The first two-hour-long reenactment since 1935 occurred on December 28, 1985. In 1987, the state constructed a 5-foot (1.5-meter) high and 150-foot (45.7-meter) long berm on the baseball field's outfield to enhance visitors’ view of the reenactment. A Tampa television station aired segments about a commemorative hike led by Laumer from the Hillsborough River to the park from December 27, 1988, to the day of the reenactment on January 1, 1989. A record crowd of 4,500 people attending the reenactment on January 1, 1989, prompted the Dade Battlefield Society to consider the construction of an amphitheater. The Florida Department of Natural Resources granted approval for the amphitheater. For the December 28, 1989, reenactment, the Dade Battlefield Society expanded the event to a two-day event with full reenactments on both Saturday and Sunday.