. Soon a plaza with her name will too.